My mother inherited the house from my brother, and I inherited an old mason jar full of buttons – When I accidentally dropped it on the floor and it broke, I froze when I discovered what was hidden inside…

I sat up during every break, my heart beating fast.

Sometimes, in the dark, he whispered, “Elena?”

“I’m here, Mom,” I said, already standing.

He hated everything I did for him.

I saw it in his eyes.

“You shouldn’t sleep here,” he once said.

“You should rest.”

“I’m fine,” I said, as I always did.

“You should rest.”

My mother never argued.

He just took my hand and held it longer than usual.

My brother, Mark, who was 32, lived 40 minutes away.

He said he “can’t tear himself away from work.”

He claimed that everything was chaos.

He visited twice in three years.

He first stopped, leaning against the doorframe, and frowned.

“You look bad, worse than I thought.”

He looked at his watch a second time and sighed.

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