I can’t believe Vanessa did this to me. She only wanted to marry me so she could divorce me and take half of everything. I’ve lost all trust in women—I’m convinced they only see my money. Eric, my assistant, told me to calm down.
“Not all women are the same, boss. It’s just that you only go for socialites. ”
Then I had an idea. “I’ll disguise myself as a poor man.
”
Eric laughed. “Have you lost your mind? If you want to trade places with me, I’m in. I wouldn’t mind taking that money off your hands.
”
“I’m serious, Eric. I need to know if someone can like me for who I am, not the money I have. ”
“And you want to find a sincere woman by starting with a lie? ”
“It’s just a test.
I’ll hide my identity. I’ll be Gabriel, a candy salesman who lost the use of his legs in an accident. ”
“Watch yourself, boss. You’ll forget the character, get up from the chair, and walk away.
They’ll think it’s a miracle. ”
I told him to drop me near the square the next day and pick me up at the end of the day. My first day was a disaster. I spent the whole day in the unbearable heat, selling chocolate at a traffic light.
A wealthy woman in a car rolled down her window and humiliated me. “Get out of the way. You’re blocking traffic. If you really want money, get a real job.
Why don’t you get off the street? ”
Before I could respond, a young woman appeared and stood up for me. “He’s working, and selling candy is much more dignified than rolling down your window to humiliate someone. You should be ashamed.
”
She turned to me. “Are you okay, sir? Don’t pay attention to what that woman said. ”
“No one has ever defended me like that,” I said.
She shared her only sandwich with me. I tried to refuse, but she insisted. “It’s not charity. It’s lunch between friends.
”
“My name is Gabriel. ”
“And I’m Natalie. ”
She told me she worked at the restaurant nearby, that she’d lost one of her two jobs, but she didn’t give up. She took care of her aging mother, Edith.
“She took care of me when I was a child. Now it’s my turn to take care of her. ”
I told her my lie—that I’d lost the use of my legs in an accident, my fiancée left me, my family disappeared, and I lived on charity in an old house. She promised to bring me lunch whenever she could.
That night, Eric asked if I’d told her the truth. I hadn’t. Instead, I’d made up a sad story about everyone abandoning me. “Boss, she’s already proven she has a good heart.
Why make this lie bigger? ”
“I just need more time to get to know her. ”
“More time for what? You’re deceiving a good person.
Someone is going to get hurt because of this. ”
Natalie came every day she could, bringing me food, coffee, conversation, never asking for anything in return. I found myself looking forward to her visits more than anything. “Since then, you bring me food, coffee, talk to me, and never ask for anything in return,” I told her.
“Friends take care of friends. ”
“Then I found myself a very special friend. ”
“You’ve been quite talkative lately. ”
“It’s the food’s fault.
I’m getting stronger. ”
“And how many did you sell today? ”
“Five packages. Yesterday it was three.
”
“In six months, you’ll open a second location. ”
I needed to test her more. I told Eric I wanted to see how far she’d go to help someone with no money. She’d already split her only sandwich, brought me food, and stood up to a stranger for me.
But I wanted one last test. “Have you completely lost your mind, boss? ”
I showed up at her house with a suitcase, claiming the owner of my room had kicked me out. She insisted I come stay with her.
Her mother, Edith, welcomed me with open arms. She even joked about me being “the lunch container man. ”
That night, Eric confronted me. “She let you into her home.
She gave you a room. Her mother welcomed you with open arms. Now, boss, the test is over. Are you going to tell the truth?
”
“I went too far, Eric. If I tell her the whole truth now, she’ll hate me. And I already like her. ”
One of the neighbors, Adeline, started watching me.
She told Edith she saw me get out of the wheelchair and get into a fancy car. Edith dismissed it as gossip. Adeline insisted, but no one believed her. Edith decided to teach me how to sell chocolates properly.
She dragged me through the streets, shouting at people, telling them to buy chocolate and “help keep a walking skeleton alive. ” She charged me 50% of the profit. Natalie caught us and was mortified. Then she noticed the black card that fell out of my pocket.
