When Ahmed remarried after his wife’s death, he believed he’d found both a partner for himself and a mother for his children. His new wife, Samina, was warm, attentive, and showered Zara and Sameer with love. To outsiders, they were the perfect blended family.
But sometimes love is only a performance.
Years later, when Ahmed fell ill and knew his time was near, he confided in Samina. He entrusted everything—the house, the savings, the property—with a simple request: *“Keep this safe for my children. Their future depends on it.”*
Samina nodded. And promised.
But when Ahmed passed, the promise died with him.
Samina told Zara and Sameer the truth she chose for them: “Your father left nothing. Everything was spent on his treatments. We have nothing.”
Zara, barely 19, abandoned her dream of university and began working. Sameer, just 15, dropped out of school to help. They struggled to afford even daily meals, while Samina, behind closed doors, quietly sold off their father’s properties and funneled the money into secret accounts.
The children never questioned her directly. Why would they? She was “Ammi.”
But secrets don’t stay buried forever.
One day, Sameer accidentally found a bank slip hidden in Samina’s drawer. Confused, he showed Zara. Together, they pieced together the truth: their father’s wealth wasn’t lost. It had been stolen—by the woman who claimed to love them.
When confronted, Samina didn’t deny it.
“I did it for myself,” she said quietly, eyes heavy with tears. “I was tired of living for others.”
Her confession cut deeper than the theft.
In that moment, Zara and Sameer didn’t lose money. They lost their mother.
They left her house that night—silent, broken, and betrayed.
Samina sat alone in the empty house Ahmed once filled with life, surrounded by wealth that felt like ashes in her hands.
—
### **Final Thought:**
A home built on lies will always collapse. Sometimes, wealth costs more than it’s worth.
