“Listen, Alice! You no longer have a mother or a father. And you certainly dont have a home,” her mother replied.
Late that evening, the quiet was shattered by the ring of the telephone. Pauline snatched it off the table, hearing her daughters voice.
“Mum, its Alice. Ive got a problem My husbands thrown me out. Ill be coming round first thing tomorrow with Dad, and Ill be staying with you.”
“Listen, Aliceyou dont have a mother, a father, or a home anymore.”
“What?” shrieked Alice, as if she hadnt heard. “What do you mean, no home? Im your daughter, your only one at that! I have every right to live in this flat!” she wailed hysterically.
“Thats just it, love,” Pauline said calmly. “You dont have a flat anymore. Weve signed it over to Sunny. Shes the owner now, and as far as your father and I are concerned, youre no longer our daughter.”
The call dragged onarguments, accusations, demands.
“Dont ring here again! Youve lost everything!” Pauline finished with dramatic flair. After what Alice had done, she felt entirely justified in saying it.
Standing by the window, Pauline couldnt help but remember how another story had begun with a phone call.
The fatal ringtone had shattered the early morning silence. Pauline jolted awake and lunged for the phone.
“Yes, hello?”
A muffled sob crackled through the receiver.
“Hello? Whos there?”
“Its Christine.”
“Chris, whats happened? Youre scaring medo you know what time it is?”
“I know. Today theyre admitting me to hospital for surgery. Im terrifiedfor Lucy. Please, dont leave her alone, shes just a child. Dont send her to a care home.”
Paulines sister had always been unpredictableflighty, imaginative, prone to dramatic gestures. But this time, shed outdone herself. Or was something truly serious happening?
Pauline clutched the phone, her hands damp, sensing something awful but not yet grasping it.
“Christine, why didnt you say anything sooner? Why now? Whats wrong? Which hospital are they taking you to?”
Christine had been quietly battling an illness shed long ignored. The last month had been unbearableshed lost weight, her face gaunt. The doctors verdict was grim: emergency surgery. Shed agonised over telling Pauline, whod always supported her, financially and emotionally, practically stepping in as a mother. Now she was asking her to take on Lucy, too.
“Pauline, the doctors arent making promises. Just hoping for a miracle. Im begging youlook after Lucy.”
Within the hour, Pauline and her husband rushed to the hospital, where Christine was already prepped for surgery. They werent allowed to see her. In the corridor, huddled in a corner, sat little Lucy. Pauline knelt and hugged the girl.
“Mums going to be alright, isnt she?” Lucy sniffled.
“Yes, sweetheart. Shell go to sleep, feel nothing, and when she wakes up, youll see her healthy and smiling.”
But four hours later, the surgeon emerged with devastating news: Christine hadnt made it.
Pauline took Lucy home. She led her to her daughters room to explain that Lucy no longer had a mother, and Alice no longer had an aunt. The girls would share a room. Alice shot them a glare but stayed silent.
A week later, Lucys belongings were dumped outside the door. Alice flatly refused to share.
“Mum, this is my space! Why should I give her half my wardrobe and room?”
To avoid scenes, Pauline and her husband gave up their own bedroom for Lucy, moving into the lounge. Lucy grew quietershed never known her father, and Christine had taken his name to the grave. Now her life depended entirely on Pauline and her husband, who tried to divide their attention equally between their own daughter and their niece.
Time passed. Alice graduated university and married a wealthy older man. She barely hesitated before packing her things and moving in with David. A month later, she announced the wedding.
“Mum, just one thingI dont want your niece at my wedding. I cant stand the sight of her.”
“Alice, thats not fair. Shes practically your sister now, the only one youve got. If we dont invite her, itll be a slight against us, too.”
“I dont want her there!” Alice snapped. “Mum, consider yourself warned!”
“Then your father and I wont be attending either.”
“Fine. Suit yourselves!” Alice shot back.
Pauline fought back tears but, steeling herself, decided to book a holiday to Cornwall instead.
“What about Alices wedding?” her husband asked, surprised.
“Not our concern. Were not welcome. Lucy, darling, help me pick a hotelyoure better at these things.”
“Wait, were going on holiday?” Lucy blinked.
“Yes, love. We can afford it.”
“Oh, thats wonderful!” Lucy beamed.
Years rolled by. Lucy finished school, excelled at universityjust like her mother. On her eighteenth birthday, Paulines husband suddenly collapsed. Rushed to hospital, the doctors delivered grim news: only an expensive drug could save him.
In desperation, Pauline called Alice, knowing Davids wealth could cover it.
“Alice, love, your fathers dying. We need a rare medicationits frightfully expensive. Can you lend us the money?”
A long pause.
“Alright, Ill discuss it with David and call you back.”
Hours passed. Finally, the phone rang.
“Mum, heres the thingDavids promised me a car for ages, and nows the perfect time. Its either the car or your money.”
“Alice, forget the car! Your father needs thishell die without it!”
“How will you even pay us back? Youll be scraping pennies for years. Ill never get that car.”
“Do you hear yourself? This is your fathers life!”
“Take out a loan. I cant help.”
Pauline nearly fainted. Lucy rushed to her side, holding her tight.
“Auntie, well sell Mums flat. I cant live there anywayits too painful. The money will save Uncle.”
“Darling, we cant. Its your inheritance.”
“All that matters now is his life!” Lucy cried.
Touched, Pauline agreed. The flat sold quickly, covering the drugs costjust in time. It worked. He recovered.
Grateful, the couple signed their own flat over to Lucy. They lived together happily, cherishing each day.
Then, one evening, the phone rang again. It was Alice. Her husband had left her for another woman. She begged to come home.
“We only have one daughterLucy,” Pauline said firmly.
Later, Lucy married Alex, a successful farmer with a sprawling home. The couple invited Pauline and her husband to live with them, but they only ever visited. A cosy room was always ready. Alex and his father-in-law bonded over fishing.
Alice was only mentioned on her birthday. Pauline often wonderedhow had her own daughter grown so selfish, valuing possessions over people? While Lucy, whod lost everything, had given all she had to save family.
