Listen, Alice! You have no mother or father left. And no home either, her mother replied.
Late that evening, the silence was shattered by the ringing phone. Pauline snatched it from the table and heard her daughters voice.
“Mum, its Alice. Ive got a problem My husbands thrown me out. Ill come to yours first thing tomorrow with Dad and stay with you.”
“Listen, Alice,” Pauline answered, her voice cold. “Youve got no mother, no father, and no home to come back to.”
“What?” Alice shrieked, as if she hadnt heard. “What do you meanno home? Im your daughter, your only child! I have every right to live in that flat!” Her voice spiraled into hysteria.
“Thats just it, love,” Pauline replied evenly. “The flats not yours anymore. Weve signed it over to Lucy. She owns it now, and as for youyour father and I want nothing to do with you. Youre no daughter of ours.”
The call dragged on, filled with arguments, accusations, demands.
“Dont ever call here again! Youve lost everything!” Pauline ended it sharply. She believed, after what Alice had done, she had every right to say it.
Standing by the window, Pauline couldnt help but remember how the other tragedy had also begun with a phone call.
The fatal ringtone had torn through the quiet of an early morning. Pauline bolted upright and lunged for the phone.
“Yes, hello?”
A muffled sob crackled through the line.
“Hello? Whos there?”
“Its Christine.”
“Christine, whats wrong? Why are you calling at this hour? Do you know what time it is?”
“I know. Im being admitted to the hospital todayfor surgery. Im terrified for Lucy. Please, dont leave her alone, shes just a child. Dont let her go into care.”
Paulines sister had always been unpredictable, prone to wild ideas and dramatic decisions. But this time, shed outdone herselfor was it truly serious?
Pauline clutched the phone, her hands clammy, a dreadful certainty creeping in before she could even grasp it.
“Christine, why didnt you say anything sooner? Why now? Whats wrong with you? Which hospital are they taking you to?”
Christine had been quietly battling illness for years, brushing it off until the pain became unbearable. The last month had been agonyher face gaunt, her body wasting. The doctors verdict was grim: emergency surgery, no guarantees. Shed hesitated, unsure how to tell Pauline, whod always supported herfinancially, emotionally, practically raising her. Now, she was asking her to take in her child too.
“Pauline, the doctors arent making promises. Theyre just hoping for a miracle. Pleaselook after Lucy.”
Within the hour, Pauline and her husband were at the hospital, but Christine was already being prepped. They werent allowed to see her. In the corridor, curled in a corner, sat little Lucy. Pauline knelt and pulled her close.
“Will Mummy be alright?” the girl whispered through tears.
“Yes, darling. Shell be asleep, she wont feel a thing. And when she wakes up, youll see her smiling and well again.”
But four hours later, the surgeon stepped out with the news: Christine hadnt survived.
Pauline took Lucy home. She led her to her daughters room, ready to announce that Lucy no longer had a motherand Alice no longer had an aunt. The girls would live together now. Alice shot them a furious glare but said nothing.
A week later, Lucys belongings were dumped outside the door. Alice refused to share her space.
“Mum, this is my room! Why should I give her my wardrobe or my bed?”
To avoid fights, Pauline and her husband gave up their own bedroom for Lucy, moving into the living room. Lucy withdrew further. Her father was a mysteryChristine had never named him. Now, her life depended entirely on Pauline and her husband, who tried to divide their love equally between their own daughter and their niece.
Years passed. Alice graduated university and married a wealthy older man. She packed her things without hesitation and moved into his London home. A month later, she announced the wedding.
“Mum, just one thingI dont want your niece at my wedding. I wont have her there.”
“Alice, thats cruel. Shes practically your sister now, your only family. Not inviting her would insult us too.”
“I dont want her there!” Alice screamed. “I warned you!”
“Then your father and I wont come either.”
“Fine. Suit yourselves!” Alice snapped.
Pauline fought back tears, but steeling herself, she booked a holiday to Cornwall instead.
“What about Alices wedding?” her husband asked, stunned.
“Were not welcome. Lucy, help me pick a hotelyoure better at this than I am.”
“Wait were really going on holiday?” Lucy asked, hesitant.
“Yes, love. We deserve it.”
“Oh, thats wonderful!” Lucy beamed.
Time rolled on. Lucy finished school, excelled at universityjust like her mother. On her eighteenth birthday, Paulines husband collapsed. He was rushed to hospital.
The doctors said only an expensive, experimental drug could save him. Desperate, Pauline called Alice, knowing her husbands wealth.
“Alice, love, your fathers dying. We need this medicineit costs a fortune. Can you lend us the money?”
A long silence. Then:
“Alright, Ill talk to my husband and call you back.”
Hours crawled by. Finally, the phone rang.
“Mum, heres the thingmy husbands promised me a car for ages, and nows the perfect time. Either he buys it now, or we give the money to you.”
“Alice, forget the car! Your father needs this medicine or hell die!”
“How will you pay us back? Youd 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 collapsed. Lucy caught her, holding her tight.
“Auntie, sell Mums flat. I cant live there anywayits too painful. The money will save Uncle.”
“Darling, we cant. Its your inheritance.”
“The only thing that matters now is his life!” Lucy cried.
Tearfully, Pauline agreed. The flat sold quickly, the money covered the drug. It workedher husband recovered.
Grateful, they signed their own flat over to Lucy. They lived together, 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 daughter nowLucy,” Pauline said firmly.
Later, Lucy married Alex, a successful farmer with a sprawling country home. They invited Pauline and her husband to live with them, but the couple only ever visited. A cozy guest room was always ready. Alex and his father-in-law bonded over fishing.
Alice was only mentioned on her birthday. Pauline would wonderhow had her own child grown so selfish, valuing possessions over people? While Lucy, whod lost everything, had given all she had to save her family.
