None of his children appeared.
Not a single call.
Not a wreath of flowers.
Nothing.
When the short wake was over, the funeral home manager approached me.
“Are you Diego?”
“Yes…
“The lady left this for you.
He handed me a white envelope.
It was an old envelope, folded carefully. On the front, in a trembling handwriting, it read:
“For Diego.”
I felt a lump in my throat.
I opened the envelope slowly.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
I took a breath and began to read.
“Dear Diego,”
“If you’re reading this letter, it means I’m gone.”
“Forgive me for not having paid you the money I promised you during these months.”
“I know you probably thought I was a stingy old woman or that I just forgot… but I didn’t.”
“Every day I saw how you cleaned my house, how you took me to the hospital, how you cooked for me without asking for anything in return.”
“Many times I wanted to give you the money… but I needed to be sure of something.”
“I needed to know if there were still good people in this world.”
My hands began to shake as I continued reading.
“My own children stopped visiting me years ago.”
“At first they called me… then less and less… until one day they just disappeared.”
“I wasn’t a perfect mother, but I loved them with all my heart.”
“When I got older and sick, I became a burden to them.”
“That’s why I decided to live alone in this house.”
“I thought I was going to die forgotten.”
“But then you came.”
My eyes were already completely clouded with tears.
“You weren’t my family.”
“You were not my grandson.”
“You didn’t even know me.”
“And yet you treated me with more affection than my own children.”
“You brought me food.”
“You took me to the hospital.”
“You would sit with me and listen to old stories that you had probably heard many times before.”
“And you never claimed me for the money.”
“Never once.”
I had to stop for a few seconds.
I took a deep breath.
Tears fell on the paper.
I kept reading.
“That’s why I made a decision.”
“If you made it to the end without abandoning this useless old woman… then you deserve to know the truth.”
“Diego, this house where I live is not just any house.”
“Many years ago, when my husband was alive, we bought several pieces of land near the sea.”
“Over time, the city grew.”
“The land is now worth a lot of money.”
My heart began to pound.
“Before I died, I did the paperwork to leave everything to you.”
“The house… and the three plots of land that are registered in my name.”
“It’s all yours.”
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