A MAN ABANDONED HIS LITTLE DAUGHTER WITH HIS MOTHER TO GO AWAY WITH HIS NEW WIFE, AND WHEN HE RETURNED TEN YEARS LATER, HE WAS SHOCKED TO DISCOVER THAT BOTH HAD VANISHED WITHOUT A TRACE

Doris Dakkar had been a single mother to her only son after her husband left when Nicholas was seven years old. It hadn’t been easy, but Doris worked two jobs to make sure her son never lacked anything.

Back then, she was in her thirties. She never imagined that she would become a single parent again at sixty. Nor that her own son would abandon his daughter. She never thought he would end up being so much like his father.

Nicholas had married a wonderful woman, Sandra, but sadly, she passed away when their daughter, Paige, was only nine years old. Doris told herself that her son was lonely, which is why he quickly got involved in a relationship with Donna, just a few weeks after Sandra’s death, and married her within six months.

Doris noticed that Paige, who had once been a happy and energetic child, was becoming quieter, but she attributed it to the loss of her mother. She still believed her son was a good man, but not for long.

Selfish people never think about the happiness of others.

In the summer when Paige turned ten, Nicholas came and asked Doris to take care of his daughter for three weeks while he and Donna went on a vacation to Alaska.

“Every couple needs time for themselves, Mom,” Nicholas told her. “And Paige has become difficult lately… she hates Donna.”

Doris was surprised but agreed. “Okay, Nicky,” she replied. “I think a break would be good for all three of you. But if you don’t mind me saying… I think Donna knew what she was getting into. She knew you had a daughter. A mature woman should be able to handle the pain of a ten-year-old girl who’s still trying to cope with her mother’s death and her father’s hasty marriage.”

Nicholas blushed and puffed his lips in a gesture Doris knew all too well. “I should’ve known you’d take Paige’s side!” he shouted. “Donna loves me, she makes me happy, and that’s all that matters to me.”

“I would have thought someone should be on Paige’s side, and it surprises me that it isn’t her father,” Doris responded, feeling hurt. “And making your daughter happy should make you happy too!”

Nicholas left angrily, but a week later, he came back with Paige and her suitcase, looking as cheerful as ever. He kissed Paige goodbye affectionately and hugged Doris.

“I’ll be back on August 27th, Mom,” he told her with a cheerful wave.

Doris and Paige wouldn’t see him again for over a decade. The 27th of August came and went, and Nicholas didn’t show up. Doris called her son, but was shocked to discover that his number had been disconnected.

Nicholas hadn’t called his daughter since he left, but occasionally responded to her messages. Now, it seemed like he had disappeared completely. Doris learned that the house Nicholas had bought with Sandra had been sold. He was gone.

He had abandoned his daughter and his aging mother without a word or any thought for their well-being.

Doris sat down next to Paige and said, “Listen, we’ll be okay, just the two of us. I don’t want you to worry. I’ll take care of you. I love you, Paige, and I know your father will regret what he did one day.”

Doris didn’t know how right she was. Ten years later, Nicholas drove up to his mother’s house. The house was still there, but it looked abandoned and run down. The garden was overgrown, and the windows were shut tight.

Nicholas knocked on the door of his mother’s neighbor. The woman was surprised to see him and hesitated to give him the new address of his daughter. She looked him up and down, noticing his shabby clothes and rusted car.

“Paige got married, and Doris lives with her now. I hope you’re not expecting a warm reception like in the prodigal son story,” she said coldly (she was the best friend of Doris’s late mother). “After what you did, I’d expect the worst if I were you.”

Nicholas didn’t reply. He simply turned around and left. He wasn’t worried; he knew how to convince his mother…

When he arrived at the new address, he was stunned. His daughter and mother apparently lived in a luxurious villa!

He walked up to the door and rang the bell. “I’d like to speak to Doris or Paige Dakkar, please,” he told the maid who answered the door.

“You mean Mrs. Dakkar or Mrs. Henderson, sir,” the maid corrected him with a disdainful smile and led him into an elegant sitting room.

A few minutes later, Paige entered. She looked at him silently, with no trace of surprise, and Nicholas knew that the nosy neighbor must have called ahead to warn her of his arrival.

“Paige, my dear…” he said, taking a step forward to hug the beautiful woman his daughter had become.

“What do you want, Dad?” she asked, without any trace of anger in her voice.

“I just wanted to see you and Grandma Doris, sweetheart,” Nicholas said with his best smile. “I’ve missed you…”

At that moment, Doris entered. She, too, looked calm—and much younger than her years. “Nicholas,” she said. “What do you want?”

Nicholas blushed. “I wanted to see my family,” he said. “I was hoping for a warm welcome!”

“You abandoned me, Dad,” Paige said coldly. “Were you expecting warmth?”

“Mom?” Nicholas whined. “It wasn’t me… Donna… insisted. She said she would leave me…”

“Oh!” Doris exclaimed with a knowing smile. “But you’re here alone. So, I guess the money’s run out, and so has Donna?”

Nicholas looked around the beautiful room with envy. “You’re certainly not lacking anything!” he said bitterly. “I would have thought you could give me something… I’m unemployed and struggling…”

“I’m surprised you have the nerve to ask us for anything, Dad,” Paige said. “You left us when we needed you most, but we managed. Now, thanks to my husband, we have everything we need.”

“I’m still your father,” Nicholas said indignantly.

“You’re nothing to me,” she told him, but reached out her hand to her grandmother Doris. Doris watched Nicholas with tears and sadness in her eyes. “But for Grandma Doris’s sake, I’ll help you.”

Paige went to a delicate Louis XV desk and unlocked a drawer. She took out a set of keys and placed some money in an envelope. “Here are the keys to the old house.”

“There’s $5,000 in the envelope. Don’t expect more, so don’t bother coming back.”

Paige put her arm around Grandma Doris’s shoulders and they left the room. Seconds later, the maid came to escort Nicholas out before he could grab anything valuable.

Nicholas sat in his car for a long time, staring at his daughter’s estate. “I did what I had to do,” he complained. “Why can’t people understand how much I’ve suffered? There’s no gratitude in this world…”

What can we learn from this story?

Selfish people never think about the happiness of others, only their own. Nicholas didn’t hesitate to abandon his family, as long as he had what he wanted.

What you give is what you get. Nicholas expected to share in his daughter’s prosperity and received a surprise, but thanks to the kindness of Paige and Doris, he got more than he deserved—a roof over his head.

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