After Mom died, everything quickly became chaotic.
Growing up, my brother Nico and I were the quintessential “us against the world” siblings, and I always felt like he had my back. However, the moment the attorneys intervened? He changed, man. Nico suddenly became very friendly with Mom’s former lawyer and pushed for a “updated” will that none of us had ever heard of. He was essentially left in charge of everything, including the house, finances, and even the small family cottage upstate.
He grinned as if it were a done deal, and I just sat there in shock. The others purchased it. claimed that Mom might have been trying to “simplify things.”
However, there was something about it that bothered me. Mom wasn’t that way. She used to divide Christmas cookies equally amongst us because she loved to be fair, brutally fair. I returned to Mom’s place by myself a few nights following the funeral. I was aware of her hiding places. The closet’s third floorboard. In the pantry is an old recipe box. The sewing machine casing was dusty.
I discovered it there. A second will. written by hand. signed. Nico flashed roughly two months after the “official” date. As she always promised, this one divided everything equally between us.
The front door behind me creaked open just as I was standing there, holding that piece of paper.
I spun around.
Nico was standing there in the dark with a shiny object in his hand.
“Nico?” The weight of astonishment and fear caused my voice to break. He was taken aback by my presence and froze. He was holding a flashlight, which glinted faintly. Neither of us moved for a moment. His face softened into what appeared to be relief as he took a step forward.
“Mia, what are you doing here?” Though informal, there was a hint of something sharper in his voice—guilt? Fear?
I shot back, holding Mom’s actual will closer to my chest. “I could ask you the same thing,” I said.
He paused before responding. “Just making sure everything is okay. ensuring that everything is in order before we sell. Sell? I felt like I was punched in the stomach by that word. What do you sell? The home? The cabin? Mom put a lot of effort into keeping everything together for us.
“You’re saying to sell your half?” Bitterly, I asked.
Nico scowled. “What is the intended meaning of that?”
“This.” As I held out the will, I saw his face change from bewilderment to alarm.
He muttered, almost to himself, “You found it.”
“Yeah,” I said, “I found it.” “The true will. Not the phony one you’ve been forcing on everyone.
He clenched his jaw. “Mia, it’s not phony. It’s lawful. It’s also what Mom desired.
“No, it isn’t!” The loudness of my voice in the still home startled me as I yelled. “Mom would never abandon me. You are aware of that. You’re lying about this, but why?
Nico was silent for a long time. He simply stood there looking at me, his shoulders hunched as if he had lost all will to fight. With a final sigh, he lay down on the living room couch and combed through his hair.
“It’s difficult,” he whispered.
I crossed my arms and whispered, “Try me.”
His face was etched with shame as he looked up at me. “All right, all right. Do you want the truth? Mia, I’m drowning. drowning. I have far more debt than I can afford. Credit cards, loans, and impatient individuals. If I don’t have money shortly… He shook his head and walked away.
My stomach turned over. “So you believed that the solution was to steal from your own sister?”
He insisted, “It wasn’t supposed to be like that.” “I was going to handle everything so you wouldn’t have to worry about anything.” After I settled the debts, I would come up with a solution. buy you out or whatever.
“Or what?” I insisted. “Are you going to lie to me forever? Act like a hero when you were actually depriving me of my sight.
My words caused Nico to wince, and I briefly felt sorry for him. But then I recalled the betrayal—how he had planned to take everything without even giving me a chance to fight for it, and how he had distorted Mom’s memory.
He said softly, “I didn’t think you’d understand.”
“You’re correct,” I replied. “I don’t. Because you don’t tear your family apart to make things better, no matter how awful things get.
For some time, we sat in silence, the tension heavy enough to suffocate us. At last, Nico resumed his speech.
“What would you like to do?”
I inhaled deeply. “I want you to be honest. To all of you. To Aunt Lisa, the lawyer, and everybody else you have been lying to. Additionally, I want us to respect Mom’s actual wishes. 50/50. like she had planned.
Slowly, he nodded. “All right. I will.
We had a meeting with the lawyer the following day. Nico revealed his plan and turned over the fake will, confessing everything. The lawyer gave him a harsh reprimand because he had attempted to pass it off as authentic, even though it turned out he hadn’t changed anything at all—it was just an old draft that Mom had thrown away.
The inheritance was divided fifty-fifty, just as Mom had written. Even though I still didn’t completely trust Nico, I could see the regret in his eyes as he pledged to utilize his portion sensibly.
We went to the cabin together a few weeks later. Despite being modest and a little dilapidated, it was home to decades’ worth of memories, including late-night fireside chats, family vacations, and carefree summer afternoons. I had a glimmer of hope as I sat on the porch swing and watched the sun set behind the trees.
Nico abruptly broke the quiet and stated, “You know, I’m sorry.” I’m very sorry. I made a mistake and caused you pain. I want to strive to earn forgiveness, but I don’t expect it right now.
The brother I’d grown up with, the one who used to let me win at board games and who carried me home when I hurt my ankle hiking, was there when I truly looked at him. He was still my brother even though he might have committed mistakes.
“I forgive you,” I muttered. “But make me a promise.”
“Anything.”
“No more secrets. No more falsehoods. We confront problems jointly from now on. Deal?
He gave me a tiny smile and said, “Deal.”
It’s funny how life can teach us things when we least expect it to. For Nico, it served as a reminder that taking quick cuts frequently results in dead ends. It reaffirmed to me the value of honesty and justice, not just because they are correct but also because they uphold the most important relationships.
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