When Mary and George became grandparents, they wanted nothing more than to spoil their granddaughter, Ellie. They adored her so much and were excited to watch her grow. But as Ellie got older and was almost ready for college, the couple realized they had to teach her an important lesson about who to trust with her heart and their money.
When my daughter, Monica, got married, I felt a sense of relief. George and I had finally earned our time to relax. We were the proud parents of a married woman, and we knew that one day, she would bless us with grandchildren.
Until then, we planned to enjoy our golden years to the fullest.
A few years later, Monica and her husband, Eddie, welcomed our first and only grandchild into the world—Ellie.
Time flew by as George and I doted on Ellie. She was our chance to get things right, to be the best grandparents we could be.
“This little girl is everything,” George said with a proud smile the day we brought Ellie home from the hospital.
“We’re going to give her everything we can, Mary,” he promised as we settled into bed that night.
I agreed wholeheartedly. This was our chance to do everything right, and with the financial stability we now had, we could afford to spoil Ellie as much as we wanted.
Fast forward eighteen years, and Ellie had grown into a bright, confident young woman. She was in high school and almost ready for college. She had the same spunky attitude that her mother, Monica, had as a child, and George and I loved every moment of it.
But then, something changed. Ellie’s fiery personality shifted into something darker, something that worried us deeply.
One Sunday morning, everything seemed normal. The breeze gently blew through the kitchen as I prepared our usual pancake and bacon breakfast. It was a tradition George and I had kept for years, and it had become second nature to us.
George was making our cups of tea—just like he always did—when the doorbell rang, cutting through the peaceful morning.
I turned off the stove and went to answer the door.
There stood Ellie, our granddaughter, but something was off. She wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“Hi, darling,” I said, stepping aside to let her in. “You’re just in time for breakfast!”
Ellie gave a small frown and nodded to George as he came to see who was at the door.
“Come on, the bacon is extra crispy,” George said, reaching out to give her a hug.
But Ellie pulled back, shaking her head.
“Look, I’ll get straight to the point,” she said, her voice trembling slightly, revealing the nervousness behind her cold demeanor.
This wasn’t like her at all. Usually, Ellie would burst through the door with hugs and kisses, asking about our health and bringing us cookies—always with less sugar, just how we liked them. She always made sure we knew how much she loved us.
But today, Ellie was a shadow of the cheerful girl who had grown up before our eyes.
“You remember Tom?” she asked, almost casually.
Tom was her boyfriend. He was already in college and living off student loans. George and I had met him a few times, and while he seemed decent enough, there was something about him that never quite sat right with me.
“I don’t know what she sees in him, Mon,” I had told my daughter Monica one afternoon while we caught up at a coffee shop.
“I don’t know either, Mom,” Monica had replied, taking a bite of cake. “Eddie isn’t thrilled about her dating someone older, but you know Ellie. She argued that Tom is good for her, that he’s helping her understand the transition from high school to college.”
Now, back in our living room, Ellie leaned against the wall, continuing her story.
“Tom’s got this startup idea,” she began. “It’s all about renewable energy or something like that. He’s been talking to a lot of people—advisors and such. It could be big. Like, huge. But there’s a catch. He needs money to really get it going.”
I watched as Ellie took her phone out of her pocket, still avoiding eye contact with us.
George and I exchanged a worried glance. I had a sinking feeling about what was coming next.
Even so, Ellie’s next words hit me like a punch to the stomach, delivered with a coldness I never thought I’d hear from her.
“I need you guys to sell the house and move in with Mom and Dad. You’ll get a lot of money for this place, especially in this neighborhood. It’s a good idea. And you’re old anyway—don’t you want to be closer to Mom?”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“And then what?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.
“And then you can give the money to Tom for his project!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
George’s cup clattered against the saucer, his face a mix of pain and disbelief at the disrespect coming from Ellie.
“Ellie,” he began, his voice heavy with emotion. “This is our home. It’s not just some investment to cash out. It’s filled with memories—of us, of our family. Why would you ask us to give it up for a business venture that sounds like a scheme?”
I stayed silent, letting George handle the situation. I could see he was trying to reach Ellie, trying to make her understand.
Since she was a little girl, George had always been the one who could calm her down, who could bring her back to herself.
“Because you’re my grandparents!” Ellie’s voice cracked, her usual confidence slipping. “You should want to help me. Tom’s idea will work, you’ll see. We just need this startup capital.”
The room fell into a tense, suffocating silence.
I could see the desperation in Ellie’s eyes, a wild determination that scared me. It was clear she was lost in her feelings for Tom, seeing only what she wanted to see.
But deep down, I knew Tom wasn’t right for her. Despite the age difference, there was something off about their relationship.
George and I exchanged a look of shared sorrow. We both knew that if we confronted her directly, it would only push her further away. She might try to get the money another way.
“We’ll see what we can do,” George told her gently.
After Ellie left, the weight of her visit hung heavy in the air. I began to wash the dishes, letting George come up with a plan.
“We need to show her, not just tell her, what this man is really like,” George said firmly.
He came up with an elaborate plan—a harmless trick to reveal Tom’s true intentions without causing too much harm. George suggested we create a fake lottery ticket.
“Don’t worry, Mary,” he reassured me. “Johnny is a whiz with computers. He can make it look real.”
Johnny was our neighbor’s son, and he was always helping people out by making posters for missing pets and such.
The plan was simple: we would have Johnny design a fake lottery ticket showing a huge jackpot win, and we’d send it to Tom anonymously, making it look like a lucky draw from a local store.
The result was quicker and more heartbreaking than we expected.
Two days later, while I was vacuuming the living room, Ellie came back, her face pale and streaked with tears.
“What happened?” I asked, rushing to her side and pulling her into my arms.
“Tom’s gone,” she said, her voice trembling. “Grandpa told me what he did. As soon as Tom thought he had won, he packed his bags. He left to start his new life in the Caribbean—without me.”
Her voice broke, and so did my heart.
I had known that Tom would eventually break her heart, but I didn’t think it would happen so soon, or in this way.
“I thought he loved me,” she whimpered. “How could I have been so blind?”
I stroked her hair, feeling her body shake with each sob.
“Oh, sweetheart, we didn’t want to hurt you like this,” I murmured, my own eyes filling with tears. “We just needed to see if he was the real deal before we turned our lives upside down for him.”
As the weeks turned into months, Ellie began to heal. She spent more time with us, bringing her art supplies and setting up in our living room.
Eventually, Tom became just another lesson in her journey to adulthood.
What would you have done?
