My dear children! Im absolutely delighted to congratulate you on your marriage! On such a wonderful occasion, Im gifting you my country house! Admittedly, theres a fair amount of work to be done, but youre both so hard-working and handy, youll set everything right in no time!
Charlotte can’t help but shudder when she remembers her wedding day, and its all because of her mother-in-laws speech. Or rather, her own naive excitement and blind trust regarding that so-called gift.
At first glance, the present did seem exceptional. It was a lovely two-storey house on a decent bit of land, with a swimming pool and slightly overgrown but respectable gardens. The house had come to Margaret BrooksCharlottes mother-in-law and the mother of her husband, Thomasfrom one of her ex-husbands. She never used it herself, and the offers shed had for it had all been insultingly low, so shed hatched a clever little plan: hand it over to her son and his new wife as a wedding gift and offload a useless property. Or so she announced when she gave them the deeds. The true nature of that gesture, though, became clear much later.
As wedding presents go, theyd been given a fairly handsome cheque. Before the couple could decide how to spend it, Margaret was first to weigh in with her own inspired idea.
Darlings! Dont squander your money! While youve got it, invest it in something worthwhilelike renovating your house. Its the best thing to do. Youll make use of the place as a weekend retreat for yourselves, and later you can let it during the holidays or sell it on for a good profit!
Charlotte and Tom only realised just how much needed fixing up when they arrived at the property to inspect it more closely.
Their first trip out, Tom drove straight from the house to B&Q, ordered a mountain of supplies, found some builders, and paid in advance for the work. Neither of them even thought to check who the house was officially registered to before they poured in all that money. Their trust in family blinded them to any red flags, but that trust would soon blow back in their faces.
The repairs moved along quite swiftly. Tom and Charlotte visited often to see how well everything was progressing, getting more excited each time as they imagined what theyd do with their very first home. After a couple of years, they planned to sell. But Margaret had other ideas.
What do you want it for? Sell it now and be done with it! The renovations are finished, its all sorted. Theres no point going back and forth, risking wear and tear and slashing the price. We can get an estate agent round and do it all properly!
Mum, you gave us the housewhy do you care what we do with it? You said we could use it ourselves or rent it out.
You ought to be saving for a flat, not faffing about with country houses! Ill handle the sale myself.
After that, she dropped the topic completely.
A few weeks before the works were completed, disaster struck: Tom and Charlotte were in a car accident, which landed them both in hospital for a spell. Tom had to transfer all their remaining cash to his Mum so she could pay the builders when the job finished. Margaret kept in touch, her texts full of cheery updates and pretty pictures, telling them how wonderful the house looked now and how lucky they were to have sprung for real professionals.
Then, all of a sudden, she just disappeared. By the time Charlotte and Tom were discharged, Margaret wasnt picking up her phones. They went straight to her flat, but no one answered. The neighbours had seen hide nor hair of her either.
Tom, I dont know what to think. Some young lad had been dropping round to visit your mum quite a lot lately. I thought he was your mate at first. But about a week ago, I saw them leave together. He was lugging a huge suitcase and the neighbour hesitated.
Well? And? Tom was losing patience, his nerves shredded.
He was holding your mums hand. And gave her a kiss by the door.
Speechless, Tom and Charlotte exchanged worry-filled glances, thanked the neighbour, and hurried back downstairs. Margarets phone remained silent. Admittedly, Margaret had always had a lively love life. Since divorcing Toms father, shed gone through three more husbands and managed to squeeze a decent nest egg, a car, a flat, and the country house out of the lot of them. But shed never gone for anyone as young as her own son before.
Maybe we should check the house? For all we know, shes treating herself to a holiday there, Charlotte suggested.
What a shock it was when they turned up and found strangers living there, complete with paperwork proving ownership.
Tom, didnt your mum give us this house? Charlotte couldnt believe Margaret would trick them like that.
She did, but I never checked the paperwork. I just took her word for it. Then we ploughed all our money into the renovations. Somethings gone horribly wrongI bet that toy-boy put her up to it! Maybe Mums in trouble! Toms distress was contagious, and Charlottes heart softened, too. They immediately reported Margaret missing to the police… and were utterly floored when, just a week later, she sent through a video message herself.
Dearest darlings! First of all, dont worry about meIm perfectly happy! Dont bother searching or being cross with me; I only did what my heart told me. Ive got a brand-new young husband, and hes whisked me away to the seaside where were buying a lovely house. But, of course, we needed some funds for the move. Even if Id sold all my assets, it wouldnt have covered everything. So! I gave you the country house, you spent your money making it lovely, and then I sold it. I pocketed the remainder of your savings, too. Youre grown upyoull make more! And no, by the way, the car crash wasnt my fault, though I must admit the timing was jolly convenient for us. With the proceeds, Ive bought us a cosy flat in a seaside town. Dont look for me, Im happytruly I wish the same for you!
Is this some sort of sick joke? If it is, I swear, Ill track down her new bloke and throttle him! Tom nearly lost his grip.
For weeks, they tried tracking Margaret down and contesting the sale, but nothing worked. The wily woman had completely outsmarted her own son.
It took Charlotte and Tom nearly a year to recover from it all. Eventuallyafter endless soul-searchingthey even managed to understand her motives, but forgiveness was out of the question. With nothing left from either the gift or their savings, they learned a hard lesson: never pour your money into something unless your names on the deeds.
It cost them dearly, but they would never forget. Margaret reappeared in town years later, hoping enough time had passed for her son and daughter-in-law to let bygones be bygones. She misjudged the situation badly. With her young husband long gone, and no support from Tom (who had blocked her number and moved on), she was left alone once and for all.
