Excuse me if this seems choppy. I’m a little numb. Not even sure if this is the right sub to post on.
My (23F) father and my “Uncle Dave” (everyone has an Uncle Dave, right?) had been friends since they were small kids. They joined the army together and were brothers in every way but blood.
Growing up I wasn’t close to my Uncle Dave, he always seemed to favor my brothers (21 and 18) over me. There was always this wall between us, and I just chalked it up to him being a “boys” uncle. He wasn’t cruel to me in any way we just weren’t “buddies”.
Uncle Dave never got married and never had any children. Unfortunately, about a week ago, he passed away from cancer. I have never seen my father so devastated (not even through two divorces). Even though we weren’t “buddies” I cried too because even through his wall he treated me with respect.
I got a call from a lawyer saying they were from my uncle’s estate and that he had left everything to me, which confused me. He had also written a very long letter. My uncle had known for a while that he was sick, so he had liquidated everything and left me a life-changing amount of money. And the letter?
There was a DNA test saying I was his kid and his explanation, was that in a stupid drunken mistake he had slept with my mom (my “dad’s” wife). They had both agreed to take it to their graves. He had been scared to get close to me in case he slipped up and that’s why there always seemed to be this wall. There was more but that was the just of it.
To make up for not being there as my “father” he left everything to me and told me to use the money to better my future. He left me enough to pay off my student debts, continue my education, and even purchase a small house or condo. He expressly told me in the letter to not tell my dad because it would destroy him.
I feel so numb and confused like my whole life is a lie. I want to tell my dad, I want to scream at my mom for not telling me, and I also want to just keep this to myself because the last thing I want to do is hurt my dad when he’s already hurting from the loss of his “brother”
Should I keep quiet, and just used the money?