Chapter 14 - NOT SPECIAL, NOT OWED
The therapist answered before Richard could.
“You are special because you are Blake.”
Not because Aaron died.
Not because Richard felt guilty.
Not because an estate favored him.
Blake cried.
Then anger took over.
“So everyone lied.”
Ethan said:
“Some adults told you a story that was easier for them.”
Blake looked at him.
“You hate me.”
“No.”
“I hurt June.”
“Yes.”
“You still don’t hate me?”
“No.”
That confused him more than punishment would have.
Richard had taught Blake that love and consequence could not coexist.
If someone corrected him, they were betraying Aaron.
If someone protected him, they loved him.
The therapist began dismantling that.
Blake later wrote June an apology.
Not forced.
He wanted to say:
It was just a joke.
The therapist made him remove it.
Not because it was forbidden.
Because it minimized.
Final version:
I pushed cake into your mouth after you told me to stop. I scared you and embarrassed you. You didn’t deserve it.
June did not have to respond.
She read it.
Then put it away.
Richard also revised his will again.
Ethan refused to discuss percentages.
“Do what you want with your money.”
Richard said:
“I want it fair.”
“Then define fair without using guilt.”
That silenced him.
Months passed.
Richard entered therapy.
Margaret did too.
No dramatic family reunion.
Then Richard asked Ethan for one meeting.
He handed him a sealed will.
Ethan refused to open it.
Richard said:
“It divides everything equally between Blake and June.”
Ethan shook his head.
“You still don’t get it.”
Richard looked hurt.
“What now?”
“They are children. Stop making your love legible through percentages.”
Richard stared at the envelope.
Then slowly tore it in half.
Not the executed will.
A copy.
But symbolically, something changed.
Then he said:
“I don’t know how to be their grandfather without fixing something.”
Ethan answered:
“Start by showing up without a ledger.”
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That was the last mystery.
Could Richard actually do it?
