“Since your father passed, we made very good investments over the years.”
Jason looked like he had been slapped.
“You You have millions. And you’re complaining about paying the grocery bill. You’re kicking your own son out over a few bucks.”
“I am not kicking you out over money. Jason,” I said quietly, sitting at my desk. “I am kicking you out over respect. You called me a leech. You thought I was dependent on you, even though you live under my roof. You thought I was weak.”
His shock quickly turned to entitlement.
“Dad left that money for the family. Half of that should be mine. Sarah and I have been stressing about a down payment, and you’ve been hoarding a fortune.”
“Your father left that money to his wife.” I corrected him. “If he wanted you to have it, he would have put it in your name. But he knew you were terrible with money, and he definitely didn’t want it funding Sarah’s shopping habits.”
“You can’t just cut me out,” he raised his voice. “I’m your son.”
“And you are 32 years old,” I replied flatly. “I provided for you for 18 years. I paid for your college. I let you live here rentree for 8 months. My financial obligations to you are over now. Please get out of my office.”
He stood there breathing heavily, trying to find a way to manipulate the situation, but there was nothing he could say.
The money was fully in my control.
He turned and stormed out. I locked the office door behind him.
The discovery of the money changed the dynamic. Sarah suddenly stopped glaring at me and started trying to be overly sweet.
The next evening, she came into the kitchen while I was making dinner just for myself as usual.
“Hi, Pamela,” she said in a sickeningly sweet voice.
“I was thinking maybe we got off on the wrong foot. Jason told me about the estate. I think it’s wonderful that Robert took such good care of you.”
I chopped my celery, ignoring her fake tone.
“Thank you.”
“We were talking,” she continued, stepping closer. “Since you have so much security, maybe we could buy this house from you. Or, you know, you could gift it to us as an early inheritance. We could remodel the basement for you to live in. It would be perfect.”
I stopped chopping and turned to look at her.
The sheer audacity was almost impressive. She wanted to shove me into a damp basement and take my home just because she knew I had money.