After their mother’s death in a nursing home, the sons learn that she sold the house for 1 euro, and they cannot inherit it – Story of the Day

“Your mother sold her house to someone a week before her death,” the lawyer said to the two men. “How could she do that?” one of them growled before the lawyer handed them a sealed envelope. “Here, read this. It’s a letter from your late mother,” he said.

“Don’t you find it strange that Mom’s lawyer never called us after her death?” Mark asked his brother, who was sitting next to him in the law firm’s waiting room.

“I think that’s very unprofessional of him,” Peter replied. The brothers had lost their mother three weeks earlier and were eagerly waiting to hear about her will. They had no idea that a surprise awaited them in the lawyer’s office.

“You’re up,” said the receptionist at the other end of the room, signaling to Mark and Peter to enter the lawyer’s office. The brothers were relieved that they didn’t have to wait too long. After all, they had sacrificed a few hours of their busy schedules to travel to their late mother’s hometown.

“Come on, let’s go in,” Mark said, and his younger brother followed him.

As soon as Mark opened the door, their mother’s lawyer greeted him and asked the men to take a seat. The brothers noticed that the lawyer’s eyes lit up as if he had something important to tell them.

“We haven’t heard from you since Mom’s death. Is it because we didn’t attend her funeral?” Mark asked resolutely.

“Did you assume we weren’t interested in handling the legal matters?” Peter placed his right fist on the lawyer’s desk and wrapped his left hand around it.

“It’s not what you think,” the lawyer said, turning his black chair so he could bend down and pull out the bottom drawer of his desk. “Let me explain,” he added.

After pulling a file from the drawer, he closed it and straightened up before telling the brothers about their mother’s will. “Ruth told me her sons would come to my office a few days after her death, and she was right,” the lawyer smiled.

“One euro? Is this some kind of joke?” Mark asked, standing up from his seat.

He opened the file, which had Ruth’s name printed in bold on the cover, and took out a white rectangular envelope. Three words were written on it: “For My Sons.”

“What is this for?” Mark grumbled.

“Your mother asked me to give you this letter,” the lawyer replied. “But before you open it, there’s something you should know.”

“What should we know?” Peter asked, raising his eyebrows.

“You might not like this, but your mother sold her house before she died,” the lawyer explained. “Someone bought it from her for one euro.”

“One euro? Is this some kind of joke?” Mark asked, standing up from his seat.

“Read the letter, and you’ll understand everything,” the lawyer responded.

Mark and Peter exchanged confused glances before Mark opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. He unfolded it and began to read aloud:

“Dear Sons, I know you’re reading this letter while sitting in my lawyer’s office, waiting for him to show you my will. Mark and Peter, you are my only children, and I love you with all my heart. I enjoyed raising you both to the best of my ability every day, but now, as I look at you, I believe I have failed.”

“What does she mean by that?” Peter interrupted. Mark continued reading:

“After our last encounter, I realized that my upbringing did not teach my sons compassion. Instead, I spoiled you and made you arrogant. I felt so hurt when you refused to spend time with me and abandoned me that day. Still, I believe there’s a way to teach my sons the value of respect and compassion. Dear Mark and Peter, I will not be leaving my house to you both. Instead, I have decided to give it to a young girl who never experienced a mother’s warmth. With love, Ruth.”

“What? She gave her house to someone else?” Peter whimpered.

“It’s all because of what we did to her in the last few months,” Mark said. The brothers then recalled what had happened a few months earlier.

It was a Saturday morning when Mark and Peter received a call from their mother, who had suddenly fallen ill. “Please come home, my boys,” she said in a weak voice.

Mark and Peter lived in the same city, not far from their mother’s house. Since they both worked as managers and lived with their wives and children, they rarely had time to visit their mother.

“Oh no, not again!” Mark said after ending the call with his mother. “She calls us every time and asks us to come home. Why can’t she understand that we don’t have time for her?” he wondered.

Mark quickly called Peter and asked him to come over so they could go to their mother’s house together. “See you in an hour,” Peter replied.

As the brothers drove to their mother’s house, Mark told his brother how tired he was of visiting her every other weekend. “This is getting annoying,” Mark said.

“I completely agree with you, Mark! Mom is getting too clingy. Why doesn’t she stop calling us?” Peter asked.

“You know how lonely she became after Dad’s death, and we’re her only family,” Mark said.

“Yes, but I’m pretty sure she has friends there. They can always keep her company.”

“I don’t think she’ll ever stop calling us. We need to put an end to this.”

For the rest of their trip, Mark and Peter discussed how they could stop their mother from calling them to her house so often. Soon, they had a plan that they would execute once they arrived at Ruth’s house.

“Oh, my boys!” Ruth said as she struggled to sit up in her bed. “How are you both?” She stretched out her arms to hug her sons.