“Gabriel, since when does a chocolate salesman have a black card like this? ”
I panicked. “Oh, Mrs. Edith, that card is fake.
It doesn’t work. ”
Edith laughed. “What a habit poor people have of pretending to be rich. ”
One afternoon, Eric showed up at the square, dressed in a suit.
I had to explain him away as a friend who’d just returned from a trip. Natalie asked him what he did for a living. He said he worked in a high-end commercial building. I asked Natalie to take a walk with me in the park.
She noticed I looked serious. I told her my life had changed since I met her, that she’d brought light into my life. She confessed she felt the same. I invited her to dinner.
“If you agree to go to dinner with me, I can prove I’m a man with many talents. ”
“Look at you, so bold. I’ll accept that invitation just to see how far your charm can take you. ”
Adeline kept spreading rumors.
She confronted Edith again, insisting she saw me get up and get into a black car with a chauffeur. Edith told her she was crazy. When I heard the accusation, I denied it. “Mrs.
Edith, I don’t even know what she’s talking about. I spent the whole day selling at the square. She must have seen someone who looked like me and got confused. ”
Edith believed me.
“See? I told you. He’s an honest, struggling young man. ”
I told Natalie and Edith I needed to move out, that Eric had offered me a room.
Natalie didn’t want me to go. “You don’t bother us at all. Please, stay. ”
I insisted I needed to get back on my feet on my own.
“But I promise I’ll keep going to the square every day waiting for you. ”
One rainy night, Natalie came to find me. “Were you going to stay out in the rain until you caught a cold? ”
“You’re soaking wet.
You could catch a cold. ”
“Ever since you left our home, I’ve missed you so much. Every night I wonder if you’re okay. ”
“Natalie, I’m losing control of my heart.
I can’t pretend anymore that I see you only as a friend. I’m completely in love with you. ”
I asked her to be my girlfriend. She said yes.
Eric was thrilled. “I can’t believe it. Then we’re two. Lizzie and I are dating, too.
Now we can all go out together. ”
I hadn’t told her the truth about my fortune. “That moment in the rain was so pure, so beautiful, that I couldn’t. But tomorrow I’ll tell her everything, without fail.
”
“Boss, you should have told the truth by now. And the worst part is, to help you, I ended up lying to Lizzie about my job. ”
Natalie got a second job the same day she became my girlfriend—a housekeeping position at a beautiful mansion. She was thrilled.
But the mansion belonged to me. When she walked in for her first day, she saw a woman calling out to me. “Honey, where are you? Patrick, honey, I’m so glad I found you.
”
It was Vanessa, my ex-fiancée. Natalie froze. “You can walk? I pushed you around town in that wheelchair.
And you could walk this whole time? ”
I tried to explain. She didn’t want to hear it. “Stop.
You don’t need to say anything else. And are you married, too? ”
Vanessa kept calling me honey. Natalie’s face crumbled.
“My god, you’ve been deceiving me this whole time. ”
I chased after her. Vanessa tried to stop me, asking who the housekeeper was. I told her to leave me alone.
Natalie wouldn’t listen to me. “There is no us. I never want to see you again. You just destroyed the only thing that mattered to me.
”
She went home and told her mother everything. “Gabriel is a lying scoundrel. He can walk perfectly, and that mansion belongs to him. There was a woman there calling him honey.
He’s married, Mom. ”
Edith realized Adeline had been right all along. When I came to apologize, Edith called me a liar and a deceiver. I admitted everything—my real name was Patrick Murphy, I owned Murphy Confections, and I’d invented Gabriel to test if anyone could love me without knowing about my money.
“At first, a test,” I admitted. Edith threw me out. “Get out of my house. ”
Natalie refused to see me.
I sent flowers; she sent them back. I tried to serenade her at work. She was mortified and told me to leave her alone. The serenade got her fired.
The restaurant owner heard the complaints and let her go, even though she’d worked there for years. I bought the entire restaurant. I made the manager rehire Natalie at a higher salary and swear not to reveal I was the new owner. Edith found out the truth eventually.
