– How dare she do this to us?” Teresa asked her mother sadly, “It’s not fair!
Maria tiredly looked at her daughter, looked around the room and quietly answered:
– Sophia has every right to do that. The house belongs to her now and we can do nothing but pack our things and leave.
Teresa covered her face with her hands and said nothing. She knew her mother was telling the truth, but she didn’t want to believe what was happening. It seemed to her that it was just a bad dream.
Taking her hands away, she looked at her mother’s sad face and felt sorry for her, to the point of tears.
– Mom! Why did grandpa write a will at all? – Teresa did not calm down.
– Leave it alone, daughter! There is no point in looking for an explanation for his actions … – Maria sighed, getting up from the sofa – Now nothing can be fixed. We have to get ready.
She took a bundle of documents from the table and began to fold them carefully so that they would not get crumpled during the move.
***
Maria was born in a small village where everyone knew each other and always greeted each other when they met. Since childhood she was a very timid and quiet girl who always obeyed her parents. It could not be otherwise, because her mother, Patricia, was feared even by her own husband, Peter.
Unlike her older sister Sophia, Maria always did what her mother said. She even went to school where Patricia sent her. Sophia, on the other hand, was five years older, had a temper similar to her mother’s and therefore often quarreled with her. Having married right after graduation, the older sister ran away from home to be away from Patricia.
Maria, on the contrary, stayed in her family home: she married Victor, whom she did not love, and gave birth to a daughter, whom her mother decided to name Teresa. Only family life did not work out – Victor often quarreled with his mother-in-law and eventually left home.
– You will cry with your mother! She will ruin your life, you will remember my word, – Victor said when he was packing to leave Maria’s life forever.
The girl missed her husband and did not want to be a single mother, but there was nothing to do – there was simply nowhere to leave her parents with a little daughter. From the day Victor left, Patricia took her daughter into her own hands. She did not give Maria a passage, said that she did not have the mind to do something and her hands were growing from the wrong place, she was giving her advice.
When Teresa was nine years old, her grandmother, Patricia, passed away. And no matter how terrible it was, Maria sighed with relief. Peter did not grieve for his wife for long either – after a couple of months he found a quiet woman in the village and moved to her, leaving Maria and Teresa to live in his house.
And two years later Peter seriously weakened. Whatever his daughters, Maria and Sophia, did to help their father was in vain. Very soon he passed away. Maria experienced the loss very hard and did not even imagine that all the experiences were still ahead.
When the time came to inherit, the woman learned the terrible news – Peter made a will and it was not in her favor. He left the house, where Maria spent her whole life, to his eldest daughter Sophia. And Maria did not even remember, as if she did not exist. The woman was shocked, she had no idea why her father treated her and Teresa like that. At one point they were left without a roof over their heads.
***
After the will was announced, Maria decided to talk to Sophia. She went to the neighboring village where her sister lived and ran into her at the bus stop. It turned out that on that day, Sophia was going to go to the city on business. After a little respect, Maria started a difficult conversation …
– Sophia, I do not understand why your father left the house completely to you. Maybe he made a mistake? – Maria asked cautiously.
– Why is that? I’m the eldest daughter, so the house should be mine! – exclaimed my sister.
– But your parents built a new house for your family, and they promised to leave me our old one. Have you forgotten?
Sophia grimaced and looked at her sister angrily.
– Are you kidding me? They didn’t owe you anything! If my father bequeathed the house to me, it must be so, – Sophia snapped. – You go on, pack your things, I plan to sell the house!
Maria didn’t know what to say. She did not expect this from her own sister.
– But where will I go? I have no money, my daughter has not even finished school yet … – she said with tears in her eyes.
– “It’s not my problem!” – Sophia said, “You have your own family, and I have mine. By the way, I need money as much as you do,” she exclaimed and added: “And don’t come to me for alms, I won’t give it to you… Here comes my bus!
Sophia turned around, stepped on the step of the bus and disappeared into the cabin. A cold wind blew in Maria’s face, the bus was moving slowly. She shuddered and realized that her sister was gone.
The woman had no choice but to tell Teresa what had happened and start packing.
– Mom, but where will we go? – cried the girl. – I have friends here …
– Don’t cry, darling! – Maria calmed her down. – Today Nancy, our paramedic, came to me and invited us to her house. She lives alone and can not cope with the household. She will not take money for accommodation, she just asked us to help with the housework.
***
Two weeks have passed since Maria and her daughter left their home and settled with Nancy. The woman was very kind to them and asked Maria a lot about her father. One evening, when Teresa went to visit her friend, Nancy started a strange conversation.
– I need to talk to you about your parents, she said, putting aside her knitting.
Maria was very surprised and sat down next to her. She had no idea that in half an hour her life would change forever.
– Your father, Peter, is not your relative,” Nancy began, watching Maria’s reaction carefully. – Patricia, being married, got involved with a married man and became pregnant. When Peter found out about it, he almost left the family, but then he felt sorry for Sophia and decided to accept the child as his own. That is you…
Maria jumped to her feet and exclaimed:
– Nancy! What are you talking about?
– It’s true. And Sophia knows it.
Maria froze in place. Now everything became clear to her. That’s why her sister didn’t care about her fate. That’s why her father left her disinherited!
– My God… But who is my real father, do you know?” Maria exclaimed, stunned by the news.
– George, may he rest in peace. My father.
The woman grabbed her heart and breathing heavily looked at Nancy. She could not understand whether it was true or some kind of evil joke. At this time Nancy took an old envelope from the dresser drawer and handed it to Maria.
Here, read it. This letter is from Patricia, your mother, to my father, written when she was pregnant with you…
Maria took the envelope with trembling hands and took out the old letter. It was a farewell message for George, in which Patricia asked to forget about her forever. She claimed that Peter would take the child as his own, so it was better for them not to meet again.
Tearing herself away from the letter, Maria looked at the woman sitting next to her as if she was seeing her for the first time. Nancy was twenty years older than Maria, but surprisingly similar to her. She wondered how she hadn’t noticed it before.
– When Patricia started an affair with my father, she was thirty and he was forty-five. I was nineteen that year,” Nancy said as if reading her mind and added, “I’m your sister.
– But why did you keep silent for so many years?
– How could I tell you? Then you would have found out that you were not living with your real father!” she exclaimed. I didn’t want to say anything, but when I found out what Sophia did to you, I couldn’t keep silent anymore! Live with me – you are the closest people to me,” Nancy smiled.
Maria cried and hugged her sister. She and Teresa stayed with her and took care of Nancy when she became weak and could not get out of bed anymore. After her sister passed away, Maria found a farewell letter in which Nancy apologized and said she had bequeathed her house to them.
“You brightened up my last years and I want to keep laughter in this house. I am so glad that I can help you in any way and I love you and Teresa so much!” – Nancy wrote in the letter.
Maria read these lines and cried. She managed to get attached to Nancy with all her heart, as if they had been together all their lives …
