Mrs. Emily Clark did not want Samantha to marry a poor man she met at college. But her daughter did, and therefore, Emily wrote her out of her will. After her death, Samantha discovered that her mother was right all along.
“I want to marry Nate, Mom. We love each other,” Samantha told her mother, Emily, on the phone.
“Samantha, you just graduated from college. You have your whole life ahead of you, and I don’t want you to marry someone on a whim,” she responded.
“That’s not your concern, and I know you hate that Nate doesn’t come from money. You’re a snob,” her daughter accused.
“No, Samantha. I mean… I don’t think he’s the right choice for you at all. I believe you can do so much better, and he’s not… well… not the best option,” Mrs. Clark hesitated. But the truth is that she hated the idea of her daughter marrying someone like Nate.
Mrs. Clark wasn’t an elitist. She raised Samantha on her own and worked hard to give her everything she ever wanted. They lived in Palo Alto, California, which was perfect because Samantha got into Stanford. By then, the older woman was so successful that money was not a concern.
They lived comfortably, but Mrs. Clark didn’t want her daughter to work as hard as she had. She had nothing against scholarship kids, but there was something about Nate that never seemed right. He seemed to be dating Samantha for ulterior motives.
When Mrs. Clark first met him, Nate admired everything in her house greedily and talked about all the things that Samantha would inherit when her mother passed away.
“He’s also sleazy, Samantha. I don’t know how he got a scholarship at all,” Mrs. Clark scoffed through the phone as they continued the conversation.
“I’m going to marry him whether you like it or not. He already proposed, and we’re setting a wedding date. You can support me or not,” Samantha retorted.
Determined to keep Nate away from her daughter, Mrs. Clark ushered an ultimatum. “If you marry him, I’ll cut you off. You will get nothing from me, not the house or anything here. I’ll sell it all and give all my money to charity,”
But Samantha was adamant. “I will not fall for your threats! Do whatever you want with your money! We both have degrees! We can make it on our own!” Samantha shouted and hung up.
A month later, Samantha and Nate eloped, but Mrs. Clark did not budge. She called her lawyers immediately and revised her will. But instead of giving her assets to charity, she stipulated that Samantha’s children would receive the money once they turned 18, and neither she nor Nate could touch it.
“Do you think your mom will change her mind about us now that we’re married?” Nate asked his wife shortly after the wedding when they found their apartment in Palo Alto. Nate insisted that they stay near her mother. He said it would be easier to mend things this way.
“I don’t know. She was pretty angry. It might take some time,” Samantha replied sadly. “But I hope so. We’re a family now.”
“That’s right! We’re also her only family. Who else would she give her money to?” Nate teased. Samantha gave him a weird look. “I’m joking. I’m joking. We don’t need her money.”
Samantha was pregnant a few months later, but her mother wanted nothing to do with them still. She cut off contact and wouldn’t budge despite their many attempts. Years went by, and the older woman died when Samantha’s daughter, Kiara, was 12 years old.
The lawyers called her to talk about some inheritance, and Nate was delighted. “See? Your mother was bluffing all those years! We’re getting her money and that big house. Kiara is going to love living there!” he said enthusiastically.
But Samantha didn’t smile. She wasn’t so sure about it, and in fact, she hoped her mom had not left them anything. Over the years, Nate had worked only a few months, claiming most jobs were not up to his standards.
Moreover, he never helped out at home, never cleaned or cooked and refused to watch Kiara at all. Samantha did everything, and she was tired of it. If Mom left everything to charity, he might get off his butt and start doing something, she thought.
But the lawyers revealed that Mrs. Clark had actually left everything to Kiara, with the stipulation that she would not get a dime or be able to use the house until her 18th birthday. Samantha was relieved because her daughter would be fine, but Nate was a different story.
“I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT CRAZY WOMAN WOULD DO THAT!” he yelled when Samantha told him. “Well, wait a minute. If the money belongs to Kiara, then we might be able to use it. We can claim it’s for her present welfare. We might be able to move into the big house!”
That’s when Samantha took a really good look at her husband. He was not the man she married at all. She had built him up in her head and married him to spite her mother. I should’ve listened to you, Mom.
A week later, she moved out of their apartment into a new place and took Kiara. She served Nate divorce papers and didn’t want anything to do with him.
Samantha was initially worried that she would be forced to pay him alimony because she was the breadwinner, but she had evidence that Nate was not a stay-at-home parent. He was just lazy and refused to work.
Now she knew that he was banking on receiving her mother’s inheritance from the beginning. She also suspected that Nate cheated his way into getting a scholarship to bag a wealthy woman.
Because Kiara was old enough to confirm a few things for the judge, Nate and Samantha ended up splitting their few belongings and going their merry ways. Samantha didn’t ask Nate for child support, and soon enough, he disappeared from their lives.
A few years later, Samantha told Kiara everything that happened with her mother during an honest discussion. When she turned 18, Kiara asked her to help her manage her grandmother’s money. They also moved into Samantha’s childhood home.
“Do you regret marrying my father?” Kiara asked her the day they moved into the house.
“I regret not listening to my mother. Clearly, she saw something didn’t see, and I refused to hear her. I also regret not being by her side in the end, and I’ll have to live with that guilt for the rest of my life. You only get one mother,” Samantha answered truthfully.
