John feigned empathy for Wendy. As he placed her in the wheelchair, he asked her how she arranged for the money.

“I didn’t want to trouble you, son, so I made the decision myself. I sold the house.”

John stopped in his tracks, stunned.

“Are you kidding, mom? You sold the house? And for what, a failed surgery? YOU’RE SO SELFISH! You didn’t even think of me! It’s my house too, right? I was waiting on that house after—”

John stopped himself, but Wendy realized what he meant. She was hurt that all John cared about was his inheritance, and he didn’t care about her.

“You know what? I have an urgent call for work, I can’t deal with this right now. Gotta go,” he said, answering the other call and taking off.

Wendy quietly sobbed on the street near the parking lot, feeling alone and hurt.

A year had passed, and John hadn’t spoken with his mother. One morning, he heard a car pull up near his driveway. He wasn’t expecting visitors. Suddenly, he saw that it was his mother, Wendy.

And she was on her feet.

“Mom, oh my God! How are you?”

“Much better, son. I love every moment.” Wendy’s positive response took John aback, and he invited her to the house and offered her a glass of water.

John didn’t know how to interact with her. Wendy broke the ice and said, “Don’t look so gloomy, son. Look, I’m fine now. Remember when you left me all alone on the street after my failed surgery?” John turned pale when he remembered his behavior.

“Well! My friend Joanne and her nephew, Evan, arrived shortly after that. They were heartbroken seeing me all alone near the parking lot, so they took me with them instead of dropping me at the nursing home. Joanne had to leave the next day, but Evan offered for me to stay with him in my old house. I mean, his house since he bought it from me.”

“He cared for me like a son and even found better doctors in another city. I was afraid of another surgery, but Evan was there by my side throughout. And miraculously, the surgery worked. Evan also paid for my knee replacement surgery. Not only can I walk, but I can also run like I used to when I was young.”

Although John was embarrassed, he did not like how Wendy praised a stranger. He snarled, “I get it. I was a horrible son. But if this Evan is so great, why are you even here?”

John heard another car pull up outside his house. A young man walked into his house.

“Oh, Evan. Great timing. We were just talking about you,” Wendy chuckled, greeting Evan.

“Excuse me. You can’t just enter my house like that,” John said, furiously pointing at Evan.

“Well, but I can enter MY house, can’t I?” Evan’s words confused John.

It turned out that Evan owned the house Jonathan was living in. John was unaware since he only dealt with the agency that mediated all the transactions. Furthermore, John had skipped six months’ rent and had been evading calls from the agency.

The agency sent notificartion for Evan, but Evan knew that John was struggling based on what he heard from Wendy, so he made a decision to go easy on John and asked the agency to back off, too.

But as Wendy learned about John’s antics, she realized that she couldn’t give him any more rope. She urged Evan to punish John for not paying the rent.

“Oh, I almost forgot, son!” Wendy reached into her bag. “Here is the eviction notice. You have 15 days.” Wendy handed John the documents and left with Evan.

John sat on his couch and held his head. He realized that his behavior had finally led him to rock bottom.