149 Ancestors
I'm not sure what I expected Veronica to find out when I asked her to investigate where some of the money from my estate was going. I'd already had my accountant jump my ass because I was blowing through my trust fund faster than anticipated. What exactly did he expect? I'm a college freshman with two dead parents. Of course I'm going to spend their blood money as fast as I can. Burn away their memory with shiny things and easy distractions.
Finding out that I have a brother was more than a little bit of a surprise. It's not like the Echolls family tree is one people really want to claim a branch of. Charlie managed to get a pay off, but he probably didn't realize how lucky he was. He got a little bit of cash, but he managed to avoid the Echolls curse. My ancestors are nothing but violent psychopaths. When I look in the mirror I half expect to see my father or grandfather staring back at me. I'd love to believe that maybe the crazy violent genes skipped my generation, but anyone who knows me knows that isn't true. I can fight it all I want, but I'm an Echolls to the core.
I fucked up the gift that my brother had been given because I got pissed off. Without giving him a chance to explain, I assumed he had sold me out since that was a family tradition so to pay him back, I sold him out too. Now he had a first class ticket to life in the public eye as Aaron Echolls' son. I won't blame him if he never forgives. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to forgive myself.
If you find this by chance, Charlie, I'm sorry.