“We’re fine, Mom,” Mark replied coldly.

While Mark distracted his mother, Peter quickly opened her closet and began packing her clothes into a bag. A few minutes later, Ruth turned to Peter and asked, “Hey! What are you doing? Come here!”

“He’s sorting out your things, Mom,” Mark replied. “Remember you wanted to donate some clothes to the neighborhood charity? He’s helping you with that.”

“Oh, okay. God bless you, my son.” Ruth sighed in relief.

When Peter finished packing Ruth’s things, he dragged the bag to the driveway and loaded it into Mark’s car. Then he returned to his mother’s bedroom and signaled to Mark to come outside.

“Okay, Mom. Let’s go outside today,” Mark said.

“Outside? Where to, Mark?” Ruth asked.

“Let’s go for a drive. You’ll feel better,” Mark lied.

“But I wanted to spend time with you and Peter here. I even ordered the cinnamon rolls you both love,” Ruth said. “Let’s stay here and watch a movie together.”

“No, Mom,” Mark replied sternly. “Peter and I have a surprise planned for you. Come on now. It’s getting late.”

Feeling helpless against her sons, the frail woman agreed to sit in Mark’s car, unaware of what would happen next. She had no idea that Mark and Peter were lying to her and had no intention of taking her on a long drive.

“Where are we going?” Ruth asked a few minutes later when she noticed Mark taking an exit out of their town.

“I told you, Mom,” Mark replied.

“But why are you leaving the city? The delivery guy will be at my door soon,” Ruth said. “I need to be back home in a few minutes.”

“Don’t worry, Mom. Everything’s taken care of,” Peter replied, looking into his mother’s wrinkled face. “Just relax.”

About half an hour later, Mark turned off the engine after parking in front of a two-story building. “Come on, Mom. Let’s go,” he said as he jumped out of the driver’s seat.

Ruth had no idea where her sons had taken her until she got out of the car and read the sign in front of the building. “Why did you bring me here?” she asked angrily.

“Don’t shout, Mom,” Mark replied calmly, signaling to his brother to fetch a wheelchair for their mother so they could take her inside.

Mark and Peter had planned to drop Ruth off at a nursing home and never return. They smiled at the staff as Mark wheeled Ruth inside the building.

Ruth begged her sons to take her with them, but they didn’t even bother to look at her. They handed her over to one of the nurses and spoke to the lady at the reception.

“This is Ruth, our mother,” Mark told the receptionist. “We’re leaving her here because she can’t stay at home unsupervised.”

“Her mental state is deteriorating day by day,” Peter lied.

“We’ll check on her regularly, but please promise us that your staff will take good care of her,” Mark pretended to be sad. “We can’t imagine life without our dear mother.”

When the staff assured the brothers that they would take good care of Ruth, they fled without saying goodbye to their mother. The elderly woman could never have imagined that her boys would abandon her like this.

“So, you abandoned your mother in a nursing home, right?” the lawyer interrupted Mark and Peter’s memory of the events. He then told them what had happened after they left her there.

As Ruth cried in the corner of her room at the nursing home, a nurse approached her.

“Hello, Ruth. My name is Samantha,” the nurse said, bending down to hold Ruth’s hand. When she looked at Ruth’s face, she noticed that the elderly woman was quietly crying.

“What happened, Ruth? Why are you crying?” the concerned nurse asked. “Are you not feeling well?”

“No, Samantha. I’m fine,” Ruth replied as she wiped her tears. “It’s about my sons.”

“Your sons? The men who left you at the reception?” Samantha asked. “They told us about your mental state. But don’t worry, Ruth. We’re all here to take care of you.”

Ruth was not mentally ill, as her sons had claimed. Samantha soon discovered this when Ruth began telling her about her life. “I don’t know why my sons brought me here. I’m not old enough to need care in a nursing home,” Ruth said.

“But they told us—”

“I know what they told you, my dear. My sons didn’t want me to live with them, so they left me here.”

After Ruth explained the situation to Samantha, the nurse felt sorry for the elderly woman. “I’ll visit you every day and keep you company,” she said. “I can be your daughter if you want.”

From that day on, Ruth and Samantha spent a lot of time together. They shared meals, watched TV, and talked about their lives. Eventually, Ruth began to think of Samantha as her daughter.

“Samantha helped your mother when she needed her most,” the lawyer told Mark and Peter. “Ruth left her house to Samantha because she wanted to teach you both a lesson.”

The brothers realized that their decision to leave their mother at the nursing home had cost them her love and her home. Mark and Peter left the lawyer’s office with their heads bowed, feeling ashamed of what they had done.

Ruth’s story is a reminder that our actions have consequences. When we choose to neglect or abandon those who love us, we may find ourselves losing more than we ever imagined. It’s important to remember the value of family and the importance of compassion and respect in our relationships.