Eugene was just 15 when his father was d-yi-ng, leaving him completely alone. His mother had abandoned them years ago, and now, as he sat by his father’s hospital bed, the social workers were already waiting in the hallway to take him away.
“Promise me you’ll be strong,” his father said weakly.
“I promise to be just like you,” Eugene replied, gripping his father’s hand.
“Promise me one more thing,” his father added. “There’s an envelope on the table. It’s for you. But don’t open it for ten years. Exactly ten years. Promise me!”
“I promise, Dad,” Eugene whispered, hugging him for the last time.
From that moment on, not a day passed without Eugene thinking about the envelope. But he had made two promises—and he kept both.
His life wasn’t easy. It felt like being stranded on a deserted island—no one understood him, and no one seemed to care. He faced hardship, loneliness, and poverty that clung to him like a shadow.
But finally, ten years passed. That day, Eugene showed up to work as a construction laborer, the envelope clutched tightly in his hand. He had waited so long for this moment.
At the end of his shift, he sat down, heart pounding, and carefully opened the envelope. Inside was a letter, written in his father’s handwriting.
Four words.
“Meet my lawyer. —Dad”
Eugene stared at it, reading it over and over. That was it? No message? No explanation? “You’re still making me wait, huh?”
He grabbed his coat and left.
The building was nicer than Eugene expected. He felt out of place in his dusty work clothes.
He walked up to the receptionist. “Uh, I’m looking for Mr. Calloway?”
She glanced up. “Do you have an appointment?”
“I… I think so?” Eugene held up the paper. “My dad told me to come here.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “You must be Eugene.”
She picked up the phone. “He’s here.”
Moments later, an older man appeared in the doorway. He studied Eugene for a long moment before smiling.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” he said. “Come in, son. We have a lot to discuss.”
Eugene’s hands gripping his knees.
“Your father came to me before he passed,” Mr. Calloway said. “He set up something special for you. A test, in a way.”
“What kind of test?”
He slid a folder across the desk. “He left you a savings account. Every penny he could spare. Over the years, with interest, it has grown.”
Eugene opened the folder. His breath caught in his throat.
$400,000.
“This… this is mine?”
Mr. Calloway nodded. “On one condition. Your father told me that you could only receive this money if you worked hard for ten years. If you became a man who understood the value of it.”
“So… if I had opened the envelope early?”, Eugene asked.
His expression darkened. “Then you would have received nothing.”
Eugene sat back. His father had been testing him. Making sure he didn’t take the easy way out.
Mr. Calloway reached into his desk and pulled out another envelope.
FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSE ONLY
“There’s one more letter from your father,” he said, handing it to Eugene.
“You have disappointed me. You cannot spend money whose value you do not know.”
“What…?”
Calloway’s lips curled into a small smile. “That letter isn’t for you.”
“What do you mean?”
He pulled out another envelope with Eugene’s name written on it.
“This,” he said, handing it over, “is your letter.”
Eugene opened it slowly.
“I am proud of you. Now you know the value of this money.”
Eugene exhaled, his chest tight with emotions he didn’t know how to name. His father had been gone for ten years, but in this moment, Eugene could hear his voice clear as day.
Eugene clenched the letter in his fist and smiled. “Thanks, Dad.”
He stepped out of the lawyer’s office, the cool afternoon air hitting his face. His hands were still gripping the letter, as if letting go would somehow make this moment less real.
This money was enough to change his life. Enough to quit working, to finally take it easy. But he knew he wouldn’t. His father had made sure of that.
Eugene walked down the sidewalk, his mind racing.
He could start his own construction business. Hire good, hardworking men like the ones he’d worked alongside for years. Build something of his own. That’s what his father would have wanted. To build a future with his own hands.
Eugene glanced down at the letter once more. “I am proud of you.”
He folded it carefully and tucked it into his jacket. That mattered more to him than the money ever could. He had spent 10 years working, struggling, pushing forward. And now, finally, hr knew this wasn’t just an inheritance.
It was a lesson. And Eugene would honor it.
