“I added the $4,000 I had saved during the year. Grandma, remember you told me about your poor eyesight? I now have $9,000. Now we can pay for your eye surgery.”
Marlene got up from her bed. She hugged Linda, tears streaming down her face. “I knew you better, darling! But it’s too late for the operation. I feel my death approaching. I don’t want to waste this money when it could be used for something better.”
Linda wiped away Marlene’s tears and said she would live with her.
“I took a month off. I’m not going anywhere until I see that golden smile on your face, Grandma.”
And Linda knew what she had to do to put a smile back on Marlene’s face.
Having Linda around was a great help to Marlene. She didn’t have to worry about cooking for herself.
There were days when Marlene would eat spoiled bread for dinner when she didn’t feel like making a proper meal. But after Linda arrived, she began to feel on her feet again. Marlene had never felt so relaxed and happy before.
One day, she heard strangers’ voices outside her room and went outside to check. She was surprised. Linda had spent the $9,000 to renovate the house and fix the leak.
“I knew you’ve wanted to fix up Grandpa’s precious house for a long time. Are you happy now, Grandma?! I renovated it so you can have the beautiful house you once lived in with Grandpa again. Do you like it?”
Marlene was speechless. She walked to Linda as fast as her fragile legs could carry her and hugged her. Marlene had never cried the way she did on Linda’s shoulders that day.
Marlene often made a wish. “I want to die when I am the happiest person on earth!” A week later, her wish came true. Marlene died in her sleep, leaving Linda with more than a broken heart.
A few days after the funeral, Linda and Brian are summoned to the lawyer’s office regarding the late Marlene’s will, which they never knew about.
When they arrived, they were told of another unexpected inheritance.
“Mr. White, according to your grandmother’s will, you will have her house. Here are the papers. Please sign them.”
Linda was surprised. She wasn’t jealous of her older brother, but it worried her because she had renovated the house, and Brian had gotten it when he least deserved it.
“And Miss Linda, this is yours,” the lawyer said, pushing a box toward Linda.
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