“Listen, Alice! You no longer have a mother or a father. You dont even have a home,” her mother replied.
Late that evening, the silence was broken by the ringing of the telephone. Margaret picked it up and heard her daughters voice.
“Mum, its Alice. Ive got trouble My husbands thrown me out. Ill come to you and Dad first thing in the morning and stay with you.”
“Listen, Alice,” Margaret said evenly. “You no longer have a mother or a father, nor a home to return to.”
“What?” Alice shrieked, as though she hadnt heard. “What do you meanno home? Im your daughter, your only one! Ive every right to live in this flat!” Her voice rose in hysteria.
“Thats how it is, my dear,” Margaret replied calmly. “Theres no flat for you anymore. Weve signed it over to Daisy. She owns it now, and your father and I want nothing more to do with you. Youre no longer our daughter.”
The argument dragged onaccusations, demands, bitter words.
“Dont call here again! Youve lost everything!” Margaret ended the call sharply. After what Alice had done, she believed she had every right to say it.
Standing by the window, Margaret couldnt help but remember how another tragedy had begun with a phone call.
A fateful ring shattered the quiet of an early dawn. Margaret jolted awake and snatched up the receiver.
“Yes, hello?”
A muffled sob came through the line.
“Hello? Whos there?”
“Its its Caroline.”
“Caroline, whats happened? Youre frightening medo you know what time it is?”
“I do. Today, theyre taking me to hospital for surgery. Im terrified for Lily. Please, dont leave her aloneshes still just a child. Dont let her go to an orphanage.”
Margarets sister had always been unpredictable, full of wild ideas and sudden whims. But this was beyond even her. Unlessunless something truly dreadful had happened?
Margaret clutched the phone, her hands damp, sensing something terrible but unable to grasp it yet.
“Caroline, why didnt you say anything sooner? Why now? Whats wrong? Which hospital are they taking you to?”
Caroline had long been battling an illness shed ignored. The past month had been unbearableshed grown thin, her face altered. The doctors verdict was grim: emergency surgery. Shed agonised over telling Margaret, whod always supported her, both financially and emotionally, standing in place of a mother. Now, she was asking her to take in her child too.
“Margaret, the doctors arent making promises. They say its a matter of hope now. Im begging youlook after Lily.”
Within the hour, Margaret and her husband arrived at the clinic where Caroline lay. The surgery hadnt yet begun, but visitors were barred. In the corridor, curled in a corner, sat little Lily. Margaret knelt and wrapped her arms around the girl.
“Will Mummy be all right?” the child whispered, tears spilling.
“Yes, love,” Margaret soothed. “Shell go to sleep and feel nothing, and when she wakes, youll see her smiling and well again.”
But four hours later, the surgeon emerged with grim news: Caroline hadnt survived.
Margaret took Lily home. She led her to her daughters room, announcing that Lily had no mother now, and Alice no aunt. The girls would live together. Alice shot a furious glare but held her tongue.
A week later, Lilys belongings were tossed into the hall. Alice refused to share her space.
“Mum, this is *my* room! Why should I give up my wardrobe and my bed for her?”
To avoid further rows, Margaret and her husband gave Lily their own bedroom and moved into the sitting room. Lily withdrew furtherher father unknown, Caroline having taken his name to the grave. Now, her life depended entirely on Margaret and her husband, who struggled to divide their attention equally between their own daughter and their niece.
Years passed. Alice finished university and marrieda wealthy man much older than her. She cared little for the difference, hastily packing her things and moving in with Edward. A month later, she announced the wedding.
“Mum, theres just one thingI dont want *her* at my wedding. I wont have her there.”
“Alice, you cant mean that. Shes as good as your sister nowyour only one. Not inviting her would shame *us*.”
“I dont care! I warned you!” Alice screamed.
“Then your father and I wont come either.”
“Fine! Dont!” Alice snapped.
Margaret wept, but once composed, she resolved to take a holiday in Cornwall instead.
“What about Alices wedding?” her husband asked, bewildered.
“Were not welcome. Lily, help us find a hotelyoure better at these things.”
“So were really going?” Lily asked softly.
“Yes, love. We can afford it.”
“Oh, thats wonderful!” The girl beamed.
More years slipped by. Lily finished school, excelled at universityjust like her mother. On her eighteenth birthday, Margarets husband collapsed. Rushed to hospital, the doctors said only an expensive drug could save him. In desperation, Margaret called Alice, knowing Edwards wealth.
“Alice, love, your fathers dying. We need this medicinethe cost is horrendous. Can you lend us the money?”
A long pause.
“All right, Ill speak to Edward and call you back.”
Hours passed. At last, the phone rang.
“Mum, heres the thingEdwards promised me a car for ages, and nows the time. Either he buys it now, or we give the money to you.”
“Alice, forget the car! Your father needs thishell die without it!”
“And how will you repay us? Youd be scraping pennies for years. Ill *never* get that car then.”
“Do you hear yourself? This is your fathers *life*!”
“Take out a loan. I cant help.”
Margaret nearly fainted. Lily rushed to her, holding her tight.
“Auntie, sell Mums flat. I cant live thereits too painful. The money will save Uncle.”
“Darling, we cant. Its your inheritance.”
“All that matters now is his life!” Lily cried.
Touched, Margaret agreed. The flat sold quickly, the funds covering the medicine just in time. Her husband recovered.
In gratitude, they signed their own flat over to Lily. They lived together happily, treasuring 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 have only one daughter nowLily,” Margaret said firmly.
Later, Lily married William, a prosperous farmer with a spacious home. The couple invited Margaret and her husband to live with them, but they visited only as guests, a cosy room always ready. William and his father-in-law bonded over fishing.
Alice was mentioned only on her birthday. Margaret often wondered: how had her own daughter grown so selfish, valuing possessions over family? While Lily, whod lost everything, had given all she had to save them.
