The three children, who had never cared for their elderly mother, rushed to a law firm after her death because they were sure they would inherit her wealth. But they were in for a surprise, which they only found out about after the funeral.
Catherine Blair and her husband Todd had lived all their lives in rural Texas, farming the few acres of land they owned and gradually turning the income from a simple farm into a big business.
So Catherine and her three children, Bridget, Samuel and Paul, had no shortage of funds even after Todd’s death. But when the children left home and moved to town, the situation deteriorated considerably.
At first Catherine really missed them and wanted them to stay with her and help her with her business, but the children had other plans, which Catherine only found out about when she was diagnosed with cancer and only had three months to live.
“Look, Melissa. I don’t have time, okay? And if she’s already in the hospital, the doctors have probably already taken care of her. Why does Mom want to create unnecessary drama? I can’t treat her anyway. I don’t want to leave and never call again,” he muttered as he hung up.
Catherine stood listening to the whole conversation, and Samuel’s behavior made her sad. Melissa, however, didn’t show up.
When she called Bridgette, she happily agreed to visit Catherine. However, when she contacted Paul, the same story repeated itself.
Unfortunately, Bridget’s visit was not at all what Catherine had planned. She arrived at the hospital with a bouquet of flowers and fruit, talked to her for barely ten minutes and then left saying, ” I think you look great, Mum. I don’t think such an urgent visit was necessary. But it’s all right. Take care of yourself.”
Catherine burst into tears at the thought of how times had changed. Her children, whom she had raised with such love, had become indifferent and distant from her.
Even in the last days of Catherine’s life, when Melissa told the children that their mother’s health was rapidly deteriorating, they did not seem overly concerned and only returned to her once or twice to ask for money.
For example, when Paul returned from his holiday in Thailand, he accepted money from Catherine, saying he needed it for a new business he wanted to start. But in fact he bought a new car. Bridget and Samuel did the same and kept asking for money for different reasons.
Catherine was sure that her greedy children were only interested in Todd’s inheritance. One morning she contacted her solicitor and changed her will, which she didn’t want anyone to know about before she died.
When her children rushed to the lawyer’s office three months after the funeral to find out what their mother had left behind, they were shocked.
“What? Mum didn’t leave us anything? What are you talking about, Mr Smith?” – shouted Paul, stunned to learn that their mother had disinherited all three of them.
“I know it’s true,” said Bridgette with a smile. “Mother was ill. She couldn’t have been in a good mood. There’s no way she’d give it to charity instead of us!”
“Well, kids,” said the lawyer. “I never mentioned that she left everything to charity. In fact, it would be inaccurate to say that she left you nothing. She left you a message explaining who the new heirs to her wealth are and why.”
“A message?” – Samuel asked, looking at him. “You think we came here to have fun, Mr Smith? Stop this nonsense and tell us what she did to change the will.”
Mr Smith sighed and held out a piece of paper across the table. “The answers to all your questions are here. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other people to meet.”
Paul took the paper and walked out of the lawyer’s office to read it. He was then followed by two other siblings. They discovered that it was a letter written by Catherine a few days before she died.
“Dear Samuel, Paul and Bridget,
If you are reading this letter, I assume you are in my lawyer’s office, upset that you haven’t received a penny of my money. You shouldn’t be surprised, children, because you got what you deserved.
Remember when I called, none of you bothered to come except when you needed money? Or how you only needed me for your luxury trips, new cars and extravagant lifestyle? No, no, don’t be embarrassed by that. You have taught me how pathetic people can be – even your own children…
“What the hell?” – shouted Bridget, losing her temper, “What’s wrong with her? Did she really think we’d need her moral lessons after what she did?”
“Wait, that’s not all,” Paul replied and continued reading the letter.
…I wanted to give you a little life lesson before I left this world. You know, I saw Todd last night in a dream. I told him how sad I was after everything that had happened. He laughed and said: “Darling, you have to leave the wealth to our children. You won’t be able to take it with you when you die. Why bother with unnecessary things?
But I told Todd that I had a few people in mind who deserved all our money. And it is Melissa and our gardener Robert who are the joint heirs to my house and business. This poor 18-year-old gardener was like a son to me. He bought me medicine, made me fresh tea every morning and evening, and spent time with me, telling me stories about his village and keeping me motivated, even when I told him I didn’t have long to live.
And Melissa was no exception. She drove me to all my doctor’s appointments. She often slept by my bedside at night, looking after me and the business that your father and I had worked so hard to build. But what were the three of you doing? You were too engrossed in your luxurious lifestyle. So, good luck from now on. I hope time has taught you a valuable lesson.
With love,
your mother,
Catherine Blair.”
The three children exchanged glances, but realised there was nothing they could do at the moment. They were on their own and had to fend for themselves.
Robert and Melissa, afraid of losing their jobs after Catherine’s death, were able to use Catherine and Todd’s inheritance – their farming business – and lived happily ever after.
