My Son Wanted His Fathers Last Name and They Cried When I Agreed Chapter 02
The room erupted the moment Ethan finished speaking.
Only the Carter family looked pleased.
Everyone else whispered among themselves, some angry, others looking at me with sympathy.
My father’s funeral was being held at the Bennett family home, and nearly every relative and longtime family friend was there.
Everyone knew that my older brother had died young and that Walter had accepted the Bennett family’s marriage arrangement afterward.
We weren’t billionaires, but the Bennetts had been building our fortune since my grandfather’s generation. By the time I inherited it, the family estate was worth more than fifteen million dollars, and our name carried influence in the community.
Yet today, my own sons were humiliating both me and my father.
The older Bennett relatives could tell this wasn’t what I wanted, and they couldn’t stay silent any longer.
“Ethan, what do you think you’re doing? Your father married into the Bennett family. What’s wrong with you having your mother’s last name?”
“Exactly. Even if you want to change it, you shouldn’t announce it at your grandfather’s funeral. Have you lost all sense of decency?”
Walter had always played the part of an honest, harmless man. He stepped forward with reddened eyes.
“I know all of you look down on me for marrying into the Bennett family, but I’ve worked myself to the bone for this family all these years. Surely that counts for something.”
“My sons are adults now. They feel sorry for me, and changing their last names is their own decision. I’m only respecting what they want.”
Once the elders heard that it was the boys’ decision, they had no choice but to swallow their anger.
Walter’s mother, Linda Carter, stepped beside Ethan and took the microphone. Tears streamed down her face as she spoke.
“This is all my fault! Our family was so poor that I had no choice but to push Walter to accept the Bennetts’ marriage arrangement.”
“If I hadn’t, he would’ve starved to death! He’s spent all these years devoting himself to this family and raising two children. He’s a man, too. He deserves some dignity!”
She blamed poverty, desperation, and the difficult circumstances at the time for the promise that our sons would carry my last name.
Nathan joined in, echoing their claims that Walter had been mistreated.
“My dad has lived with the Bennett family for more than twenty years, but he’s always the last one allowed to eat. Whenever Grandpa handed out holiday gifts to the younger relatives, Dad had to stand off to the side, and his was always the smallest.”
“Every year at the Bennett family memorial gathering, everyone else joined the private family service. My dad was always the only one left outside.It hurts me to think about everything he’s endured.”
When he finished, the Carter relatives began wiping their eyes.
Walter, Linda, Nathan, and Ethan clung to one another and cried as if they’d been cruelly oppressed for years.
For a moment, I found myself wondering if my family really had treated Walter badly all these years.
But we hadn’t.
Walter was always the last person to eat because he slipped away whenever it was time to help prepare a meal. He wouldn’t come back until my mother had finished cooking, so naturally, everyone else had already started eating by then.
My parents never hired household help because they weren’t comfortable having someone wait on them. Everyone divided the chores among themselves, but Walter always found an excuse to avoid doing his share.
It was true that my father didn’t like Walter, but every family member received the same amount of holiday gifts.
As for the annual memorial service, Walter was the one who complained that the ceremony was long and exhausting. He insisted that he wasn’t a Bennett and didn’t belong inside, so he chose to wait at the door.
Yet when Walter retold those stories to our sons, every one of his own choices became proof that the Bennett family had mistreated him.
I finally couldn’t take it anymore.
“Enough!”
The crying stopped at once.
When I lost my temper, Great-Uncle Henry Bennett pulled me aside and tried to reason with me.
“You have two sons. Why not let one of them take the Carter name? That way, your father’s legacy can live on. They can’t both change their names.”
I bit my lip.
It seemed like the only solution. If everyone compromised, perhaps we could prevent the funeral from turning even uglier.
For my father’s sake, I gave in.
“Walter, choose one of our sons to take your last name. We’ll file the paperwork after the funeral.”
Nathan and Ethan looked at each other before answering in unison.
“No! We’re both changing it!”
Any warmth left in my heart vanished.
They remembered every supposed injustice their father had suffered in our family, yet they had forgotten how much time and effort their grandfather had devoted to raising them.
I had developed a heart condition after giving birth.
During those years, Bennett Manufacturing had struggled, and money had been tight. My parents worried about my health, and Walter was unreliable, so they had no choice but to raise the boys themselves.
It was the only time in their lives they’d ever been overwhelmed enough to hire a postpartum nurse to help with the babies.
Nathan had been extremely difficult as a baby and often stayed awake all night. My parents were the ones who soothed him.
By the time Ethan was born, my mother’s health had also begun to decline. Ethan was frail and constantly had to be taken to the hospital, and my father made every one of those trips.
Dad, you tried so hard to preserve the Bennett legacy, but in the end, even you couldn’t hold on to it.
My sons had been born and raised as Bennetts, yet they wanted to become Carters.
Something inside me went cold, and suddenly, the pain faded.
After the fury came a calm unlike anything I had ever felt before.
I stepped forward, took the microphone, and forced a smile for the guests.
“Thank you all for coming to say goodbye to my father today. I’m sorry you had to witness such an embarrassing family argument. My sons want to change their last names, and I won’t stand in their way.”
The rest of the Bennett family didn’t understand my decision and tried to object, but I silenced them with a look.
Once I’d agreed in front of everyone, Nathan, Ethan, and the Carters visibly relaxed.
Linda took my hand, unable to hide the triumph in her eyes.
“That’s more like it. No matter what last name they use, they’ll always be your sons. Yours and Walter’s. Nothing can change that.”
“Your family can live in peace now. Your sons are grown, Evelyn. It’s time for you to relax and enjoy life. Nathan graduated from an excellent university, so it only makes sense for Walter to show him the ropes before he takes over Bennett Manufacturing.”
I pulled my hand out of hers.
“Who said Nathan would take over the company? ” The Bennett family estate is held in trust, and their status as beneficiaries can be changed.
Linda’s expression changed.
“You only have two sons! If you don’t leave the family estate to them, who else would you leave it to? They’re still your sons even if they change their last names!”
A cold smile tugged at my lips.
“Who said they were my only children?”
“What do you mean?”
Walter’s eyes darted around, his mind clearly racing.
His insecurity had always made him distrust me, so his tone immediately turned accusatory.
I didn’t answer his question.
“You wanted the boys to change their last names, and I agreed. Now we’re going to continue with my father’s funeral. We’ll deal with everything else afterward.”
Nathan thought I was just upset and didn’t take me seriously. He tugged on Walter’s arm.
“Dad, Mom’s upset right now. That’s understandable. She already agreed, so we can file the name-change paperwork tomorrow. Let’s say goodbye to Grandpa first.”
Walter suppressed his emotions and said nothing more.
The funeral procession began. Nathan carried my father’s urn while Ethan held his portrait, and together they walked at the front.
There was no grief on their faces. Neither of them shed a single tear.
All I saw was their excitement at finally taking the Carter name.
They should enjoy this moment while it lasted.
Carrying my father’s urn and portrait would be their final privilege as Bennett heirs.
Once they formally chose to leave the Bennett family behind, I would reconsider their place in the Bennett family trust.
