At twenty, Alice married her sweetheart. A few years in, though, her husband chucked her out on the street with their three-year-old sonturns out he fancied someone else. He promised to help her financially, then promptly packed his suitcase and dashed off abroad with his new flame.
Her ex set up shop in America, started a business, and was doing rather well for himself. When their son grew up, he too headed overseas, hoping for grander prospects with his father. Hed ring Alice and plead for her to come, but she stood firm, perfectly content to stay put.
Alice earned a tidy sum at work, and she loved what she did. She also let out a flat her son had inherited from his grandmother, and the rent was a nice little bonus. Financially, life was as smooth as a freshly mowed cricket pitch, but Alice still pinched every penny.
One day, a chap wandered into her lifelets call him Peter. He owned a modest business but had a real talent for spending. Saving? Not so muchhis wallet was allergic to spare change. Alice tried to teach him the art of squirrelling money away, but it was like trying to ask a cat to fetch.
A little while later, Peters adult son turned up and asked them for a bit of cash to buy himself a carhe was just a few thousand pounds short. The answer was a polite but firm no; Peter didnt have any savings to help him out. The son didnt realise Alice had a flat and a respectable nest egg tucked away.
Soon after, Alices niece fell seriously ill and needed an operation. Alice didnt think twiceshe handed over every penny shed saved to help her. When Peter found out, he was absolutely livid.
You told my son no, and then you hand all your money to your own family? You couldve given half to each of them! What kind of family is this if youre hiding money from me? he bellowed.
Alice tried her best to explain, but he wasnt having it. Peter packed his bags in a dramatic flourish and stormed out. In the end, they divorcedhe just couldnt forgive her.
So what do you think? Was Alice right to help her niece? Or should she have bought Peters son a car, since shed married into the family?
