Your future is safe, his isn’t!” I smiled. Then at a family gathering they all froze when I revealed that I had just bought a house. I didn’t plan to drop the news like a bomb.
But after months of hearing quiet murmurs behind my back about how I was “too stingy” or “too lucky,” I figured it was time they knew the truth. So, when Aunt Clara asked me, “When are you going to finally move out of that tiny apartment?” I took a sip of my orange juice, smiled, and said, “I just closed on a house last week. Three bedrooms.
Paid in full.”
The room went dead silent. My mom blinked twice. My dad actually dropped his fork.
My brother, Lucas, looked like he’d just swallowed a lemon whole. “You… bought a house?” Mom finally asked, eyes wide. “Yep.
Nothing fancy. Just something I’ve been saving for over the last seven years,” I replied, trying to sound casual. I didn’t mean it as a jab.
But I guess when everyone assumes you’re barely scraping by, hearing that you just paid for a house in cash can sting. Especially when they had already decided to leave everything they owned to my brother. Lucas stood up and paced toward the kitchen.
No one followed him. No one said anything for a long while. Aunt Clara cleared her throat.
“You must be doing better than you let on.”
“I’ve been budgeting. Working overtime. Living small.
Nothing magical about it,” I shrugged. I didn’t say it, but I wanted to. I wanted to scream, While I was grinding, Lucas was sleeping in until noon and buying every new gadget he couldn’t afford.
But I didn’t. Because I knew what would come next. The guilt trip.
The “he’s your brother” speech. I wasn’t in the mood for that. Later that night, after everyone had gone, Mom called.
Her voice was unusually soft. “Why didn’t you tell us you were buying a house?”
“I figured it wouldn’t matter. You already think Lucas needs more help.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Neither is giving everything to someone who hasn’t worked a day in the last five years.”
There was silence.
Then a sigh. “I know it looks that way, but… Lucas has had a hard time.”
I didn’t argue. I’d heard it all before.
Anxiety. Depression. “A string of bad luck.” And while I empathized, I also knew there was only so long you could use that as a shield.
“I just want to know something, Mom,” I said. “If I hadn’t told you about the house, would you have ever rethought the will?”
Another pause. Then she whispered, “Probably not.”
That hit me harder than I expected.
But I didn’t push further. I thanked her for calling, wished her a good night, and sat alone in my empty apartment for a long time, staring at the lease papers I was about to break. That week, I moved into my new house.
Nothing grand, but it had a little backyard, a quiet neighborhood, and a peace I hadn’t felt in years. A few weeks passed. No word from Lucas.
