Parents left EVERYTHING to my brother, so I stopped paying their bills. A month later, Mom texted: «Mortgage deadline is here!» I just wrote THIS… My reply made everyone GO PALE…

My name is Jacob, and if I ever had any doubts about my place in the family, they vanished the day I learned about the will. It wasn’t even some dramatic conversation where my parents told me the news themselves. No, I found out about it completely by accident, through sheer dumb luck.

This happened a few months ago, when I was at their house in a small town outside Chicago. In that same house that I’d been helping pay for over the last five years. The mortgage, the occasional grocery runs, fixing whatever broke.

I was the one keeping everything afloat. Meanwhile, my brother Eric did absolutely nothing. And when I say «nothing,» I mean literally nothing.

No job, no responsibilities, just endless lounging around waiting for life to hand him everything on a silver platter. And apparently, my parents were only too happy to provide him with that kind of life. That day, I was helping Dad with some paperwork, because, as usual, neither he nor Mom could figure it out on their own.

He asked me to scan a few documents—legal and financial stuff. I didn’t think twice about it until I saw a folder labeled «Estate Plan» with the words «Last Will» and «Testament.» I’m not one to snoop through other people’s papers.

But curiosity got the better of me. After all, I was the one making sure they had a roof over their heads. It seemed reasonable to check how they were handling their assets for the future.

I opened the folder and saw words that made my heart sink. «Everything. Literally everything» was going to Eric.

The house, the savings, the assets. There wasn’t even a mention of me, except for some obligatory lines about how they loved both sons. Equally.

Yeah, sure, Jacob, equally. That’s why their golden boy was getting it all, and the one actually keeping them afloat didn’t even get a footnote. I felt like a complete fool…

I’d busted my ass for them, paid their bills, made sure they always had food, while they sat back and planned a future where I had no place. And Eric? He wasn’t just lazy. He was entitled.

Never helped, never contributed a dime, but somehow convinced our parents he was the one who deserved it all. Maybe because he’s the younger son, maybe because they always spoiled him, or maybe because he knew how to wrap them around his finger. Whatever the reason, they’d made their choice.

I sat there staring at the papers, my hands shaking with a mix of rage and betrayal. How long had they been planning this? Had they always intended to use me as a financial safety net with no payback?…