A greedy man who placed his mother in a nursing home so he can take over her house is stunned to find his own suitcases on the doorstep.
Thirty-five-year-old Fred Garrow was a man who liked his luxuries, unfortunately, he didn’t like working for them. So far he’d managed to make his way through life on his charm and his looks — he was very handsome and very charming.
Mostly he got women to foot his bills. His first ‘victim’ was his adoring wealthy mother, but when she finally saw through him, he moved on to a series of wives whose money he loved. He never thought his lifestyle would change until he met a girl he truly loved, and it ended up being his doom…
Fred met Dahlia at a classical music concert, and the truth is that she wasn’t his type at all. He liked tall busty women with long red nails who wore expensive Jimmy Choo shoes, and Dahlia was the complete opposite.
She was short and she wore sneakers most of the time, but something about her got to Fred. Maybe it was her serious chocolate brown eyes, or maybe it was because she wasn’t at all impressed by his looks and didn’t find him charming.
We can pretend to be something we are not but the truth always comes out.
While Fred had been raised as the pampered only son of a wealthy doting mother, Dahlia had grown up in foster care after her parents died when she was just five.
That, Fred discovered, was Dahlia’s Achilles heel: she loved the idea of family. So Fred became a devoted son to his aging mother and took Dahlia to meet her. To his surprise, Dahlia and his mother hit it off and became good friends.
Against her better judgment, Dahlia found herself falling in love with this new version of Fred Garrow — a family man. So when Fred proposed, Dahlia said yes, but told him he had to get a job.
After all, unlike his first three wives, Dahlia couldn’t support him on her family money (she had none) and her salary as a librarian certainly wouldn’t stretch to the lifestyle he was used to.
But Fred had a cunning plan that he was preparing to set in motion as soon as Dahlia said ‘I do.’ It all started by getting his mother, Allison, who loved Dahlia, to allow them to move in with her into her luxurious Manhattan penthouse.
Allison Garrow was delighted by the change in her son, especially when he found himself a job as a luxury car salesman. Maybe Fred was finally growing up, Allison thought, and it was all thanks to Dahlia.
After the modest wedding, Fred and Dahlia went on a brief honeymoon to Niagara, and then it was back to New York. They moved in with Allison and at first, everything ran smoothly.
Of course, six months later, Fred was tired of getting up early in the morning to go to work, even though he was deliriously happy with Dahlia. What he really wanted was Dahlia AND a fortune.
Luckily for Fred, there was fortune close at hand: his mother had millions in trust, and if she was declared incompetent and placed in a nursing home, it would all be placed in Fred’s hands…
Fred made an appointment with his mother’s lawyer, Andrew Surgum, a sly man who’d never been able to pull the wool over Allison’s shrewd eyes. Fred let Surgum know that if he backed his plan he’d be taking a generous cut of the profits, a very generous cut.
Surgum filed an action in court alleging that Allison was suffering from dementia and could no longer control her own fortune, which should be now placed in her son’s hands.
Surgum’s allegations were backed by a series of medical reports written by some of his friends, and Allison was stunned to find herself taken to a nursing home. “But I don’t understand!” Allison gasped. “There’s nothing wrong with me!”
“Of course not,” said the kindly doctor at the nursing home soothingly. “You just need some rest…” Of course, the more Allison protested and the more upset she got, the more deluded she seemed to be.
“Please,” she said. “Can I call my daughter-in-law?” The attending nurse allowed Allison to call Dahlia who was at work and completely oblivious to what was going on.
“Dahlia,” gasped Allison. “Fred’s had me committed! He’s after my money…Please, please tell me you’re not in on it too!”
Dahlia was stunned. She’d grown to love Allison as if she was her own mother, and Fred’s scheme shocked her to the core. “Dont worry, Allie,” Dalia told her. “Sit tight, and in a week you’ll be back home!”
After Allison hung up, Dahlia made a few phone calls of her own and prepared her own surprise for Fred. When Fred got home that evening, he was walking on air. Finally, it was all his! The multi-million dollar trust, the luxurious penthouse, and his own adorable Dahlia!
Fred was humming as he inserted his key in the front door lock, but then he stopped. Something was wrong! His key didn’t fit the lock! He rang the doorbell. “Dahlia honey!” he called. “Can you open the door? There’s something wrong with my key!”
But Dahlia didn’t open the door. “Fred darling,” she called. “Your key is fine, I changed the locks!”
“What?” gasped Fred. “Honey, what’s going on?”
“Well, Fred, I’m divorcing you. If you look to the left of the door you’ll see your suitcases,” Dahlia said calmly. “And since we didn’t sign a prenuptial contract, I’m taking you for every cent you’ve got.”
“But Dahlia!” screamed Fred, “I love you!”
“You know how important family is to me, Fred,” Dahlia said. “I don’t like what you’ve done to Allison and I’m setting things right.”
“I did it for you, Dahlia, all for you!” sobbed Fred.
“I’m doing this for YOU, Fred,” Dahlia said. “I think this experience will make you a better man!”
Two days later, Allison was back home with Dahlia and in control of her own life once again. The first thing she did was fire Andrew Surgum and draft a new will in which she left her considerable fortune to her new adoptive daughter, Dahlia Garrow.