But my uncle, Robert, completely and fundamentally resented my massive success. He started acting incredibly hostile when my grandfather passed away. He constantly complained about me wasting time on “old garbage” and insisted the collection should be liquidated immediately.
“You’re always hovering over those stupid ticking gears, Liam,” Robert would cruelly complain, rolling his eyes in absolute disgust while standing in my newly restored workshop. “You need to let me take care of the estate. It’s just old metal.”
I quietly ignored the glaring red flags until I opened the master safe.
The morning I confirmed the massive betrayal finally arrived. I was officially standing in the fully decorated, bright historical study. The strong, overwhelming smell of old leather and incredibly loud silence made my stomach violently churn with a strange, dark premonition. I tightly clutched my heavy brass loupe.
Then, right after the funeral, the massive reality was completely, suffocatingly clear. Every single rare timepiece was completely gone.
“They were just cheap knockoffs, Liam!” he yelled loudly, tossing me a cheap plastic trash bag from the hallway. “I had my buddy look at them, they’re fakes! I tossed them in the dumpster!”
My legs completely died under me. Something behind my ribs aggressively folded in on itself as my vibrant heritage vanished.
I spent exactly four freezing, brutal weeks aggressively staring at my computer screens, completely trusting my massive international network over his lies. Robert sat in the parlor downstairs, casually sipping my grandfather’s expensive craft scotch and loudly telling his golf buddies how rich he would be after the “secret auction,” plotting to blindside me with a massive payout.
Not when he flaunted his new expensive golf clubs.
Not when the local pawn shops explicitly denied seeing them.
Not when I sobbed incredibly heavy internal tears wondering how he could destroy our legacy.
Not when he missed my own grandfather’s grave dedication to explicitly meet the auction house couriers.
