After disregarding his mother’s most desired wish and discovering she died, Gary returns home for the funeral only to find out that everything he had counted on now belonged to a complete stranger.
“Gary, I asked you to meet me here because it’s time for you to settle down,” Diane told her son at their favorite cafe. They had sat down and chit-chatted before she got down to brass tacks, but this was the reason for their meeting.
“Mom, I’m not ready to get married,” Gary scoffed and laughed.
“That’s not what I’m asking. Although you’re almost 40, Gary. You should’ve been ready for marriage ten years ago when your father died,” Diane sighed. “What I mean is…I need you to start running the business.”
“Why? The execs are doing a good job, and you can keep running it,” he rolled his eyes.
“No, I can’t. It’s time for me to retire and for you to live up to your potential.”
“I will, but I already booked a trip to Cabo for two weeks, and then, I’m going to Lake Como for two more weeks, and I…” Gary paused to pull his phone out.
“Gary! Please, listen to me. I’m getting older, and I’m sick. Please, I’m begging you to please start taking things seriously. You are brilliant. You always were, but all you do is party, date girls, and travel. I need my son to start taking responsibility,” Diane begged.
Gary put his phone down again and sighed. “You are being dramatic.”
“No, I’m not, son. I’m sick. I don’t know how long I’ll have anymore. Your father and I created this business from nothing…to give you the world. We have given everything. Now, it’s time actually to take what you’ve been given and apply yourself,” she continued.
“I will,” he said and paused. “In about a year.”
“It needs to be today. The execs can run the company for a while, but I’m always there, supervising. We need someone in the family to handle things or everything – all the money you love so much – could disappear like sand sifting through your fingers. Do you understand? Please, it’s my last wish. I want my son to take over the company,” Diane begged, almost losing her breath with the intensity of her words.
“Stop talking about last wishes, Mother. You’re perfectly healthy… well, maybe not perfectly,” Gary said off-handedly.
“Son! If you don’t fulfill my wishes as I’ve asked, I’ll change my will. I won’t give you anything,” Diane said, placing her hands on the table and staring down at him.
Gary scoffed again.
“I’m serious!”
“OK. OK! I’ll take over the company,” Gary finally said, raising his hands in defeat.
Diane sighed in relief and tried to catch her breath from the exertion of that moment. She discussed several important documents and how her father handled a few things. However, the older woman didn’t know that Gary wasn’t listening.
For illustration purposes only | Source: Unsplash
He was on a plane to Cabo two days later…and five days afterward, Diane died.
***
“I’m sorry for your loss, Gary,” one of the executives at his company, Mr. Salinger, shook Gary’s hand after the funeral. People were in line to offer him their condolences and support, but Gary just wanted to get things over with.
The family lawyer had finally tracked him down in Cabo after his mother died because Gary had turned his phone to airplane mode to avoid Diane’s calls. He had no idea she had passed. On the one hand, he felt terrible because she was his mother, and he loved her.
But on the other hand, he felt… inconvenienced, as bad as that was to admit.
He wouldn’t tell anyone, of course. But he had had to cancel his trips with his new girlfriend, Rosalia, a beautiful Latin woman who looked great on his arm.
Now, he had to settle some stuff and deal with the funeral and the will-reading. He wasn’t worried about his mother’s threat during their coffee meeting because she passed so soon.
Instead, he was considering going into the office and putting an exec in charge for a year. The last thing Gary wanted for his life to settle right then. As the mourners and Diane’s friends passed by, Gary felt a pang of guilt. It was her last wish.
Furthermore, he was not ready. He promised himself to take over the company in a few years. He would fulfill her wish in his own time… as soon as he spent some more time with Rosalia or any other hot woman from his travels.
“Gary, I need you to come to my office in a couple of days,” Mr. Goldstein, the family lawyer, finally distracted him from his thoughts.
“Why? The will-reading is just a formality, right?” Gary wondered, uninterested.
“No, we have to get through it. There’s something your mother changed recently, and you have to be there,” the attorney insisted.
“Can’t you just handle it?” he rolled his eyes.
“No.”
“Fine.”
