The old woman is over seventy years old. Her husband died early, and she raised her three children alone. Now, all three have big, good houses and stable jobs. However, as they got older, they returned to visit her less often. Once she got sick and called, her oldest son just said, “Mom, take a taxi to the hospital, I’m in a meeting.” The middle daughter said she was busy taking care of her grandchildren, and the youngest son used the excuse of being on business trips constantly.

The elderly mother was left alone in her small, empty house, where the days passed with the ticking of the clock and the sound of the wind seeping through the cracks in the door. One night, she sat in front of her husband’s altar, with tears in her eyes: “My dear, I am old, I don’t have much time left, and they only care about money, no one cares about their old mother.”

An idea suddenly occurred to him. She wanted to see how her children would treat her if one day she was no longer lucid. So, starting the next day, she began to pretend that she was disoriented. Sometimes she called her children by the wrong names, confused breakfast with dinner, and sometimes stood in the middle of the street while going to the market.

The news of his “madness” quickly reached the ears of his three children. They rushed to see her, but not to take care of her, but to… argue. The eldest son spoke first:

“Mom is confused, the best thing to do is to take her to a nursing home. My house is small and it is not convenient to take care of it.

The middle daughter agreed:

“I’m busy with my young children too, I don’t have time.

The younger son laughed:

“How about we split Mom’s pension, and each of us contributes a little more to send her to the best place possible?”

Hearing those words, his heart shrank. She just nodded, without saying anything. From then on, he lived in a nursing home, looking at the door every day, waiting for a familiar figure. From time to time, the middle daughter would visit her quickly, and the two sons almost disappeared. Many nights she cried, regretting having put her children to the test, because she knew that the cruel truth was even more painful than loneliness.

Then five years passed. The hospital announced that he had terminal stage cancer and that he did not have much time left. The news reached the ears of his three children. They rushed to the nursing home, not to visit their mother, but to… take care of the inheritance. The eldest son asked the staff:

“Did Mom leave any property titles, gold or silver?”

The middle daughter was teary-eyed, but she couldn’t hide her calculating look:

“Has Mom already written a will?”

The youngest son was silent, his head down, but everyone understood what he was thinking. The staff just shook their heads:

“The old lady has nothing but a little of her pension, but she left us an envelope, asking us to give it to her when the three of us arrived.

They opened the envelope, and found a short piece of paper, with a trembling handwriting…

“To my three dear children,

When you read these lines, I may no longer be here. But I trust that they will come.

I know they think I’m confused, that I don’t know anything anymore. But I’ve heard it all. Every word, every look, every discussion about sending me to a nursing home, splitting my pension… I heard it all.

During these five years, I have not been confused. I just pretended. I pretended to test his affection, to see how much love I had left. But I realized that the only thing I received was indifference and calculation.

I have cried a lot. Not because they abandoned me, but because I put them to the test. It was I who pushed them away, to later see this cruel truth.

I used my small pension to pay for the nursing home. And the house, the title deed they coveted so much, I sold long ago. With that money, I built a small school in my hometown. I want it to be a place where poor children can go to study, so that they know that affection is the most valuable treasure, not money.

Don’t look for me anymore. I’ll go back to his father. But remember, live well and don’t let money blind you. Don’t repeat my mistake, and don’t become the people you once were.

I love you.”

When they finished reading the letter, the three children were stunned. The middle daughter’s tears were no longer crocodile tears, but of sincere regret. The two sons were silent. They couldn’t believe that the mother they considered crazy was capable of such a noble thing.

They rushed to her room in the nursing home, but she was already gone. On the table, an old notebook was open, with meticulous records of every expense, every brick, every door of the new school.

They returned home, but now it was empty, without warmth. The three children looked at each other, and for the first time in many years, they saw their own reflection in each other’s eyes, with extreme pain and regret.