A poor widowed mother, struggling to make ends meet, celebrates her 33rd birthday with her teenage son at a homeless shelter. He gives her a small gift box and she is shocked to find a key inside.
Viona has experienced the worst days of her life, but nothing has prepared her for the shock of losing her husband Sean.
Viona was 17 when she became pregnant. Dropping out of school and leading a meaningless life, she gave birth to her son Corey a few months later. She had no parents and 19-year-old Sean was her only support. They planned to get married soon and live a beautiful life with their newborn.
They sought solace in what little they had. Everything was fine until Sean died in a car accident, leaving his wife and newborn son to fend for themselves and taking more than their happiness with him to the grave…..
When Sean was alive, he never made Viona regret anything. He was the only breadwinner, so she had a hard time after his death.
Viona moved with her son to a nearby homeless shelter after she sold her small house to pay off Sean’s debts. She got a temporary job in a restaurant. The job didn’t require higher education, so Viona was at ease, although her hands were covered in scars from hard work.
Corеy started school and all was well until Viona fainted in the kitchen while doing the dishes.
“The sooner you decide, the better,” the doctor told Viona after she was diagnosed with a disease that required urgent surgery.
To save money for the operation, Viona worked even harder and decided not to tell 14-year-old Corey about her condition.
Two years passed and the boy saw the hard work his mother was putting into raising him and decided he couldn’t just stand by and watch.
“I have to do something to help my mother. I’ll start working… But who will hire me? I’m still a ninth grader…” he asked himself.
He came across an advertisement for a job as a grocery shop salesman and soon worked there part-time every day after school. At first his mother was against it, but he convinced her that he liked what he was doing.
To devote more time to his work, he gave up football and wasted no time going out with friends. The only thing that kept him busy after a long day at work was his laptop.
Corey loved online gaming and tried to create his own game. At 16, he was beginning to think like a responsible adult, but he still didn’t know that his mother was ill.
Viona hid the truth about her diagnosis because she didn’t want to scare Corey. She thought it would distract him from his studies.
One day Corey looked unusually upset, which worried Viona. “It’s all right, Mum…” he assured her, “I’m going to introduce a new game app. It’s entertaining and educational at the same time… useful for children.”
“That’s interesting! But what’s bothering you?” – she asked him.
“I need investors to bring my app to market. Unfortunately, no one wants to trust me because they think I’m just a kid. They think it’s risky.”
Viona sighed. She didn’t want his son to give up on his dream or fail. She decided that she would help him achieve his goal. The next day she went to the bank to withdraw all her savings.
“I believe in you, Corey! Take this money. I hope it helps,” said Viona as she handed him the 20,000 euros she had saved. This was the hard-earned money she had saved after she was diagnosed.
Corey thanked his mother and set about preparing everything he needed to launch his online game. He worked hard day and night, going back and forth between school, moonlighting at the shop and developing the new game.
When Corey finally launched his game, it was a commercial success. Two months later, he gave his mother a small gift box for her 33rd birthday. Viona was surprised because it was her first gift in years.
“What’s the matter, darling? And why are you spending your money to buy something for me?” – she asked, opening the box. Inside was a key. “What is it?” – She asked Corey.
“Happy birthday, Mum! This is the key to our new home!” – said the boy, touching his mother. But just as Viona was about to hug her son, she had a seizure and fainted.
Corey was frightened. “Mama… Mama? Wake up… what happened to you?” – he shouted, struggling to drag Viona to a taxi and take her to the hospital, where he finally found out what his mother had kept from him all these years.
“Please do whatever you can to save her,” Corey told the doctors, who operated on Viona as a matter of urgency. Corey paid for the operation, and a few weeks later Viona recovered.
“Son, why did you spend your money on this house? You could have put it aside for college,” Viona said to Corey as she was about to be discharged from the hospital.
Corey smiled and hugged her. He told her that it was his duty to make her happy and share her hardship, not just her joy. “Let’s go home, Mama!” – he said, and they went to their new home on the outskirts of town.
