How Greed Blinded Him and Ruined Everything
We Were Inseparable
From childhood, I was very close to my cousin, James.
We grew up together like brothers, sharing joys and sorrows, getting into scrapes, studying, and dreaming.
When his parents got divorced and his mother left with another man, James stayed with his father.
His dad drank, took his frustrations out on his son, and could be cruel, even violent.
Even though I was younger, I always stood up for him.
Eventually, we both ran away from that nightmare — we renovated an old attic in his grandmother’s house and moved in there.
It became our sanctuary.
We thought things would only get better from there.
But I didn’t yet know how greed could destroy a person.
He Even Envied Me
When I got into university, James was already working.
Yet, seeing me build my life, he decided to move to the city as well and stay close.
We lived together again and shared everything once more.
I worked part-time as a security guard to pay for my education, while he fumed that he couldn’t land a decent job because he lacked a degree.
I encouraged him to study, even via correspondence, but he refused.
However, jealousy began to brew inside him.
He noticed how much money I had, the clothes I bought, the places I went.
And envy started to boil within him.
Greed Pulled Him under
James wanted to have as much as I did.
But not through studying and work.
He got involved with a local gang—they dealt in shady business but made good money.
I knew he understood what he was doing.
But his desire to be better than me and have more blinded him.
Then, one day, I bought a car.
It was my first big purchase, honestly earned.
I invited him along just to go for a ride and take a look.
But he couldn’t hide his anger.
I saw hatred in his eyes.
He couldn’t bear the thought of me moving forward while he was stuck.
That same day, he took out a loan and bought a heap of junk that didn’t last a month.
He turned into a person obsessed with greed.
The Ending Was Predictable
He stopped caring about friends, family, or even himself.
He needed more, more, and more again.
He sold out friendships, betrayed those who supported him, and fought with his relatives.
He saw people not as people but as competitors.
He destroyed himself.
Now, he is utterly alone.
Alone, like a broken-down car abandoned on the roadside.
Like a racer who never finished the race.
Greed wipes everything out.
But at the end of this race, there are no winners.
