I Was Desperate When the Money for My Daughter's Education Was Stolen, Then a Mysterious Note Arrived: 'Told You I'd Come in Handy Someday' – Story of the Day

I was devastated when the money I saved for my daughter’s education was stolen. Just when I thought all hope was lost, a mysterious note arrived with a chilling message: “Told you I’d come in handy someday.” Who was behind this, and what did they want from me?

Motherhood. At first, when you hold your child in your arms for the first time, you feel like the happiest person in the world.

Then you watch their first moments, their crises, ones that make you want to scream yourself, but you do everything for their happiness and safety because you know you’re the most important person in their life.

Then comes the one moment every parent dreads, one you’re never really prepared for — the teenage years.

And you no longer hear, "Mommy, I love you so much," you hear, "Close the door from the other side!"

This was the stage I was going through with my Sydney. She was 15, and instead of my once little girl, there was a small monster sitting in the room full of chaos, hissing at the sunlight.

I sighed, sometimes crying quietly in the kitchen when things got really hard, but I still loved Sydney more than anything.

I had raised her alone since she was one. Her dad, Gale, my ex-husband, was a complete jerk, and I still cursed the day I married him.

He didn’t help us at all, though when I left, he mocked me, saying I would crawl back to him on my knees.

But that never happened, thank God. I didn’t want Gale in my life, and he didn’t want to be in Sydney’s life either, so everything ended up as it did.

Being a single mom wasn’t always easy, but I tried to do everything I could.

I even nearly saved up enough for Sydney’s college tuition so she wouldn’t have to worry about it and could choose any profession she wanted. At least that was one thing I didn’t have to worry about, until one day.

One evening, when Sydney was out with her friends, I came home from work and realized something was wrong.

The door was open, even though I always locked it. Always. I cautiously stepped inside and gasped. Everything in the house was turned upside down, and pots were broken. Someone was clearly searching for something.

I quietly walked through the house, scanning everything around me, when I entered the living room and froze.

There was a man standing by the window, wearing a hoodie and a mask, holding a bag. My bag.

When he saw me, he quickly climbed out the window. I didn’t even have time to react, I just stood frozen in place until I heard Sydney’s voice.

"Mom! Mom, what’s going on?"

I quickly ran to the hallway. "Get out of the house! Go to the neighbors and don’t come back until I tell you," I told her.

"Were we robbed?" Sydney asked in fear.

"Please, just go to the neighbors," I said.

Sydney nodded and left. I couldn’t let her stay in the house. I didn’t know if anyone else was there. I took out my phone and called the police.

"I’ve been robbed," I said.

The police arrived quickly, inspected the whole house. I watched with them to see if anything else was taken besides the bag, but no, everything was in place. Jewelry, electronics, they hadn’t taken anything but that damn bag.

"What was in the bag?" the police officer asked.

"Money for my daughter’s education," I replied.

"You’ll need to fill out a form, list the exact amount stolen, and provide a detailed description of what happened," the officer said, and I nodded.

When the police finally left, I called Sydney back home.

"What did they take?" she asked.

"The money for your college tuition," I said.

"You saved money for my college?" Sydney asked.

"Yeah, and I guess I was an idiot for keeping it all here in cash," I said.

"It’s strange they didn’t take anything else," Sydney said.

"I know, right?" I said.

I didn’t sleep all night, crying sometimes, or just staring at the ceiling. I couldn’t believe the money I had worked so hard to save for so many years was just gone.

It wasn’t there anymore. I had nothing left to secure my daughter’s future. It had all just disappeared.

It would’ve been better if he had taken all the other things in the house, but left the bag alone. I hated that day and hated the person who took my daughter’s future.

The next day, when I was at work, our receptionist brought me a bouquet of flowers.

"They said to give this to you," she said.

"Who?" I asked.

"I don’t know, a courier brought them," she said and left.

I looked at the bouquet. The flowers were beautiful, and it seemed like their scent filled the whole office.

I saw a note inside: "Told you I’d come in handy someday. Come to the café by your office at 6:00 p.m."

There was nothing else. No name, no number. It was very strange and even scary.

I had no idea who the note was from or what this person wanted from me, but I decided to go. Maybe it was the thief, and he wanted to return the money under some condition.

