A rich man and an older woman are linked by a strange twist of fate, which they discover after four years of living under the same roof. The heavy pattering rain on the window and the thunderous boom playing in the sky distracted Dylan, who was busy on his laptop. In a rage, he marched to the living room window to close the curtains when he noticed something odd.
A woman stood drenched and shivering in the pouring rain, staring at his house. Even in the darkness of the evening, he could make out her frail figure, trembling from the cold outside. “Lyra, honey!” he called out to his wife.
“Did you call someone home?”
“No, I didn’t, Dylan,” she replied, joining him at the window. “Who’s there?”
“Do we know her?” he asked. “That woman out there… she’s just standing in the rain.”
Lyra looked out the window and shook her head.
“I don’t know… she seems old. Let’s ask her if she needs any help.”
So Dylan and Lyra went downstairs and outside, carrying an extra umbrella and blanket for the older woman. As soon as the older woman saw them, Dylan noticed a panic in her eyes.
“Ma’am, are you alright?” asked Dylan, sheltering her under the spare umbrella. “Can we help you with something?”
“Oh well, I don’t know…” she said. “I—I don’t have a place to live here.
I’m new in town and have no idea where to go…”
The woman didn’t have any luggage, which confused Dylan and Lyra. She could be faking it all, they thought. And they had two kids at home.
They didn’t want to risk their safety by letting a stranger in, but something about the woman told Dylan she wasn’t a threat. “Do you have any family we could contact, ma’am?” asked Lyra. “We could call the police.”
“Oh no, no,” she cried out.
“I don’t have a family… I came here looking for a job, children… I don’t know why I—I just stopped here. I should leave…”
“It’s alright!” Dylan stopped her. “Come on in.
You’ll get sick out in the cold. Have some tea with us.”
So Dylan and Lyra brought her inside. Lyra gave her some of her mother’s old clothes, and after the older woman had dried up and changed, they all had tea together.
“I’m Marlene,” the old woman told Lyra and Dylan, who had discussed hiring her as a maid back in the kitchen. She seemed fine, and Lyra needed help with the house chores. “Thank you for the tea,” said Marlene.
“I really needed it.”
“So you said you came here looking for work?” asked Lyra. “Would you like to work for us? We have two kids who are asleep right now.
You could meet them in the morning, and I need help with the house.”
“Really?” asked Marlene. “Would you really hire me?”
“Well, why not?” Dylan said. “So long as you’re fine with it.
We’ll also need your information… any ID… We can’t just keep anyone home.”
“Oh, OK,” Marlene said. “But I would need help with that. I was robbed right after leaving the station, so I’d need a laptop or something… I was wise enough to save digital copies.”
“Perfect!” smiled Dylan.
“You can rest in the guest bedroom tonight, Marlene…”
That was four years ago. Marlene started working as a maid at Dylan and Lyra’s house four years ago after Dylan sheltered her from the rain, but she quickly became like family to them. Their children, Aaron and Lisa, affectionately called her “Ganma Marlene,” and the entire family adored her.
But on her birthday that year, everything changed. Dylan and Lyra planned a lavish celebration for Marlene and invited everyone they knew. Marlene blew out the candles, had the most lovely dinner with her family, and received tons of precious gifts.
After everyone left, she was busy unwrapping the gifts with Aaron and Lisa. Meanwhile, Dylan went to her room to retrieve something and noticed her laptop was left on. He was about to close it when a message on her social profile on Facebook caught his attention.
“Happy birthday, dearest Marlene! I hope you’re having the best days of your life now that you’ve found your son. Your little boy, he must love you so much!”
Dylan felt like his heart had dropped to the floor.
28 years ago, he was heartlessly abandoned by his mother on the doorstep of a shelter when he was just a little boy of three. She never came looking for him, and he could never find her. He knew nothing about her.
Shocked, Dylan walked into the living room and saw Marlene smiling and playing with her children. He was disgusted and enraged. “Marlene!” he cried.
“Why did you do that? Just why?”
Marlene turned around and saw Dylan crying. “Honey,” said Lyra, concerned.
“What’s the matter? Why are you crying?”
“I’d like to know the truth, Marlene. Or should I call you ‘mom?’”
“What?” gasped Lyra.
“Mom?”
Marlene’s eyes welled up. “I’m sorry, Dylan,” she said. “I didn’t want to deceive you all these years.
I am sorry.”
“What else have you lied about, huh?” he yelled. “Tell me, goddammit! Why did you do it?
Why did you come here and hurt me again?”
“Dylan…” whispered Marlene. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t have a choice.
You were a three-year-old boy… you needed a loving home, and I would never have been able to give you that. I was diagnosed with cancer, and I never thought I’d live through it, Dylan. So I had to let you go.
The story doesn’t end here — it continues on the next page.
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