“Listen, Alice! You have neither mother nor father left. And you have no home either,” her mother replied.
Late that evening, the silence was shattered by the ringing of the telephone. Pauline picked it up from the table and heard her daughters voice.
“Mum, its Alice. Ive got a problem My husbands thrown me out. Ill come to you and Dad first thing in the morning and stay with you.”
“Listen, Alice, you no longer have a mother or a fathernor a family home.”
“What?” her daughter shrieked, as if she hadnt heard. “What do you meanno home? Im your daughter, your only one at that! I have every right to live in this flat!” Alice sobbed hysterically.
“Thats just the way it is, dear,” Pauline replied calmly. “You no longer have any claim here. Weve transferred the deed to Lucyshe owns it now. And as for you, your father and I want nothing more to do with you. Youre no longer our daughter.”
The call dragged onarguments, accusations, demands.
“Dont ring here again! Youve lost everything!” Pauline declared sharply before hanging up. After what Alice had done, she believed she had every moral right to say it.
Standing by the window, Pauline couldnt help but recall that another story had begun with a phone call.
The call that changed everything came in the early hours. Pauline jolted awake and scrambled for the receiver.
“Yes? Hello?”
A muffled sob echoed through the line.
“Hello? Whos there?”
“Its Christine.”
“Christine, whats wrong? Why are you calling at this hour?”
“I know the time. Theyre taking me to hospital for surgery today. Im terrifiedwhat if something happens to Sophie? Please, dont leave her alone. Shes just a child. Dont let her go to an orphanage.”
Paulines sister had always been unpredictablewhimsical, full of fanciful ideas. But this was beyond even her usual dramatics. Or was something truly wrong?
Pauline clutched the phone, her palms damp, sensing something dreadful unfolding but unable to grasp it fully.
“Christine, why didnt you say anything sooner? Why now? Whats happened? Which hospital?”
Christine had long been ill, though shed brushed it aside. The last month had been unbearableshed grown thin, her face gaunt. The doctors verdict was grim: immediate surgery. Christine had hesitated, knowing Pauline already supported herfinancially, emotionally, almost as a mother would. Now she was asking her to take in her child as well.
“Pauline, the doctors make no promises. They say only to hope for a miracle. Pleaselook after Sophie.”
Within the hour, Pauline and her husband arrived at the hospital, but they werent allowed to see Christine before the operation. In the corridor, curled in a corner, sat little Sophie. Pauline knelt and embraced her.
“Will Mummy be all right?” the child whispered between tears.
“Yes, love. Shell fall asleep, feel nothing, and when she wakes, youll see her healthy and smiling.”
But four hours later, the surgeon emerged with grim news: Christine hadnt survived.
Pauline took Sophie home. She led her to her daughters room, explaining that Sophie had no mother nowand Alice, no aunt. The girls would share the space. Alice shot a resentful glare but stayed silent.
A week later, Sophies belongings were tossed into the hall. Alice refused to share.
“Mum, this is my room! Why should I give her my wardrobe and my space?”
To avoid further rows, Pauline and her husband gave Sophie their own bedroom and moved into the sitting room. Sophie grew even quietershe had never known her father, and Christine had never named him. Now her fate rested entirely in Paulines hands, though she and her husband tried to treat both girls equally.
Time passed. Alice graduated university and married a wealthy older man. She wasted no time moving in with him. A month later, she announced the wedding.
“Mum, theres just one thingI dont want Sophie at my wedding. I dont want her there.”
“Alice, thats unthinkable. Shes practically your sisterthe only one you have. Excluding her would insult us as well.”
“I dont care! I told youshes not welcome!” Alice snapped.
“Then neither are we.”
“Fine. Dont come!”
Pauline wept but steeled herself. She decided to take a holiday in Cornwall instead.
“What about Alices wedding?” her husband asked.
“Were not wanted there. Sophie, help us pick a hotelyou know these things better than we do.”
“You meanwere really going?” Sophie asked.
“Yes, love. We deserve it.”
“Oh, thats wonderful!”
Years rolled by. Sophie finished school, excelled at universityjust as her mother had. On her eighteenth birthday, Paulines husband fell gravely ill. Doctors said only an expensive drug could save him. Desperate, Pauline rang Alice, knowing her husbands wealth.
“Alice, darling, your fathers dying. We need a rare medicineits frightfully dear. Can you lend us the money?”
A long pause.
“All right, Ill speak to my husband and ring back.”
Hours passed. Finally, the phone rang.
“Mum, heres the thingmy loves promised me a car for ages, and nows the time. Either he buys it, or we give the money to you.”
“Alice, forget the car! Your father needs thishell die without it!”
“How will you ever pay us back? Youd be scraping pennies for years. Id never get that car.”
“Do you hear yourself? This is your fathers life!”
“Take out a loan. I cant help.”
Pauline nearly fainted. Sophie rushed to embrace her.
“Auntie, sell Mums flat. I cant bear to live there anymore. The money could save Uncle.”
“Darling, we cantits your inheritance.”
“Right now, nothing matters but his life!”
Touched, Pauline agreed. The flat sold quickly, and the medicine arrived just in timeit worked. Her husband recovered.
In gratitude, they transferred their own flat into Sophies name. They lived together happily, cherishing each day.
Then, one evening, the phone rang again. It was Alice. Her husband had cast her aside for another woman. She begged to come home.
“Our only daughter is Sophie,” Pauline said firmly.
Later, Sophie married Alex, a prosperous farmer with a spacious house. They invited Pauline and her husband to live with them, but the couple preferred to visit. A cosy room was always ready for them. Alex and his father-in-law bonded over fishing.
Alice was mentioned only on her birthday. Pauline often wonderedhow had her own daughter grown so selfish, valuing possessions over people? While Sophie, whod lost everything, gave all she had to save the family.
