Your laxity has made you the fool among us all.
Jimmy said to Duke, even though you are the eldest son. See where you have landed yourself.
An old dilapidated house that even swine will not like to stay in.
What do you intend to do with this old mansion? Jimmy asked aggressively.
Duke could not say a word since he was beginning to see himself as a fool who could not use his position to get a better property for himself.
Is this all I could inherit from our late Dad? Duke asked himself.
But Dad said I should allow them to choose from the numerous properties and whatever is left is what I should inherit.
Why did he say that, perhaps because he never wants anyone to feel cheated?
"You are the eldest and what I expect from you is to unite your siblings." The words of his late father still ring in his head.
Late Mr Smith has five sons of which he never willed his property to anyone he said everyone must choose one from his landed property as all are of equivalent worth except for the old building which was abandoned.
Duke allowed them to choose for themselves just as instructed by their Dad and he was the last to pick what was left which happened to be the abandoned house.
They were all happy over what they collected as an inheritance from their Dad except for Duke who felt cheated as each of these landed properties chosen by his siblings are worth millions of Dollars but his when rated is not even up to half a million dollars.
Jimmy is the third son of the family, he was upset with that setting as Duke deserves nothing less than what each of them has gotten as he has always sacrificed since they were little.
And now that life is about to start with what was given to them he is supposed to start well.
He showed concern about it but Duke will always tell him to keep his mind at rest as everything will be fine.
Even though it hurts to see that he will have to start building up from scratch.
After so many convictions Duke decided to work on the house with the little money he had.
Nobody seems to care about him except Jimmy who gave him little money to see that he starts up something.
Duke decided to do some clearing by himself before employing laborers to do the finishing work considering the money at hand.
While he was busy clearing the rooms he got to his father's room when they were still in the building.
There he discovered a box boldly written " Duke" when he opened the box he discovered a letter written by his Dad.
"Duke, my son I know you will be the one to inherit this house, your sacrifice has been immeasurable, you have proved that you are indeed a father.
I know none of your brothers will like to take this. That is the reason why I ask that you choose last because I know this is where your faith lies.
This is where I stayed to make all the money I used in building those houses your brothers choose from so it's never a big deal for you to also stay here and build the ones your children will inherit from.
This building in which you are standing is worth a billion dollars. I don't know how best to make this right so I choose this option of saving the money here for you.
Check the cardboard under the sink in the kitchen where your inheritance lies. Use it for yourself and also to take care of your brothers as I know they will surely run back to you for help.
My able Duke, I love you so much."
Duke without hesitation ran to the kitchen where he discovered the reality of what was written on the white sheet.
A blessing in disguise he said to himself as he sat in front of the box.