So, at 6:00 p.m., I left work and went to the café. When I saw who was sitting there, I wanted to turn around and leave. Gale, of course.

When I walked away from him before, he yelled that he’d still be useful to me and that I would crawl to him begging for help. I hated that man with all my heart, but I went up to the table anyway.

"What do you want from me?" I asked.

"I found out what happened. Your mom told my mom, and... well, you get it," Gale said.

"And?" I asked.

"I want to help you, give you money for Sydney’s education," Gale said.

"Remembering you have a daughter, huh?" I said. "But we don’t need anything from you."

"Rene, stop. We both know that’s not true," Gale said.

"You cheated on me, told me I was nothing, that you didn’t need a child, and now you suddenly act perfect?!" I shouted.

"I never wanted you to leave," Gale said.

"Yeah, so you could keep using me and mocking me," I said.

"Do this, not for yourself, but for Sydney," Gale said.

"I don’t believe you’ll just give me money for her education," I said.

"Well, no, I have one condition. I want joint custody," Gale said.

I laughed. "Are you kidding me?! You were absent for 15 years, and now you want joint custody?" I asked.

"It’s a good deal, think about it. For Sydney’s sake," Gale said.

"Go to hell!" I yelled and walked out of the café.

When I came home, I was furious. I wanted to destroy everything in my path, but then I heard a quiet sob from Sydney’s room. I carefully approached her door and knocked before entering.

"Everything okay?" I asked her.

"No, my friends are already talking about the universities they want to go to, and I realized we won’t be able to afford tuition," Sydney said.

"Sweetheart, I’ll figure something out," I said.

"What?" Sydney asked.

I sighed heavily. "Your dad contacted me today. He offered to pay for your education if we do joint custody," I said.

"Dad? I’ve never even seen him once," Sydney said.

"Exactly what I thought," I said.

"You have to agree," she said.

"Do you realize you’ll have to see him constantly, whether you like it or not?" I said.

"Maybe he’s not so bad. Maybe everything will be fine. Besides, it’s only until I turn 18. You have to agree," Sydney said.

I looked at her for a long time, thinking of all the ways this could go wrong. But eventually, I said, "Okay, if you want this."

When I told Gale I agreed, he immediately got to work, hired lawyers, started the paperwork, and never forgot to remind me that I still came crawling to him for help. I ignored it and just repeated to myself, "For Sydney. For Sydney."

Finally, the day of the custody hearing came. We were standing in the courthouse lobby, and then Gale stepped aside to talk to his lawyer.

I don’t know what made me do it, but I decided to eavesdrop on their conversation. I hid behind a wall and started listening.

"Is everything ready?" Gale asked the lawyer.

"Yes, everything should go perfectly," the lawyer said.

"Great, and I’ll be able to use the inheritance my grandmother left for Sydney?" Gale asked.

"As long as she’s under 18, yes," the lawyer said.

"And the tuition money, do you plan to take it from the inheritance?" the lawyer asked.

"Of course not, I’ll just return the money my guy stole from Rene and say it’s mine," Gale said.

I couldn’t believe it! The bastard! Gale had stolen the money on purpose to manipulate me later! I stepped out from behind the wall.

"You won’t get anything! No custody, no inheritance!" I screamed.

"Rene, it’s not what you think," Gale said.

"I knew you were a slug, but I never thought you could stoop so low! Stealing money from your own daughter!" I screamed.

"I would’ve returned it to you!" Gale shouted.

"I’m calling the police, and you’ll explain everything to them," I said.

That same day, the police arrested Gale. They found the money at his place and returned it to me.

Sydney and I were sitting on the couch, staring at the bag with the money. "Now you don’t have to worry about paying for college, just about your grades for admission," I said.

"I can’t believe there are people like that in the world," Sydney said.

"Believe me, there are worse people than Gale," I said.

"I don’t even want to imagine," Sydney said.

"By the way, Gale’s grandmother left you quite a nice inheritance. I’ll put the money in the account, and after you turn 18, you can do whatever you want with it," I said.

"Thanks, Mom. I’ll buy you something nice," Sydney said, and put her head on my shoulder.

I felt again like she was my little girl and everything I did for her wasn’t in vain. We’d always been together against the world, and we always would be.

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