Laughing, the children said, “Let’s see if they survive without us.” They had no idea the old man was hiding a fortune worth a million dollars.

Corinne stepped out of the car.
“Are you hurt?” she asked gently. “Do you need help?”

The woman nodded, eyes glistening but proud.
“My name is Augusta Keller. This is my husband, Raymond. We have nowhere to go. Our children told us to leave their house this morning. They said we were a burden.”

The words struck Corinne harder than any diagnosis she had ever delivered.

She inhaled slowly, steadying herself. “You’re exhausted,” she said. “Please—get in the car. I’ll take you somewhere safe.”

Raymond shook his head weakly. “We don’t want to trouble you.”

“You’re not a burden,” Corinne replied, her voice firm. “You need help. Let me give it.”

They drove for a while in silence, the hum of the tires filling the space between them. Finally, Augusta spoke again, her voice trembling despite her composure.

“We tried to raise our children to be kind,” she said. “I don’t understand what we did wrong.”

Corinne reached across the console and took her hand.
“Sometimes people lose their way,” she said quietly. “That doesn’t mean you deserved this.”

She brought them to her home—a small, orderly place softened by the scent of pine from the candles she lit to fight the cold sterility she hated. She made tea. She stacked sandwiches on a plate. She showed them the guest room and told them it was theirs for as long as they needed.

And for the first time in years, Corinne felt the glass around her life begin to crack.
By the time night arrived, the Kellers were asleep. Corinne sat at her kitchen table and stared at the teacups they had used. Something had shifted inside her. She felt as if fate had opened a door she did not know she had been waiting for.
The next morning, Corinne reached out to a lawyer she trusted. She learned that Augusta and Raymond’s children had tried to seize their house and land by deceit, forging signatures and intimidating them. Their heirs saw profit, not parents. Corinne’s hands shook with anger.

She promised Augusta and Raymond she would help them reclaim what was stolen. She began documenting everything. She gathered statements. She accompanied them to court. She drove them to appointments. The Kellers’ youngest child, Delphine, who lived far away, returned as soon as she heard what had happened. She apologized through tears for not being there sooner.

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