PART 14 – Outside the Courtroom, My Brother Asked Whether I Really Thought Our Parents Had Planned Everything Before That Afternoon

The hearing paused while the court arranged the next steps.

I carried my binders into the hallway.

My shoulders hurt.

I placed them on the same bench where I had sat during the earlier recess.

The courthouse was still busy.

People passed with folders and briefcases.

A clerk called someone else's name.

I opened my jacket and took a slow breath.

Then I heard footsteps.

It was Wyatt.

He stopped a few feet away.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

He looked different without the confident expression he had worn earlier.

His expensive suit was still perfectly fitted.

His tie was straight.

But he seemed unsure of what to say.

"Matthew."

I looked at him.

"Wyatt."

He glanced toward the binders.

"That was a lot."

I didn't answer.

He sat at the other end of the bench.

We were brothers.

That was a fact.

But we had never grown up together.

We had no shared memories of birthdays or school mornings.

I didn't know his friends.

He didn't know mine.

I didn't know what kind of person he was when nobody was watching.

He looked down at his hands.

"Did you really think they planned all of it?"

I studied his face.

"I didn't decide what to think. I found documents."

He nodded.

"That report…"

I waited.

He rubbed his thumb against his palm.

"I never saw anything like that."

I believed he might not have.

He had been younger than me.

He had grown up in the household that continued after I was gone.

But I didn't know what Arthur and Evelyn had told him.

I couldn't assume.

"Did they ever talk about me?"

He looked toward the hallway.

"Sometimes."

"What did they say?"

He hesitated.

"They said you had gone away."

I felt my jaw tighten.

"Where?"

He shook his head.

"I don't know. They didn't explain much."

I looked down at the binders.

For years, I had wondered what story my parents told the people who remained in their lives.

Now I had a small answer.

They said I had gone away.

It was easier than saying they had left me.

Wyatt looked at me again.

"Why didn't you ever contact us?"

I almost laughed.

But I didn't.

I wanted to answer honestly.

"I was eight years old when they left me. I didn't have your address. I didn't have a telephone. I didn't even know how to get home from the station."

He looked down.

I continued.

"Later, I had a home. I had school. I had Elijah. I didn't know whether you wanted to hear from me."

Wyatt didn't respond.

I wasn't blaming him for everything.

I was explaining the years he had asked me about.

He shifted on the bench.

"Mom said you were difficult."

I looked at him.

"I was a child."

He nodded slowly.

I wondered whether he had ever considered that before.

He looked toward the courtroom doors.

"She said things were bad back then."

I didn't ask what things.

I already knew the records I had found.

There was a police report.

There was an insurance policy.

There was a payment.

I wasn't interested in collecting vague explanations.

Wyatt stood.

"I don't know what to think."

I closed the binder.

"You don't have to decide what to think today."

He looked at me for another moment.

Then he walked away.

I watched him disappear around the corner.

I didn't feel closer to him.

But I understood something.

He had inherited a version of the story that allowed him to live without asking difficult questions.

I had inherited the consequences.

A few minutes later, the bailiff called the parties back inside.

I picked up the binders.

The cardboard covers were worn at the corners.

I had placed the adoption decree in the third one because I wanted it protected.

I carried it into the courtroom.

My parents were already seated.

Wyatt returned to his place behind them.

Our eyes met briefly.

Then he looked away.

Judge Wynn entered.

We stood.

When she sat down, I placed the binders on my table again.

I had another opportunity to speak.

And this time, I wanted to make one thing clear.

The fact that my brother had been told I went away did not change the fact that I had been left behind.

Click here to continue reading: PART 15: The Estate Attorney’s Records Showed That Elijah Had Made His Decision Long Before My Biological Parents Learned About His Fortune