A few weeks ago, I received a letter—a real, honest-to-God, fancy letter in one of those thick, cream-colored envelopes. It was from a lawyer telling me I was a candidate for an inheritance from my late grandmother’s sister. I barely knew the woman, so you can imagine my surprise when I found out I might inherit something from her.
That’s how I found myself on a business-class flight to Dallas. Just as I was getting settled, I noticed this teenager in the row ahead of me. He couldn’t have been more than 15, but he was already a professional brat. He was loud and obnoxious and made a scene just for the sake of it. His father, sitting right next to him, wasn’t any better. Instead of telling his kid to calm down, he was egging him on, laughing like it was the funniest thing in the world. I mean, who does that?
I tried to tune them out, but it was impossible. The kid—Dean, I think I heard his father call him—started throwing chips over the seat, and of course, they landed right on me. I took a deep breath, counted to ten, and leaned forward. “Hey, what are you doing? Calm down, kid!” I said. I hate confrontation, but I wasn’t about to let some teenager treat me like a target practice dummy.
Dean turned around, smirking as if he’d just won the lottery. “Calm down, kid! Calm down!” he mocked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. And then, he threw another handful of chips right at my face. I was stunned. Who acts like this? I looked at his father, hoping he’d step in and say something, but no. The man was laughing so hard he was practically in tears.
“Excuse me, are you this kid’s father?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady, though I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks. “Hold on,” the man said, his voice full of amusement. “I’m recording this! Can you say ‘Calm down, kid!’ one more time?”
I couldn’t believe it. I felt the anger bubbling up inside me, but instead of snapping—which, believe me, I was close to doing—I just pressed the call button for the flight attendant. When she arrived, I explained the situation as calmly as I could, and she was a godsend. She moved me to another seat without making a fuss.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about that kid and his father. How could people act like that? So entitled, so cruel, just because they could. It was like they didn’t see me as a person, just an object to be ridiculed. When the plane finally landed, I grabbed my bag and headed straight for the taxi stand. All I could think about was getting to the lawyer’s office and getting this over with.
As the taxi weaved through traffic, a knot of nerves formed in my stomach. What if this inheritance wasn’t real? What if it was just some cruel joke? I arrived at the lawyer’s office and walked inside. The receptionist directed me to the waiting area, and that’s when I saw them: the bratty duo from the plane.
I froze in the doorway as the father stared at me, my heart pounding. What were they doing here? And then it hit me—they were here for the same reason I was. They must be related to my grandmother’s sister somehow. I couldn’t believe the coincidence. Sitting in that stuffy lawyer’s office, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something bigger was at play.
The lawyer, Mr. Thompson, was the kind of man who seemed like he was born in a three-piece suit. He introduced us all. “Thank you all for being here,” he began. “As you know, the late Ms. Harper had no children of her own, but she was fond of her nieces and nephews. It was her wish that her estate be passed on to one of her sisters’ grandchildren.”
I glanced over at Richard, the bratty teen’s father, sitting with his arms crossed, a smug look on his face like he already knew he’d won. Mr. Thompson continued, “Ms. Harper decided to leave this decision up to a coin toss. She believed that fate would guide her fortune to the right person.”
Richard scoffed, rolling his eyes. “A coin toss? You’ve got to be kidding me.” Mr. Thompson pulled out a silver coin. “Heads, it goes to Ms. Rogers. Tails, it goes to Mr. Gray.”
The room fell into a tense silence. I glanced at Richard, who was suddenly very still. Dean had finally stopped fidgeting. Mr. Thompson flicked his thumb, and the coin spun in the air. Time seemed to slow. It felt like forever before the coin finally landed on the table with a soft clink.
Heads.
I blinked, not quite processing what I was seeing. I won. The estate and everything was mine. Richard was the first to react. He shot up from his seat, his face flushed with anger. “This is bull!” he shouted, slamming his fist on the table. “I’ve got debts, serious debts! I was counting on this money!”
Mr. Thompson remained calm. “I’m afraid the decision is final. The estate goes to Ms. Rogers.” Dean looked from his father to me, his bravado from earlier completely gone.
I sat there, stunned. Richard slumped back in his chair, and all the fight drained out of him. He looked at me, his eyes full of anger and fear. “You think you deserve this?” he spat. “You’re just some nobody who got lucky.”
Mr. Thompson beat me to the response. “That’s enough, Mr. Gray. The decision has been made. I suggest you accept it with grace.”
Grace. There was nothing graceful about how Richard was falling apart. He wasn’t just upset; he was terrified. He had counted on this inheritance, and now it was gone. I stood up, my legs feeling shaky. “Thank you,” I said to Mr. Thompson.
As I walked past Richard and Dean, they avoided my gaze, their earlier arrogance completely shattered. They were a far cry from the people who had mocked me on the plane. Now, they were just two people who had lost everything, and I was the one who had it all. Karma or fate had dealt its hand, and for once, I had come out on top. But looking at their faces, etched with fear and anger, I couldn’t help but wonder if the victory was even sweeter because of the way they’d treated me an hour before.
