When Mary and George became grandparents, their biggest wish was to spoil their granddaughter, Ellie. But as Ellie grew up and was almost ready to head off to college, Mary and George found themselves needing to teach her a tough lesson about whom to trust with her heart—and their money.
As soon as my daughter, Monica, got married, I realized that George and I had finally reached a new chapter in our lives. We were now parents of a married woman who, sooner or later, would give us grandchildren.
Until those grandchildren came along, we planned to enjoy our healthy years to the fullest.
A few years later, Monica and her husband, Eddie, blessed us with our only granddaughter, Ellie.
Time seemed to fly by as George and I doted on her. Ellie was our second chance to get parenting just right.
“This little girl is everything,” George said, his voice full of emotion, as we came home from the hospital on the day Ellie was born.
“We’re going to give her all that we can, Mary, okay?” he added as we got into bed that night.
I agreed wholeheartedly. This was our opportunity to do everything right—and we had the financial means to spoil our granddaughter just the way we wanted.
Fast forward eighteen years, and Ellie was now in high school, almost ready for college. She grew up right in front of us, with all the sass and attitude that Monica had as a child—and George and I cherished every moment of it.
But then, Ellie’s attitude began to change. The feisty personality we had adored suddenly turned into something much darker and more worrisome.
One Sunday morning, everything seemed normal. I was in the kitchen, making our usual pancake and bacon breakfast while a gentle breeze floated through the open window. This was a routine George and I had established many years ago, and it was now second nature.
George was making our cups of tea—just like he always did—when the doorbell rang, slicing through the peaceful morning.
I turned off the stove and went to answer the door.
There she was, our granddaughter, standing at the doorstep, her eyes avoiding mine.
“Hi, darling,” I said, stepping aside to let her in. “You’re just in time for breakfast!”
Ellie frowned slightly and gave George a small nod when he came to see who was at the door.
“Come on, the bacon is extra crispy,” George said, reaching out to hug her.
But Ellie shook her head.
“Look, I’ll get straight to the point,” she said, her voice trembling slightly, revealing the struggle she was having to keep up a tough front.
Something was off about her behavior. Usually, Ellie would burst through the door with hugs and kisses, asking us how we were doing. She would bring us homemade cookies—always with less sugar because she knew we were watching our health. She made sure we knew how much she loved us.
But today, Ellie seemed like a shadow of the cheerful child who had grown up in front of us.
“You remember Tom?” she asked, trying to sound casual.
Tom was her boyfriend. He was already in college, relying on student loans to get by. George and I had met him a few times, and while he seemed decent enough, there was always something about him that didn’t sit right with me.
“I don’t know what she sees in him, Mon,” I had confided in my daughter one afternoon when we met up for coffee.
“I don’t know either, Mom,” Monica replied, digging into a slice of cake. “Eddie’s not thrilled about her dating someone older, but you know Ellie. She made a strong case for Tom, saying he’s helping her navigate the transition from high school to college.”
Now, Ellie leaned against the wall and continued talking.
“Tom’s got this startup idea, you know? It’s all about renewable energy or something like that. He’s been talking to a lot of people—advisors and whatnot. It could be huge. But there’s one problem. He needs cash to really get it off the ground.”
I watched as Ellie pulled out her phone, still avoiding eye contact with us.
George and I exchanged a knowing glance. We both sensed what was coming next.
But even though we were expecting it, Ellie’s next words hit us like a punch to the gut, delivered with a coldness I never thought I’d hear from her.
“I need you guys to sell the house and move in with Mom and Dad. You’ll get a lot of money from this house, especially because of the neighborhood. It’s a good deal. And you’re old anyway, don’t you want to be closer to Mom?”
“And then what?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.
“And then you can give the money to Tom for his project!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
George’s cup clattered against the saucer, his brow furrowed deeply in pain and disbelief at Ellie’s words.
“Ellie,” he said firmly. “This is our home. It’s not just some investment to cash out on. It’s filled with memories—every corner of it. Why would you ask us to give it up for a business venture that sounds like a scheme?”
I stayed silent, letting George take the lead. I sat down on the couch, waiting for him to help Ellie see reason. Ever since she was a little girl, he was the one person who could calm her down and bring her back to herself.
“Because you’re my grandparents!” Ellie’s voice cracked, her usual composure slipping. “You should want to help me. Tom’s idea will work. You’ll see. We just need this startup capital.”
The room filled with a tense silence, thick enough to suffocate.
I could see the desperation in her eyes, a wild, unsettling determination. She was lost in her love for Tom, seeing only what she wanted to see.
But deep down, I knew Tom wasn’t right for her. Despite the age difference, there was something off about him.
George and I exchanged a look of shared heartache. We both knew that confronting her directly wouldn’t help—it would only push her away and make her more determined to find the money some other way.
“We’ll see what we can do,” George finally said, his voice gentle but firm.
After she left, we sat down, the weight of her visit pressing heavily on us. I began to wash the dishes, giving George space to come up with a plan.
“We need to show her, not just tell her, what kind of person this Tom really is,” George said, his voice filled with resolve.
George came up with a clever plan involving a fake lottery ticket.
“Don’t worry, Mary, Johnny is a wizard with computers. He can create it for us.”
Johnny was our neighbor’s son, always tinkering with technology and making posters for missing pets around the neighborhood.
George’s plan was harmless, just a trick to reveal Tom’s true intentions without causing any lasting damage. We talked to Johnny and had him design a fake lottery ticket, making it look like a jackpot winner. We sent it to Tom anonymously, suggesting that it was a lucky draw from a local store.
The results were more immediate and devastating than we had expected.
Two days later, as I was vacuuming the living room, Ellie burst in, her face pale and streaked with tears.
“What happened?” I asked, rushing to hold her as she crumpled into my arms.
“Tom’s gone,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “Grandpa told me what he did. And as soon as Tom thought he’d won the lottery, he packed his bags. He left to start his real life in the Caribbean—without me.”
Her voice broke, and my heart shattered with it.
I knew Tom would eventually break her heart, but I didn’t expect it to happen so soon.
“I thought he loved me,” she whimpered. “How could I have been so blind?”
I stroked her hair, feeling her tremble with each sob.
“Oh, sweetheart, we never wanted to hurt you like this,” I murmured, my own eyes filling with tears. “We just needed to see if he was really the one before we turned our lives upside down to help him.”
As the weeks turned into months, Ellie’s wounds began to heal. She spent more time with us, bringing her art supplies and setting up shop in the living room.
Eventually, Tom became just another chapter in her journey of growing up.
What would you have done?
