Introduction
The main character of this story, we’ll call him ‘Len,’ has a strong, loving family. Everything was going so well until the unimaginable happened. Something tests the family if they are able to bounce back or not. Len’s grandfather steps in at one point and abuses his powers, so Len decides to get a little bit of revenge on him. Will the revenge be successful, or will his grandfather be victorious?
When Len was a kid, his father was his absolute best friend. He idolized him because he worked multiple jobs while also in law school to support the family. His father started a couple of small businesses with some friends from the ground up. He managed to juggle all of these different parts of his life and gave special attention to being there for Len, his siblings, and his mother.
Everything went to a halt when they found out their husband and father had a terminal illness. Len and his mother made sure they stayed by his side until the very end. It was all very sad. All Len’s dad could do was give her a little smile because he no longer had speech abilities. Len’s father fell into a coma for a bit and then woke up for a little while. They all said their goodbyes to him. After he passed, the family didn’t have much because Len’s mom was a housewife.
Len’s grandfather, we’ll call him ‘Greg,’ was very self-centered. He always wanted to make sure every situation was about himself. When Len’s father passed, Greg used the newspaper obituary to brag about his son’s (Len’s father) grades and achievements. Nothing about his character or how good of a father, husband, or son he was. Len’s mother was grieving and just trying to get by. Greg offered to help run Len’s father’s businesses to help support the family. His mother agreed because she wouldn’t even know where to start.
While Len and his family grew up, the businesses his grandfather ran did not provide much for the family. The business really only thrived in the first place because of his dad. Len’s mother was in and out of jobs just to try to keep the family from sinking. Greg offered to help out Len and his siblings growing up which was very helpful for the family. Len received good scholarships so he didn’t need as much help with schooling as his siblings did.
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What’s Next?
After Len got out of school, he found out his family was broke. His two other siblings were making their way through medical school through it all. His sister offered to drop out of medical school and get a job to help out. Len told her she has worked so hard up until this point and deserves to graduate, so she shouldn’t stop going to school. Len’s grandparents cut them all off because they did not approve of the lifestyle choices his siblings made. By lifestyle choices, I mean going to medical school. What grandparents would be disappointed in their grandchildren for going to medical school? Apparently Len’s grandparents. His grandmother, especially, had a very misogynistic view that women should not go to medical school and become doctors.
Len’s grandmother told one of his sisters, “Why are you wasting your time and money becoming a doctor? You’re just going to have children and quit.”
Len worked as a high school teacher when all of a sudden, he was contacted by one of his dad’s old business partners for one of his companies. Len and he caught up on everything and he asked the business partners how the company was doing. After Len asked him that question, the tone shifted immensely. The business partner told Len that his grandfather has been managing the money in a way that only benefited himself, not the company as a whole.
He told Len, “Your grandfather has been siphoning money from the company for himself. He has been earning way more than he has been giving you and your siblings for your education.
All of Len and his siblings’ lives, their grandfather Greg had been making them feel like they were indebted to him for money that was supposed to be theirs in the first place. Greg was lying to them by telling them their father’s companies weren’t making any money. When their grandfather Greg cut them off, it forced Len’s siblings to drop out of medical school and give up the careers they had been working their whole lives to achieve.
The worst part was that it was their father’s money, and they knew their father would have wanted it to help provide for their futures. It’s sad that as soon as he passed away, Greg swooped in and ruined it all. He ruined the legacy of Len’s father and kept the money for personal benefit and gain. Len found out that Greg used his authority/position to take control of the company’s office space.
He forced the office employees out of the office space and made them set up in a smaller, cheaper office. Greg decided to use the original space as a rental under his name to the company’s competitors to make money from them too. It’s clear as day that Greg was only in it for personal and financial gain and did not care who he wronged in the process. This all occurred while Len was working multiple jobs to help provide for his mother and family. Len had enough of his grandfather’s antics. He decided it was time to implement a revenge plan.
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Revenge Stage One
It was finally time for Len to get some revenge on his grandfather. He said his grandfather’s weakness has always been his pride. Len suspected that the reason Greg wanted them to think he was helping the family out of his pocket was that he wanted to look like a hero to everyone. The reality was that he was being the complete opposite of a hero to the family. He was ruining their lives.
Len came to a realization. No matter what Greg said, Len, his siblings, and his mother were legally the owners of his father’s shares. After having a statement signed by all three of them, Len approached the board of directors without his grandfather and let them know that he was now the sole representative of his late dad’s estates. His grandfather made himself the chairman of the board.
According to the company records, he did not actually work there, the title was just a name that allowed him to receive money. Len convinced them that since Greg was only chairman as a representative of his father’s estate, that made him (Len) the chairman. He didn’t intend on keeping the position. Then Len contacted other members of his extended family to let them know about his grandfather’s unethical actions in the company’s space.
Greg was pressured by them into evicting the main competitor of the company out of the office space. It took a lot of pressure, but he eventually did it. There was a board meeting coming up, so Len knew he needed to prepare everything he needed to take his grandfather down.
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Revenge Stage Two
It was time for the next board meeting. Len prepared for this moment for his entire life. When Greg entered the conference room to preside over the meeting as chairman, he discovered that his chair was facing away from the table with all the board members already seated at the table. Like a villain, Len turned around in the chair meant for Greg.
Len told Greg that the company and his family no longer needed him and that he would be taking over the representation of his father’s estate.
Greg was absolutely shocked and said, “Do you know that I’m the one who put him and his siblings through school?”
Len replied and said, “No. Dad did.”
Greg had a look of sheer embarrassment on his face. It made Len very happy to see him like that after what Greg put this family through. Len never saw his grandfather look this defeated in his entire life. It provided Len with a great amount of satisfaction knowing he is the reason his grandfather felt defeated. It was even better than ratting him out for his wrongdoings.
Len stepped down from the chairman position and took a job in the company’s treasury department as a bookkeeper with a mediocre salary. Len did not care about that. He was just happy that any profit-sharing or dividends that the company released would go where his dad truly wanted it to go. One of the first decisions Len made before stepping down was giving his mother a permanent job because she deserved it after what Greg put her through.
As for Greg, he was not doing so great after this occurred. Greg’s life was about to go into a downward spiral for the choices he made.
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Aftermath
Greg was then out of a job. He spent all of his time at home alone. He spent all of his life being self-centered and selfish, so no one wants to be his friend. Greg has no family left who wants anything to do with him and he doesn’t have any friends. All he had going for him was being on an absolute power trip and controlling everything and everyone around him. Since that ability got taken away from him, there really was nothing left for him.
Len’s grandmother had enough of his antics, so now they sleep in separate rooms. Len hopes that Greg lives the rest of his short life with regret that he didn’t live with more compassion and humility. Maybe if he treated other people around him with kindness, things would be a lot better for him.
One of Len’s sisters reached out to him and told him that Greg is even more miserable now because his wife is extremely angry at him. His money siphoning ways have returned. He has been siphoning the money they had left to another younger woman in hopes she will glorify him. Some things never change.
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Author’s Note
I have to say, reading this story I was rooting for Len so hard. His grandfather seems like he will always have selfish tendencies and always look out only for his own best interests. I thought he might have had a turn in attitude once he lost everything. But when I read that he continued to siphon money to other people who weren’t his loved ones. It sounds like Len had a happy ending for himself by doing a job he knew how to do and making sure the money from his father’s company goes to help the family. It was also really heartwarming to hear that Len made sure his mother got a good job too. Things were looking up for the family (minus Greg) and I am really rooting for them to continue to be happy and carry out Len’s father’s legacy.
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