He called her a wretched servant and walked away. But when he returned, he got an unexpected surprise.
You see, he called her a “pitiful maid” and left for another. Yet when he came back, he received an answer he never saw coming.
Katherine had always heard the same words from her grandmother and mother: “The women in this family never have luck in love.” Her great-grandmother was widowed at twenty-two, her grandfather died in the factory, and her mother was left alone with a baby when Katherine wasnt even three. She didnt believe in curses, but deep down, she feared her love would end in heartbreak too. Despite herself, she dreamed of a home, a husband, childrenwarmth.
Her future husband, Robert, worked in the same factory where she packed boxes. He was in a different department, but they shared the same canteen. That was how they fell in love. Everything happened quicklya few dates, a proposal, marriage. Robert moved into her two-bedroom flat, inherited from her grandmother. Her mother had already passed. At first, life was peaceful: their first son arrived, then the second. Katherine did her bestcooking, cleaning, raising the boys. Robert worked, brought home the pay, but he came home less and less, and conversation grew scarce.
When he started returning late, exhausted, with the scent of another womans perfume on his shirt, she knew. She didnt ask, afraid of being left alone with two children. But one day, she snapped:
“Think of the boys, please. I’m begging you.”
He said nothing. Just a cold stare. No explanations. No shouting. The next morning, she served him breakfast, and he didnt touch it.
“Youre only good for being a maid,” he muttered with disgust.
A week later, he left. Packed his bags and shut the door.
“Dont leave us, please!” she cried down the hall. “The boys need their father!”
“Youre a wretched servant,” he repeated, walking out. The boys heard. Sitting on the sofa, arms linked, they didnt understandwhat had they done wrong? Why had their father left?
Katherine refused to be broken. She lived for them. Worked as a cleaner, scrubbed stairs, hauled buckets, taught them to read, and washed clothes by hand when the machine broke. The boys grew up fast, helping where they could. She forgot herself, her dreams. But fate has a way of surprising you.
One day at the supermarket, she dropped a box of tea. A man picked it up and smiled.
“Need help with your bags?”
“Its fine,” she said, distracted.
“Ill help anyway,” he said, already lifting her shopping.
His name was John. He started appearing at the shop every day, then walking her home, until one day, he turned up at her building to help with the cleaning. The boys were wary, but he was kind, patient. At their first dinner, he brought a cake and white roses. When the eldest joked,
“Did you play basketball?”
He laughed.
“Back in school, yeah. Long time ago.”
Later, he confessed,
“I had an accident. I speak slow, move with difficulty. My wife left me. If thats a problem, I understand.”
“If the boys like you, stay,” Katherine replied.
He proposed to her. And asked to speak to the boys.
“I want to be a real father.”
That night, she explained to her sons. They hugged her.
“Our father left and forgot us,” the youngest said. “Would be nice to have one who stayed.”
And so, John became family. He taught the boys football, helped with homework, fixed shelves, laughed with them. The house filled with life. Years passed. The boys became men. Thomas fell in love and went to John for advice. Then, the doorbell rang.
At the door stood Robert.
“I was a fool. Take me back. Lets start over”
“Leave,” Thomas cut in.
“Is that how you speak to your father?!” Robert shouted.
“Dont talk to my son like that,” John said firmly.
“We dont need you,” the younger added. “Weve already got a dad.”
They shut the door. For good.
Katherine stood there, looking at the three menher protectors, her family, built with blood, sweat, and tears. And at last she was happy.
**Life is not about the hand you’re dealt, but the love you choose to build.**
