My parents bequeathed their ENTIRE estate to my brother, so I ceased covering their expenses. Weeks later, my mom texted

My name is Jake, and if I had any doubts about where I stood in my family, they were erased the day I found out about the will. It wasn’t even some dramatic, sit-down moment where my parents dropped the news themselves. No, I found out entirely by accident, by sheer dumb luck.

It happened a few months ago when I was at their house, the same house I had been helping them pay for over the past five years. The mortgage, the occasional grocery runs, even fixing up things around the place, I was the one keeping it all together while my brother, Eric, did absolutely nothing. And when I say nothing, I mean nothing.

No job, no responsibilities, just lounging around waiting for life to hand him everything on a silver platter. Which, apparently, my parents were all too happy to provide. That day, I was helping my dad with some paperwork because, as usual, neither of them could be bothered to figure out how to do things themselves.

He had asked me to skin some documents for him, a bunch of legal and financial stuff, and I didn’t think twice about it, until I saw it. A folder labeled estate plan and last will and testament sitting right there in the stack. Now, I don’t normally snoop, but curiosity got the best of me.

After all, I had been the one making sure they kept a roof over their heads. It wasn’t exactly out of line to wonder how things were set up for the future. So I opened it, and that’s when I saw the words that made my stomach drop.

Everything, and I mean everything, was going to Eric. The house, their savings, their assets. Not a single mention of me, except for some generic line about loving both of their sons equally.

Yeah, sure. Equally. That’s why they made sure their golden child would inherit everything while the son actually keeping them afloat didn’t even get a footnote.

I felt like a fool. Here I was, bending over backward for them, making sure their bills got paid on time, making sure they never had to worry about food, while they sat back and planned for a future where I got absolutely nothing. And Eric? He wasn’t just lazy, he was entitled.

He never lifted a finger to help them, never contributed a dime, but he had somehow convinced them that he deserved it all. Maybe because he was the younger son, maybe because they just always babied him, maybe because he knew exactly how to manipulate them. Whatever the reason, they had made their choice.

I sat there staring at the paper, my hands shaking from a mix of rage and betrayal. How long had they planned this? Had they always intended for me to just be their free financial safety net with nothing in return? Did they ever even appreciate what I did for them? I had no idea how long I had been sitting there, but eventually, my dad noticed I wasn’t scanning anything. Hey, Jake, what’s taking so long? He asked, walking back into the room…