In an old desk drawer where Mom kept her documents, I found an envelope.
I was tidying up my family home after Mom died, with mixed feelings. It was full of memories – the smell of her favorite perfume still hung in the air, and the pictures on the walls reminded me of better times. I wanted to get things in order before selling the house became a necessity, but what I found turned my life upside down.
In an old desk drawer where my mother kept her papers, I found an envelope. It was addressed to me and marked: “Will”. I was surprised – we had never talked about a will. I thought the house, the savings, everything would naturally pass to me, as her only daughter.
When I opened the envelope, my heart began to beat faster. I read the document in disbelief. My mother had left her entire estate to a man named Tomasz Nowak – someone I had never heard of. She hadn’t mentioned me in a single word.
At first I thought it was some kind of mistake. Maybe the document was out of date, maybe it was just a formality she had forgotten to change. But the date was fresh – the will had been made only half a year before her death.
With every passing minute I could feel my anger and disbelief growing. Who was Tomasz Nowak? Why did my mother leave him everything she had? And why did she never tell me about him?
I started looking for answers. In the documents I found Tomasz's address – an apartment in a small town a few dozen kilometers away. I couldn't wait. The next day I went there to find out the truth.
The door was opened by a middle-aged man with graying hair and tired eyes. He looked surprised by my visit.
– „Good morning. I'm Anna, Maria Kowalska's daughter. Can we talk?”
His face paled, and his eyes betrayed that he knew who I was.
„Come in– he said quietly, inviting me in.
In the living room, which looked modest but neat, Tomasz sat down across from me. He was silent for a moment before he began to speak.
– „Your mother was a special woman. I loved her very much.”
The words were like a blow. He loved her? Who was he to her?
– „We were together for many years. We met when she started working at a nearby community center. She was already divorced from your father by then.”
– „But why did she never tell me? Why did I live in the belief that I was her only family?”
Tomasz sighed.
– „Maria was afraid you wouldn't accept me. She knew you were very close to your father, and she didn't want to jeopardize your relationship.”
Every word he said intensified my pain. All my life I thought I knew my mother, that we shared everything. Meanwhile, she had a second life that she hadn't revealed to me.
– „A testament? Why did she leave you everything? What did I mean to her if she didn't even mention me?”
Tomasz looked at me with regret.
– „Maria was convinced that you would manage. She kept telling me that you were independent, strong. She wanted me to have a roof over my head, because she knew that I was sick and had no family to take care of me.”
Hearing this, I felt a mixture of anger and sadness. My mother, the person I considered closest to me, had decided the fate of our home without my knowledge. Torn between sympathy and regret, I didn't know what to do.
After returning home, I couldn't sleep for a long time. Images were swirling in my head – childhood memories, mom's smile, her care, and now this new, unknown part of her life. Should I really have felt betrayed? Or was her decision an act of love towards the man she loved?
Ultimately, I decided to respect mom's will. The house was sold, and Tomasz received some of the money, which allowed him to live peacefully. The rest of the funds allowed me to secure my future. Although I never fully came to terms with mom's decision, I understood that love and loyalty can take many forms – even the ones that initially seem like betrayal.
Today I try to remember her as someone who, despite her secrets, was always guided by love – although sometimes in a different way than I would have expected.
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