***
“Let’s get this over with. I’ve had a terrible week, and I can’t take any more meetings,” Gary demanded as soon as he entered Mr. Goldstein’s office and unbuttoned his suit jacket. But something out of the corner of his eyes caught his attention.
An old and poorly-dressed man was sitting in the office as well. Gary had never seen him before. He looked like a beggar with his untrimmed bread and rough hands. Gary scrunched his nose at the stranger and looked at the lawyer.
“Mr. Goldstein, who’s this? What could this man possibly be here for? We’re reading my mother’s will. There’s no need for any of her charity cases to be present,” Gary commented, almost outraged.
“Sit down, Gary,” Mr. Goldstein said patiently.
“Ugh,” he sighed, grabbed the chair next to the stranger, pulled it away, and finally sat down. “This better be quick, Goldstein. I don’t have time for nonsense.”
“Very well. I’ll get to it, but I must introduce you to Mr. Ferris,” Mr. Goldstein stated.
“You can call me Aaron,” the beggar said, but Gary wouldn’t even look at him.
“Fine, yeah. Nice to meet you or whatever. Let’s go,” Gary snapped rudely.
Mr. Goldstein got a few papers and started reading some particulars. He began with the charity cases Diane supported, and Gary started tapping his foot impatiently. His lawyer was truly a saint because he wasn’t fazed by Gary’s rudeness.
“To my son, I leave the boxes of his childhood memories and five thousand dollars,” Mr. Goldstein announced. Gary burst out in laughter, making the lawyer stop reading and remove his glasses.
“Something funny?”
“You’re joking, right? Five thousand? You must mean five million,” the arrogant, spoiled man stated confidently.
“No, Gary. Your mother left you exactly what I’ve just read,” the lawyer continued, putting his glass back on. “The rest of my estate and the company goes to my brother, Aaron Ferris, who I wished to have known far longer than I did.”
“Excuse me?!” Gary demanded, poised on the edge of the chair. “Brother? No! I don’t have any uncles or aunts. My father’s brother died years before him, and my mother was adopted by a couple with no other children. This is a mistake, Mr. Goldstein! I demand you check things again.”
“Gary, it’s not a mistake. Your mother changed her will as soon as you left for Cabo. She also told me some things. You made her some promises and didn’t keep them…” Mr. Goldstein tried to explain, but Gary interrupted him by jumping up from his chair and throwing some items from his desk.
“Promises? I told her I would take over the company. I never said when I was doing it,” Gary leaned on the lawyer’s desk, pointing his finger menacingly, but then, he turned to Aaron, who had been quiet the entire time. “I will not let a homeless person inherit my family’s company. He must have tricked my mother or something. He’s not my uncle.”
“Sit down, Gary, or I will call security or the police. You don’t have much money for bail, so I suggest you start listening, boy,” the attorney spoke up, finally angry at the threats of his late client’s son. “Mr. Ferris is biologically your mother’s brother. She has been looking for him for years. I have the DNA test to prove it.”
For illustration purposes only | Source: Unsplash
Gary, who had sat down reluctantly. “Fine! But that doesn’t mean I have to give him everything that belongs to me!”
“It never belonged to you, Gary. That’s the entire point of this situation. It belonged to your parents, and now, it’s Aaron’s. He’ll hopefully enjoy it with his family. God knows that it’s much better in his hands than yours,” Mr. Goldstein added, finally losing a bit of his professionalism and letting his thoughts show.
Gary turned to Aaron again. “You’re not getting away with this! THIS MY MONEY!” he yelled. “I’m getting a new lawyer!”
“Before you do that, here,” Mr. Goldstein said, pulling out an envelope from his many files. “Your mother wrote something for you. I suggest you read it now.”
Gary snatched the paper from the man’s hand and tore it quickly. It was a handwritten letter.
“Dear Gary,
By now, you’ve probably heard what I did. You lied to me. You said you would step up, and then you left for Cabo. Fine, you can choose to do whatever you want with your life. But I warned you. I told you I wouldn’t give you the company unless you stepped up and showed me you could protect our family legacy.
So, now, it belongs to my brother, Aaron. Yes, he is my real brother. There’s nothing you can do to change things. It’s all legally binding, and I even had a doctor check my mental capacities and sign an affidavit confirming I was of sound mind when I made the decision.
