When Luke complained about his inheritance to his grandmother, Mrs. Waters, she cut him out of her will and left him a dusty old chest. He stored it in the attic for years until his curious daughter, Meredith, found it while snooping around. Luke finally opened it and couldn’t believe what was inside.
When Mrs. Elizabeth Waters turned 80, she decided to write a will and divide her assets among her three grandsons: Tom, Aidan, and Luke. She then invited them to tea at her home in Milford, Connecticut, and told them what they would each receive. Mrs. Waters believed that the eldest, Tom, should receive his multi-million dollar oceanfront penthouse in Miami.
The second grandson, Aidan, was due to inherit his current house in Milford, which is worth roughly the same as the Miami property. “Finally, Luke will receive the money from all my accounts,” Mrs. Water revealed, finishing her tea. Tom and Aiden were pleased with his decision, but Luke was upset.
Mrs. Waters gave Luke an old chest as an heirloom. | Source: Shutterstock
“Grandma! I can’t believe you’re leaving the best of everything to my brothers! It’s not fair! Everyone knows you don’t have that much money in your accounts!” Luke yelled. Mrs. Waters frowned at Luke, and his brothers couldn’t believe he could have exploded like this.
“Luke, sit down! You can’t yell at Grandma like that. You look like you’re in trouble right now, you know? She doesn’t have to give you anything,” Tom growled.
“Of course! You’re both happy because you’re getting millions of dollars worth of goods. But I’ll be lucky to get a few thousand dollars,” Luke replied to his big brother. Aidan also told him he was acting like a brat, so he stormed out of their meeting.
The older brothers thanked their grandmother for her generosity and promised to talk to Luke to keep the peace between them. After all, they had no other family left. Their mother, Mrs. Waters’s daughter, had died in a boating accident with her husband when Luke was 18. All three had already inherited a ton of money from their parents.
Luke yelled at his brother during the reading of the will and cut them off. | Source: Pexels
But despite Tom and Aidan’s reassurances, Mrs. Waters began to think. She spoke to her lawyers again and decided that Luke needed to be taught a lesson. When he died two years later, the brothers gathered for the reading of the will. In the end, Tom and Aiden received exactly what Mrs. Waters had promised them.
But Luke didn’t get his due. “Mrs. Waters changed her will after we finished the first draft. Luke will receive this antique chest, which Mrs. Waters valued very much,” his lawyer explained. This angered Luke, who yelled at everyone in the room. Tom tried to calm him down, but Aidan couldn’t stand his brother’s outbursts any longer.
“Luke, this is probably his punishment for the way you yelled at him years ago. Our grandmother is gone! She was the only parent we had left! You’re so ungrateful and self-important! Pull in your chest and think about how ungrateful and horrible you are being right now!” Aidan yelled at his brother. Luke stopped, glared at them all, and left the room.
The chest arrived on Luke’s doorstep a few days later, but he immediately put it in his closet without even looking inside. Then he cut ties with his brothers and moved on with his life.
He eventually met Lidia, a wonderful woman who didn’t care about money and had a large family. A few years after their marriage, they had a daughter, Meredith. She reminded him of his grandmother.
His daughter Meredith loved playing in the attic and discovered something. | Source: Pexels
“I was angry with her about the will, but now I’m ashamed of my behavior back then. I think being the youngest of three boys made me a jealous loser,” Luke revealed to his wife one night when they were both trying to get Meredith to sleep. His wife comforted him and told him everything would be okay because he wasn’t that kind of man anymore.
As the years passed, Meredith was the light of his life. She was funny and loved reading mystery books. Maybe that’s why she loved playing in the attic and rummaging through their old boxes.
One day, while Lidia was out shopping, 10-year-old Meredith brought her grandmother’s chest. “Dad! What’s in there? This box is so mysterious! Does it contain a huge treasure?” she asked excitedly.
Luke was reading on the couch, but he looked up to see what his daughter was talking about. “Oh, honey. It’s not a box. It’s a chest. Where did you get that? I haven’t seen it in years,” Luke replied, taking off his glasses and picking up the chest.
“It was in the attic! Can I have it?” Meredith insisted.
The box contained treasures, just as Meredith had said. | Source: Pexels
Luke had no idea how the chest had ended up in the attic, but he figured it must have happened when they moved into this house, after he and Lidia married. “Yes, honey. You can have it. It was your grandmother’s chest. She gave it to me years ago. But you know what? I’ve never opened it. Do you want to do it with me now?” he asked excitedly.
Meredith clapped as Luke tried to open the latch. It was a little stuck from years of disuse, but he managed it. “Oh my god…” Luke gasped as he looked at what was inside. His daughter was right; the chest contained a considerable amount of treasure. There were several gold bars, and Luke found a certificate, which indicated he was the owner.
“Dad, these are real gold bars, right? Did your grandmother give them to you?” Meredith asked, touching one of the bars. “Why does it say 100 grams?”
“That means it weighs 100 grams, Meredith,” Luke replied, still stunned. There were 10 gold bars inside the safe. His daughter marveled at them as she touched them.
The bank manager guided him to the drop boxes. | Source: Unsplash
“Look, Dad! There’s a letter in there!” she exclaimed, giving it to Luke. But it was an envelope from the Milford Bank, and there was a key inside. “What does the key open?”
“Well, it must be the key to a bank vault,” Luke replied.
When Lidia came home from the store, he explained everything to her. She encouraged him to go to the bank and find out more. The bank manager, Mr. Paxton, was delighted when he saw Luc’s key and ID.
“Oh! You must be Mrs. Waters’s grandson! I thought you’d never come to visit us,” he said eagerly. He then asked her to follow him while they continued talking. “Your grandmother was our bank’s best customer. I fixed this safe years ago. I’m glad you’re here.”
He opened it and discovered at least 50 other gold bars inside, but these weighed a kilogram each. “Your grandmother didn’t trust the digital age. She preferred to keep her money in material things. There are also some diamonds and precious stones here. Do you need to withdraw anything today?” the manager asked with a smile.
He made a deal with his brothers, who laughed at what Mrs. Waters had done. | Source: Pexels
“No, not today. I just wanted to check,” Luke replied breathlessly. He went home and told Lidia everything. That evening, he called his two brothers and apologized for everything. He told them what their grandmother had done, and they laughed.
“I knew Grandma wanted to divide everything equally! But your attitude made her keep it a secret from you! That’s awesome,” Aiden said, laughing over the phone. In the end, Luke laughed too, because his big brother was right.
He quickly reconciled with his brothers and was happy to give his family whatever they wanted. But Luke will never forget his behavior at that time, and will regret it forever.
What can we learn from this story?
- Don’t act like a spoiled brat . You’re not entitled to anyone’s money, even if your parents are rich. Luke learned a hard lesson.
- Always open secret chests . Never leave things unopened. You could miss out on millions.
Now discover the story of this woman who invited her grandmother to her wedding, but didn’t open her gift until she died.
Donna gave Jessica an old trunk as a wedding gift | Photo: Shutterstock
This story is inspired by one of our readers’ stories and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to real names or places is purely coincidental. All images are used for illustrative purposes only. Share your story with us; it might just change someone’s life. If you’d like to share your story, email us at info@amomama.com .
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