One morning, 75-year-old Martha Ellison was quietly sipping tea beside the lace-draped window in her nursing home room when her caregiver, Lena, rushed in with news.
“Mrs. Ellison, you have a visitor! Your grandson is here—Logan has come to see you!”
Martha hadn’t had a visitor in over a year. When she heard Logan was there, her heart didn’t leap with joy. She knew why he had come. It was always about money. That was all Logan and his wife, Amber, ever seemed to care about.
“Would you like me to help you to the lobby, ma’am?”
“No, dear. I can manage. Let me get ready first. It’s been a long time since I last saw him—I should look my best,” Martha replied, walking slowly to her closet.
As she searched for her nicest dress, memories and regret washed over her. A tear slid down her cheek.
Greed and betrayal never end well.
“I should’ve known better than to trust him,” she thought bitterly. “I gave him everything. And for what?”
Five years ago, Martha had lived alone in the cozy home left to her by her late husband, Walter. Logan had moved out long ago and seldom visited—once a year at best. But out of the blue, he started coming by more often. Martha was touched by the sudden attention.
One day, Logan sat beside her and pleaded:
“Grandma, Amber needs urgent surgery. I’m broke, and the insurance barely covers anything. Please… I don’t know who else to turn to.”
He was all Martha had. Moved by concern, she sold her home and moved in with Logan and Amber, handing them the money to cover the so-called operation.
But none of it was true.
Amber wasn’t sick. There was no surgery. They had used Martha’s money to fund a luxurious vacation to Hawaii.
Three weeks later, the couple returned, pretending they had been in the city hospital. “Grandma, your bread smells amazing. I’ve missed this! I’m starving!” Logan said, playing the role of the loving grandson.
Martha worked around the house tirelessly, even taking over chores from Amber, believing she was recovering. But one day, while tending to her potted plants, she overheard Amber speaking to a friend in the garden:
“She’s such a burden. All she does is read and lounge around. Can’t wait to send her off—I want the guest room for my sister.”