So after a month of constant pressure, I cut them off completely.
I blocked their numbers, deleted them from social media, and changed the locks on my grandfather’s house, where I had moved in.
It wasn’t easy.
There were moments where I felt guilty, moments where I almost caved.
But then I’d remember all the years of being treated like I didn’t matter.
They hadn’t cared about me when I was growing up.
They only cared now that I had something they wanted.
And then a year passed.
A peaceful, quiet year where I started living my own life.
Until last week.
I was coming home from work, exhausted, when I saw them.
My parents standing on my porch.
And they weren’t alone.
Ethan was there too, looking smug.
And behind them was a woman I didn’t recognize.
A lawyer, maybe.
My mom’s face lit up when she saw me, as if the last year had never happened.
“Oh, sweetheart. We were just waiting for you.”
My dad, standing stiffly, nodded.
“We need to talk.”
And Ethan? He just grinned like he already knew what was coming next.
I had a sinking feeling in my stomach.
I had no idea what they wanted this time, but I knew it wasn’t good.
I stopped at the bottom of my porch steps, gripping my keys so hard they left marks in my palm.
My parents were acting like nothing had happened.
Like they hadn’t spent a year trying to manipulate me into giving up what my grandfather had left me.
I glanced at Ethan.
He had that smug, lazy grin he always wore when he thought he had already won.
“I don’t think we have anything to talk about,” I said flatly.
My mom gasped, clutching her chest like I had just stabbed her.
“Alex, is that any way to talk to your mother?”
My dad took a step forward, hands shoved deep into his pockets.
“This is serious. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Right. Because the last time I heard from you, it was non-stop messages about how I should give Ethan half of my inheritance. And when that didn’t work, you all went silent.”
I looked at them each in turn, my voice cold.
“So what changed?”
Ethan scoffed.
“Are you done being dramatic?”