How Greed Blinded Him and Destroyed Everything
We Were Inseparable
From childhood, I was incredibly close to my cousin James.
We grew up together like brothers, sharing joys and sorrows, getting into trouble, studying, and dreaming.
When his parents separated, and his mother left with another man, James stayed with his father.
His father drank, took his frustrations out on him, and could be violent and belittling.
Even though I was younger, I always stood up for him.
Eventually, we ran away from that nightmare together – we fixed up the old attic in his grandmother’s house and moved in.
It became our refuge.
We thought things could only get better from there.
But I didn’t realize then how greed can consume a person.
He Even Envied Me
When I went to university, James was already working.
Seeing that I was building my life, he decided to move to the city too and stay close by.
We lived together again, sharing everything.
I worked as a security guard to pay for my studies, but he became resentful – claiming he couldn’t find a decent job without a diploma.
I encouraged him to study, even part-time, but he refused.
Instead, he started to envy me.
He began to notice how much money I had, what clothes I bought, where I went.
Inside him, envy began to boil.
Greed Dragged Him Down
James wanted to have as much as I did.
But not through studying or working.
He got involved with a local gang – they dealt in shady business but earned well.
I knew he understood what he was doing.
But his desire to surpass me and have more than me blinded him.
One day, I bought a car.
It was my first major purchase, honestly earned.
I invited him along – just for a ride, to take a look.
But he couldn’t hide his rage.
I saw the hatred in his eyes.
It was unbearable for him to realize that I was moving forward while he remained stagnant.
That same day, he took out a loan and bought a wreck of a car, which didn’t last a month.
He became a man obsessed with greed.
The Ending Was Predictable
He stopped caring about friends, family, himself.
He needed more, more, always more.
He sold out friends, betrayed those who supported him, argued with relatives.
He saw people not as individuals, but as competitors.
He destroyed himself.
Now he is completely alone.
Alone, like an abandoned, broken-down car on the side of the road.
Like a racer who never made it to the finish line.
Greed sweeps away everything.
But at the end of this race, there are no winners.