It’s time for someone who actually values life and family to take our company over. Aaron didn’t get as lucky as I did with the adoption. He was raised in the system and couldn’t even go to college. But he did his best and spent his entire life working hard until he built his own company.
The recession sunk his business, and his family went bankrupt. Then, his daughter passed away, and his wife… well, she didn’t want to live anymore. He got depressed, lost his house, and wandered the streets until I found him less than a year ago.
I took him in, and he has been my rock since then. He was my only companion at my doctor’s appointments and always reassured me that everything would get better. Therefore, I know he will handle this company well. I know it’s safe in his hands because he never asked me for anything. He wouldn’t let me buy him new clothes.
Gary, you have never known struggle; maybe, that was my fault. I wanted to give you everything I didn’t have. I shouldn’t have been so giving. So, this is my last lesson as a parent. It’s time for you to grow up. I always loved you, and I always will. But I believe you need this.
Mom.”
“No,” Gary started shaking his head and repeating the word. “No, my mommy wouldn’t do this. She would never. I… I wanted to fulfill her wish. I just needed time.”
Mr. Goldstein and Aaron only stared as Gary paced through the office, waving the letter and talking to himself. The reality was too much for him. He finally understood what Diane did. It was real. It was happening. But also, it finally sunk in that his mother was gone. He had no family left…except an uncle.
“What am I going to do with my life?” Gary turned, asking the lawyer with the most helpless eyes. He left like a five-year-old lost at the mall. “My mommy is dead.”
Mr. Goldstein breathed deeply and went to him, placing both his hands on his shoulders. “You’re going to start your life. Now. You have a degree. You’re smart, even if you’re a brat. You can find a job. You can succeed. But you’re going to do it just like the rest of us. With hard work.”
Gary’s wet, lost eyes stared at the attorney until he nodded. He walked numbly away from the law firm toward his car. He needed to make so many plans. He wouldn’t be able to afford rent. What am I going to do?
“Gary,” a voice disrupted his introspection, and he turned to see his “new” uncle.
“What do you want? To gloat?” he asked. But he wasn’t angry or snide. He was defeated, empty, and just sad. The rude confident brat he had been his entire life was gone.
“No, son. I just… Diane never told me she was going to do this. I wouldn’t have agreed,” his uncle began. “I won’t go against her, though. I’ll do my best. But… would you like a job?”
Gary’s brows lifted. “Really?”
“Do you know anything about the company?” his uncle continued.
“Yes, I do. I have a business degree,” Gary stuttered.
“OK. Let’s run the company together. Again, I won’t go against my sister’s wishes. But I think you can start over and learn your lesson while managing this business. Deal?” Aaron asked, extending his hand.
And Gary – who had sneered at the man just a few hours ago and even pulled his chair away to avoid sitting close by – grabbed the older man’s hand tightly and thanked him for this gift.
***
One year later…
Gary and Aaron went together to Diane’s grave on the anniversary of her passing. They added fresh flowers, and Gary spoke, “Hey, Mom. I’m here. Uhhh… the company’s doing well. I’m a junior exec now, thanks to Uncle Aaron. I moved into a new place. It’s small, and the neighbors are loud, but it’s nice. You’d like it.”
“Go on, Gary,” Aaron encouraged.
“I just wanted to say that you were right about everything. I shouldn’t have…I wasted a lot of my life. I regret that now, and I’m sorry. I wanted you to know that I’m doing better. I’m, in a way, a lot happier now. The company is exciting. I’m glad Uncle Aaron gave me a chance,” Gary stopped to breathe deeply. “So, thank you, Mom. For the lesson. I wish you were here to be proud of me.”
“I’m sure she’s proud of you, Gary,” Aaron said, putting his arm on Gary’s shoulder. “I am, too.”
What can we learn from this story?
- Don’t spoil your children no matter how much money you have. Parents can give their kids everything they didn’t have while teaching them valuable life lessons so they don’t become like Gary.
- Learn from your mistakes and do better. Gary regretted not fulfilling his mother’s last wish and tried to do better once he realized she had given everything away.
This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only.
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