I’m Jakob, and if I ever had any doubts about my place in the family, they vanished the day I learned about the will. It wasn’t even a dramatic conversation when my parents broke the news. No, I found out by pure chance, pure luck.
This happened a few months ago when I was visiting them at their house in a small town outside of Chicago. The same house I’d been helping to finance for the past five years: the mortgage, occasional purchases, repairs.
I was the one keeping everything running smoothly. My brother, Eric, on the other hand, did absolutely nothing. And when I say “nothing,” I mean absolutely nothing.
No job, no responsibilities, just endless laziness and the expectation that life would hand him everything on a silver platter. And apparently, my parents were only too happy to provide that life for him. That day, I was helping my father with some paperwork, because, as always, neither he nor my mother could manage it alone.
He asked me to scan some documents, both legal and financial. I didn’t think much of it until I saw a folder labeled “Estate Planning” and the words “Last Will and Testament.” I don’t usually rummage through other people’s paperwork.
But my curiosity got the better of me. After all, I had made sure they had a roof over their heads. It seemed only reasonable to find out how they were managing their assets for the future.
I opened the folder and read the words that saddened me. “Everything.” Literally, “everything” was to go to Eric.
The house, the savings, the assets. They didn’t even mention me, apart from a few obligatory sentences about how much they loved their two children. Equally.
Yes, of course, Jacob, just the same. That’s why their darling got everything, and the person who actually supported them wasn’t even mentioned. I felt so stupid…
I had worked my butt off for them, paid their bills, made sure they always had food, while they sat back and planned a future in which I had no place. And Eric? He wasn’t just lazy. He wasn’t entitled to anything.
He never helped, never contributed a single cent, but somehow he convinced our parents that he deserved everything. Maybe because he was the youngest son, maybe because they always spoiled him, or maybe because he knew how to gain their trust. Whatever the reason, they had already made up their minds.
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