My Son Wanted His Fathers Last Name and They Cried When I Agreed Chapter 06
My voice remained perfectly calm.
“Isn’t it obvious? I threw all three of you out. My parents left that condo to me, and none of you has
any claim to it. I won’t let you ruin a place that belonged to my father.”
Walter was so furious that he couldn’t speak.
Ethan snatched the phone from him.
“How could you do this? Do you really think we’re going to keep catering to you and begging for your approval like we did before?”
“You’ve spent enough years lording it over everyone. Grandpa and Grandma spoiled you. Dad spoiled you. Nathan and I spoiled you too. Do you honestly think the entire world is supposed to revolve around you?”
They didn’t just feel sorry for Walter. They felt sorry for themselves too.
They had treated me well in the past because they depended on me for their comfortable lives.
Now they thought I was alone and vulnerable, so they wanted to control me.
I had no interest in arguing with them.
“Are you finished? If you are, I’m hanging up.”
Nathan used the same polished tone he always did when he wanted to hurt someone without raising
his voice.
“Mom, I understand that you’re angry right now. I’ll give you time to calm down. We’ll come home
in two weeks.”
“We’re the only people you can rely on now, so stop being so unreasonable.”
I hung up without another word.
They wouldn’t be coming home in two weeks.
After Claire and I finished shopping, I drove her back to the Bennett family home.
The car was filled with gifts for the older members of the extended Bennett family.
I asked Great–Uncle Henry to gather everyone for a family meeting.
When they learned that I had a daughter, they were all happy for me.
“The Carters have gone too far. They treated you terribly, but thank goodness you still have a daughter. She’s nothing to be ashamed of. She’s your future now.”
held Claire’s hand and smiled, genuinely happy.
She looked like her father. Whenever she smiled, her eyes crinkled warmly, and her whole face lit
up.
She was tall, too. At twenty–four, she’d graduated from college two years earlier and was already leading a team at a major corporation.
Like Nathan, she had graduated from an elite university.
Although Claire hadn’t grown up with the Bennett family, we’d spent at least as much on her as we had on Nathan and Ethan. In fact, we’d probably spent more.
It was our way of making up for what she had lost.
Claire and I had also stayed in contact over the years.
She had always dreamed of standing openly beside me. Now I finally had nothing left to fear.
Great–Uncle Henry promised to arrange a formal family gathering where Claire would be introduced as a Bennett and confirmed as a beneficiary of the family trust.
Claire quietly wiped away her tears.
She had waited twenty–four years for this moment, and it was finally about to happen.
The gathering required extensive preparation, especially coordinating the family and the attorneys handling the trust.
It was scheduled for a little over twenty days later.
Claire and I stayed at the Bennett family home for a while. She even took time off from work to keep
me company.
After I told her everything that had happened, she rested her head against my shoulder.
“Mom, you have me now. I’ll always be here with you.”
To keep the Carters from scheming their way into the Bennett family fortune, I put all my assets in
Claire’s name.
She refused at first, but eventually gave in after some convincing.
She insisted that she was only holding everything for me temporarily and would return it after my
divorce was finalized.
I had no intention of taking it back.
I owed Claire far too much.
Nathan and Ethan had once been beneficiaries of the family trust, but after everything they’d done,
I decided to have their status formally reviewed.
Some time later, I brought Claire back to the city.
I took her through every part of the family business, including Bennett Manufacturing and our commercial properties, so she could understand what we owned.
I no longer had the health or energy to manage everything alone.
Claire offered to help.
“Mom, I can quit my job and run Bennett Manufacturing for you. I’ll turn over the company’s profits to you every month, and you can pay me a regular salary.”
Receiving so much at once would have been difficult for her. She would have felt guilty accepting it
all.
I nodded. “All right.”
When we returned to the condo, we found Walter, Nathan, and Ethan arguing with building
management outside the door.
They had come back and found I wasn’t home, so they’d called a locksmith and tried to get inside.
Building management couldn’t reach me, so they’d tried to stop them. Things had quickly escalated into an argument.
The moment Walter saw me, he became even more confrontational.
“I’ve lived here for more than twenty years, and now you’re pretending you don’t know me? Fine, but you know Evelyn Bennett, don’t you? This is our marital home, and I’m her husband!”
The building staff looked at me helplessly.
I thanked them and told them they could leave.
Once they were gone, there was no ignoring Claire standing beside me.
Nathan looked her up and down.
“Mom, who is she?”
Claire lowered her head nervously and said nothing.
I didn’t tell them the truth just yet.
“She’s a friend’s daughter. Her name is Claire.”
I wasn’t ashamed of her. I was simply afraid that if they learned the truth now, desperation would
drive them to do something reckless.
My marriage to Walter had been an arrangement between two people who needed different things
I had agreed to it to put my parents at ease. Walter had agreed because he needed a roof over his head and enough food to survive.
There had never been any deep love between us. We had children and built a life together because that was simply where life took us.
I had once felt guilty about hiding the fact that I’d already had a child before we married, but I’d never seen my past as something shameful that needed to be erased.
After years of watching Walter take advantage of our family, even that guilt had disappeared.
He had always been the one who benefited from our marriage.
When Claire heard me introduce her as a friend’s daughter, surprise and hurt crossed her face.
I gently squeezed her arm to reassure her, then turned toward Walter and our sons.
“What exactly do you want? Haven’t I made myself clear enough?”
Nathan wore thin–framed glasses that day, giving him a polished, well–educated look. But they couldn’t hide the calculation in his eyes.
“Mom, did you forget? We told you we’d come home after two weeks. Aren’t you done being angry
yet?”
Seeing how certain all three of them were made me realize I couldn’t keep the condo.
I would have to sell it.
I didn’t unlock the door because I was afraid they would get inside and refuse to leave.
“Nathan, did you forget what I told you? If you still considered me your mother, you weren’t supposed to change your last name.”
“But you already changed it behind my back. From now on, don’t call me Mom.”
Walter dropped all pretense.
“You can tell them not to call you Mom, but that doesn’t change the fact that you gave birth to them. You can act tough now, but with your health, you’ll be lucky to make it past sixty.”
There’ll come a time when you need to depend on them.”
The ugly look on his face disgusted me.
“Don’t worry. Even when that day comes, I won’t rely on them. The moment they chose to take your last name, I knew I could never count on them again.”
Nathan and Ethan’s expressions darkened, but they stood there without speaking.
They had more pride than Walter.
“Fine. If that’s how you want to treat us, do whatever you want. We’ll see how long you can keep acting tough.”
With that, they turned and left.
I watched them disappear into the elevator before finally letting out a long breath and unlocking the
door.
Claire followed me inside with her head lowered, her eyes glistening with tears.
I sighed.
“I didn’t tell them you were my daughter because I was afraid they might do something reckless. Be patient. They’ll learn the truth after you’re formally introduced to the family and confirmed as a beneficiary of the Bennett family trust.”
At last, Claire smiled through her tears.
“I thought…”
I pulled her into my arms.
“You silly girl. You’re the only person I can rely on now.”
The next day, I hired movers and listed the condo online below market value.
It was beautifully renovated, in a prime location, and in one of the best school districts, so it sold quickly.
Claire and I moved into a three–bedroom home near Bennett Manufacturing.
It was our new beginning.
