My Late Husband Left Me A Dilapidated Shack While His Family Inherited Millions. I Thought I Was Penniless Until I Moved A Bed In The Basement. How Could He Keep This Secret From Me?

Into the Basement

There were cobwebs everywhere and the floor was covered with a thick layer of dust.

“Yep, cleaning it all would take at least a week,”

Rachel thought sadly.

Moving from room to room, the woman went around the whole house after which she froze in front of an inconspicuous door leading to the basement.

“I wonder what’s down there,”

Rachel thought.

The most interesting thing was that the woman couldn’t really understand even why she decided to go to the basement. It was as if some invisible force pushed her to do this seemingly reckless decision.

Having carefully pushed open the door, Rachel saw rickety wooden steps which filled her with apprehension with their very appearance. The woman fumbled with her hand for a switch on the wall, and a beam of yellow light immediately lit up the narrow tunnel going down.

Carefully, Rachel expected all kinds of things to happen, such as the collapse of the rotten steps or finding rats down there. But when the brave researcher finally got all the way down to the basement, all she was in for was bitter disappointment.

A Cry for Help

There was nothing mysterious down there, just a dirty empty room. Rachel sighed in disappointment and was about to turn back when she noticed a bed standing in the far corner of the basement.

There was also a rickety chair and a small bedside table next to it.

“What the heck is this?”

Rachel thought.

As she got closer, she noticed that there was a crumpled bedspread and a mattress on the bed. The woman grew even more suspicious, but when she pushed the bed aside, she saw something very strange.

There was an inscription on the wall made in chalk. It read:

“I am being held here illegally. Call my father,”

And then there was a number.

Having read the inscription, Rachel thought about it. On the one hand, she wanted to call the number, but on the other hand, she was feeling very anxious about it and sort of terrified too.

The woman felt that the moment she called the number, something irreparable would happen. At the same time, Rachel was sure that Francis never went down to the basement and that he might have not even been to this house at all.

Her late husband was too lazy to go exploring abandoned homes, even if he got them as payment for a debt. Having decided to protect herself in the event of something unforeseen happening, Rachel came up with the smart plan of action.

The first thing she did was call the police and tell them about her strange find. Then Rachel contacted the captive’s father, who turned out to be a successful businessman named Richard Johnson.

The Kidnapping Plot Revealed

Six months ago, his 30-year-old son Liam didn’t return home after his tennis practice. A large-scale search for the missing man was unsuccessful.

All this time, the businessman was beside himself with worry for his son. Only thanks to Rachel’s attentiveness did Richard Johnson get a lead that could help him find his son.

Having learned the name of the former owner of the house, the police quickly found the kidnapper and the businessman’s son. It turned out that Richard’s ex-partner who’d been feeling jealous of his more successful companion for a long time.

One day, the two had a fight which was so bad that the men even decided to break up their partnership. Pushed out of business, Alfred Brooks harbored a grudge against his ex-partner and decided to take out his anger on Richard’s son.,

Having lured him to the house of his late grandmother, there Alfred tricked Liam into going down to the basement which he then turned into a prison for the young man. Liam spent several months in that basement, and it was only after Alfred lost the house to Francis Hughes that Liam was moved to another location.

Justice and Gratitude

During interrogation, Alfred quickly confessed and revealed Liam’s current whereabouts. During the time he was held captive, the young man had lost 15 pounds and was very pale.

The psychiatrists who examined Alfred came to the unanimous conclusion that he was mentally unstable and a danger to society. Now the kidnapper was awaiting compulsory treatment in a psychiatric clinic.

“Thank you. I’ll never be able to pay you back for what you did,”

Richard Johnson said with tears in his eyes.

Rachel smiled in response and immediately hurried to change the topic of the conversation. A week ago, the young widow hated that old house, but after it helped restore justice and free a nice young man, the woman looked at it with completely different set of eyes.

She didn’t feel angry with Francis anymore. Of course, when he accepted the house as payment for a gambling debt, the businessman couldn’t have known what terrible secrets it was keeping within its walls.

A New Life for Rachel and Liam

About a week after his miraculous rescue, Liam came to see Rachel, clutching a bouquet of dazzling white roses in his hands. The young man handed them to his savior.

The young people started talking and felt a strong mutual sympathy for each other. To Rachel’s surprise, Liam turned out to be a very smart and interesting young man.

During the time that Liam was missing, his fiancée found herself another man, forgetting all about Liam. After listening to the young businessman’s confused story, Rachel felt pity and sympathy for him.

The next day, Liam came to see Rachel again and, to her sincere amazement, invited her to a dinner at a restaurant. According to the young people, it was that dinner that marked the beginning of their rapidly developing relationship which gave them both hope for something bigger than just a regular friendship.

Six months later, Rachel and Liam held a magnificent wedding ceremony which surprised even the most sophisticated residents of the city with its grandeur. Rachel decided not to abandon the house she got from her late husband but renovated it instead.

The house had literally transformed before her eyes, and it no longer reminded Liam of the months of confinement and its dark basement.

At the end of our story, I’d like to say that whenever someone gets a gift, they shouldn’t grumble at fate or think that it isn’t good enough. Because one can never know what mysteries may be hiding under an inconspicuous wrapper; there might be something that would change their life forever.