I got married at 30, with nothing to my name. My wife’s family wasn’t well-off either; it was just her father—Elderly Mr. Sharma—nearly 70, frail, quiet, living on a veteran’s pension.

Immediately after the wedding, he moved in with my wife and me and stayed with us until his last day. For 20 years, he didn’t contribute a single rupee for electricity, water, food, or medicine. He didn’t look after the grandchildren, didn’t cook, and didn’t clean. Some even called him a “top-tier freeloader.”

I got annoyed a few times, but then I’d think, “He’s an old man, my father-in-law; if I complain, who will take care of him?” So I kept quiet. But honestly, I often felt resentment inside. Sometimes I’d come home tired from work, open an empty fridge, and see him calmly sipping tea as if it had nothing to do with him.

Then one day, he passed away—and I just thought that was the end of it…

He passed away peacefully at 89. No serious illness, no hospital stay. That morning, my wife brought him porridge and found he was no longer breathing. I didn’t feel much emotion—partly because he was old, partly because… I had grown accustomed to his presence like a shadow in the house.

The funeral was simple. No one in my wife’s family was wealthy, so my wife and I handled all the arrangements.

Three days later, a man in a suit appeared at our door—and I almost dropped the glass of water in my hand.

He was a lawyer, carrying a stack of files. After verifying my identity, he handed me a red folder and said:

“According to Elderly Mr. Sharma’s will, you are the sole inheritor of all his personal assets.”

I gave a faint laugh, thinking he was joking. “What assets? He freeloaded off my family for two decades; he didn’t even own a decent pair of sandals.”

But the lawyer seriously opened page after page:

A 115 sq. meter plot of land right in the town center, transferred to my name two years ago.

A savings account worth over ₹3.2 crores (approximately 32 million Indian Rupees), with me listed as the beneficiary.

A handwritten letter from Elderly Mr. Sharma, asking the lawyer to keep it safe:
“This son-in-law of mine complains a lot, but he supported me for 20 years without ever letting me go hungry. My daughter is lazy, and he took on all the burdens. I’ve lived a long life; I know who is good and who isn’t. He doesn’t need me to repay him, but I cannot die without leaving him anything.”

I stood frozen, tears welling up, though I didn’t understand why.
It turned out he wasn’t poor at all. That plot of land was ancestral property, which he had kept completely secret, never uttering a word about it. The savings account was money he had accumulated his entire life from his pension and government benefits, compounded by interest, untouched by a single rupee.

He chose to bequeath it to me—the one who once thought he was a “freeloader,” who even wished he would move out.

That night, I sat alone before his altar, lighting an incense stick. Looking at his smiling photo, I whispered:

“I was wrong, Father…”

“All your life, you lived quietly, never letting anyone owe you anything—not even the one who once thought you were a burden.