Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN WHO ALWAYS CAME EMPTY-HANDED
Four years earlier, Margaret had believed the Harper family was finally entering a peaceful chapter.
Her husband, Daniel, had been gone for three years.
Their son Ryan was married.
The family had a comfortable home.
Ryan had a stable job.
Melissa was charming when she wanted to be.
And Margaret had convinced herself that perhaps she could finally stop worrying about everyone else.
Then Ryan called her one rainy Tuesday evening.
"Mom, can you come over?"
Margaret immediately knew something was wrong.
She arrived at Ryan and Melissa's house twenty minutes later.
The house was beautiful.
Too beautiful.
New hardwood floors.
New furniture.
A renovated kitchen.
A backyard Margaret knew they could not possibly afford.
She looked at Ryan.
"Did you win the lottery?"
Ryan smiled awkwardly.
"Something like that."
Melissa entered the kitchen carrying two wineglasses.
"We wanted to surprise you."
Margaret frowned.
"With what?"
Melissa smiled.
"We bought the house."
Margaret stared at her.
"The whole house?"
Melissa laughed.
"That's generally how buying a house works."
Ryan shot his wife a warning look.
Margaret ignored the remark.
"How much?"
Ryan hesitated.
Melissa answered.
"Eight hundred and forty thousand."
Margaret's heart sank.
She knew Ryan's salary.
She knew Melissa had recently changed jobs.
The numbers did not make sense.
"That's a lot of house."
"We deserve it," Melissa said.
Margaret looked around.
"Do you have a mortgage?"
Ryan nodded.
"Of course."
"How much is the payment?"
Melissa's smile disappeared for half a second.
Then returned.
"We're handling it."
Margaret recognized that answer.
It meant no.
But she did not push.
Instead, she offered to help with the first few months.
Ryan refused.
Melissa accepted.
That was how it started.
One payment.
Then another.
Then another.
Margaret told herself she was helping her son.
She never imagined she was helping someone else build a life she could not afford.
Months passed.
Then years.
Whenever Margaret asked Ryan how things were going, he said the same thing.
"We're fine, Mom."
But Margaret noticed things.
Ryan stopped talking about money.
Melissa started buying expensive clothes.
They remodeled the bathroom.
Then the kitchen.
Then the backyard.
Yet whenever Margaret visited, Melissa would laugh and say:
"Some of us don't have the luxury of being generous."
Margaret never responded.
She simply paid the next mortgage installment.
May you like
Until one afternoon, she discovered that Ryan had not been telling her the truth.
And that Melissa had known all along.
