Greed Blinded Him and Destroyed Everything
We Were Inseparable
From childhood, I was very close to my cousin, Oliver.
We grew up together like brothers, sharing joys and troubles, getting into scrapes, learning, dreaming.
When his parents divorced, and his mother left with another man, Oliver stayed with his dad.
His father drank, took his frustrations out on his son, would hit him, humiliate him.
Even though I was younger, I always stood up for him.
Eventually, we both ran away from that nightmare – we fixed up the old attic in his grandmother’s house and settled there.
That was our sanctuary.
We thought everything would only get better from there.
But back then, I didn’t know that greed could ruin a person.
He Even Envied Me
When I got into university, Oliver was already working.
But seeing me build my life, he decided to move to the city too and stay close.
We lived together again, sharing everything.
I worked part-time as a security guard to pay for my studies, and he got angry – claiming he couldn’t get a decent job without a degree.
I encouraged him to study – even if part-time, but he wasn’t interested.
Instead, he started to envy me.
He began to notice how much money I had, what clothes I bought, where I went.
And inside him, envy boiled.
Greed Drove Him to Rock Bottom
Oliver wanted to have as much as I did.
But not through study and work.
He got involved with a local gang – they were into dodgy dealings but made good money.
I knew he understood what he was doing.
But the desire to be better than me and have more than me blinded him.
And then one day, I bought a car.
It was my first big purchase, honestly earned.
I invited him along just for a drive and a look.
But he couldn’t hide his anger.
I saw the hatred in his eyes.
It was unbearable for him to realize that I was moving forward while he was stuck.
That same day, he took out a loan and bought a wreck of a car that didn’t last a month.
He became a man obsessed with greed.
The Outcome Was Predictable
He stopped caring about friends, family, himself.
He needed more, more, always more.
He sold out friendships, betrayed those who supported him, quarreled with family.
He saw people not as individuals but as competitors.
He destroyed himself.
Now he’s completely alone.
Alone, like a broken-down car left by the side of the road.
Like a racer who didn’t make it to the finish line.
Greed sweeps everything away.
Yet at the end of this race, there are no winners.