“I can’t lie to you,” I told her. “I’m the new owner of the restaurant. I only bought it because Natalie lost her job because of me. Please don’t tell her yet.
If she finds out while she’s angry, she won’t want to keep working there. ”
“Now you want to drag me into another lie of yours, too? ”
“It’s only for a little while. As soon as she calms down, I’ll tell her everything.
”
Edith forgave me but warned me not to make up anything else. Natalie’s mother tried to convince her to give me another chance. “Everyone makes mistakes. But everyone deserves a second chance.
Holding on to hurt is like a thorn. The tighter you squeeze it, the more it hurts. ”
But Natalie couldn’t trust me. “How can I stay with someone like that?
”
I kept trying. I sent more flowers. I begged. I promised to prove my love was real.
Then one day, Eric saw Natalie hugging a man at the restaurant. He warned me, “Boss, sometimes it’s just a co-worker. Don’t jump to conclusions. ”
But I gave up.
“I’m going to give up on Natalie. I’m not going to look for her anymore. Now I finally understand that it’s over forever. ”
Three weeks passed.
I barely left the house. Edith ran into Eric at the market. He told her the news. She rushed home in a panic.
“Natalie, Patrick is getting married. With that blonde, his ex. Vanessa. Eric said he’s getting married to forget you for good after seeing you hugging that restaurant employee.
”
“He didn’t know he’s your cousin? ”
“Natalie, you slammed the door in his face about fifteen times. No man can take that forever. ”
“Mom, I was just scared.
”
“If you love him, fight for him. Because if you let him get married today, you’ll cry for the rest of your life. ”
Natalie grabbed her mother’s rusty bicycle and pedaled across the city to my mansion. “Patrick!
Patrick! ”
I opened the door in sweatpants, holding coffee. “Natalie? ”
“Don’t marry Patrick.
Please, don’t marry her. Marry who? ”
“I know you’re marrying Vanessa today. Eric told my mother at the market.
”
“Natalie, I just woke up. I’m wearing sweatpants, holding coffee on a Saturday morning. Do you really think I’d get married like this? ”
“So, you’re not getting married?
”
“I haven’t seen Vanessa since that day. And I told her never to contact me again. ”
She laughed with relief. “I came here on a bicycle, running around like a crazy woman.
”
“Natalie, you crossed the city on an old bicycle to stop me from marrying someone else. Why? ”
“Because I love you, Patrick. I never stopped loving you.
I was just very afraid of getting hurt again. Forgive me for being so hard on you. And that man you saw hugging me at the restaurant was just the cook saying goodbye to me. And on top of that, he’s my cousin.
There is no one else, Patrick. There never was. ”
“I’m the one who has to ask for forgiveness every day of my life for lying. I love you, Natalie, more than anything in this world.
I forgive you. But promise me you’ll never lie to me again, ever. ”
“Just one more thing I need to tell you. And after that, I swear I’ll never do it again.
”
“Patrick, what did you do? ”
“I was the one who bought the restaurant where you work. I told the manager to rehire you and not tell you that I’m the owner. ”
“You deceived me again?
”
“No, my love. I didn’t tell you because I knew you wouldn’t agree to work there again. You lost your job because of me. I just wanted to help you.
”
“My mother once told me that everyone deserves a second chance. I’m being honest with me now, so I’ll give you that second chance. But no more lies, Patrick. ”
“None.
I promise, Natalie. ”
Edith was watching from the doorway, wiping her eyes. “About time. Mom, you lied to me.
”
“I did. And look at the result. ”
“Mom, are you crying? ”
“Of course not.
Just got a speck of dust in my eye. ”
She hugged her daughter. “I waited a long time to see you living your own life, my daughter. ”
At the wedding, Edith handed me her daughter.
“Take good care of my greatest treasure, my son. ”
“I’ll take care of him with all my love, Mrs. Edith. ”
She watched us get married.
She cried, but said it was just dust in her eye. Patrick and Natalie, finally together.
