The disappointment on their faces was immediate. His mother tried to explain it away, saying his long absence had led them to assume he wanted no part of any inheritance. But Mike knew them too well. He stood up, put on his jacket, and left without another word.
He never thought the sharpest betrayal would come from his own parents. The next day he ran into that same aunt from the funeral. She was in no hurry, and after running a few errands she suggested they sit for a while in a nearby park.
Once they settled onto a bench, she glanced around and spoke carefully. She said she had a pretty good idea what the conflict was about and urged him not to give in. According to her, his father had behaved badly and had pressured Eleanor into signing the will.
Mike was stunned. He could not understand how any attorney could allow something like that to happen. Then the pieces in his mind started to line up.
“What am I doing? They tried to get me to sign away my rights just yesterday,” he said. His aunt looked at him, and he told her about the papers his parents had pushed in front of him. She strongly supported his decision not to sign anything.
She said his parents had lost all sense of shame in their rush to get control of the property. In the moment, Mike did not stop to question her motives. She sounded convincing, and for the time being, that was enough.
After that conversation, Mike called his wife and laid out the whole absurd situation. When she asked what he planned to do next, he admitted he had no idea how to handle it. At that point, he was not even sure how he was going to get that old couch out of the apartment.
He hated the thought of leaving it behind for his parents to toss out. He had a feeling the will was going to come with complications. His aunt had hinted as much when she said Eleanor had been pressured into signing it.
Most likely, the document included conditions his parents did not like. That would explain why they had tried to get ahead of things by pushing those waiver papers on him. Rather than keep guessing, Mike decided to talk to a lawyer.
There was a good estate attorney in town, an old school friend named Ethan. Ethan welcomed him like family and waved him into a chair. Mike admitted right away that he was in trouble and suspected his own parents were trying to pull something on him.
For nearly an hour, he walked Ethan through everything that had happened. Ethan listened closely, jotting down notes now and then. When Mike finished, the attorney gave him his professional take on the situation.
Most likely, the will did exist, and it may well have been signed under pressure. But people often attach specific conditions to inheritances, and in this case those conditions may have been inconvenient for his parents. Ethan advised him to wait for the formal reading and, in the meantime, look around Eleanor’s apartment for any note or clue she might have left behind.
If he found something, he would be better prepared for whatever came next. After meeting with Ethan, Mike understood that this could turn into a long, ugly fight. He called his wife and suggested they try to pick up the couch the next day, though by then his enthusiasm had faded quite a bit…
