Gemotions

The lawyer’s office felt stifling, the air thick with unspoken accusations. Liam leaned back in the chair, his arms crossed. His father, sitting opposite him, looked pale and drawn. He confessed to another child, a daughter he had barely seen. The lawyer spoke of a trust fund, of legal obligations, of a shared inheritance. Liam couldn’t bring himself to look at his father.

He had always believed he was the priority. Now, he was being told that someone else would share in his inheritance. He let out a harsh laugh that caught in his throat.

Liam spent the rest of the meeting staring out the window, watching the city traffic flow in endless, pointless motion. He barely registered the lawyer’s words, a dull ache beginning to spread through his chest. He was being supplanted, removed.