A daughter is upset to find out that her father left her nothing but an old jacket she gave him when she got her first job. But when she opened it and found a secret pocket, she thanked her father for giving it to her.
Agatha, Julia and Peter’s mother, died in a car accident when they were still young. After she died, their father, Edward, raised them all on his own until they were all married and living on their own.
Edward was a rich businessman who was often busy with work, but Peter and Julia could always count on him. But when he was getting older and wanted his kids to be with him, Peter didn’t even ask him if he needed help.
Julia stepped in to take care of him. She did this for almost seven years, until Edward went to live in heaven.
Julia took care of the funeral preparations on her own after Edward died, and Peter only flew in because he wanted to meet the lawyer and find out what their father had left them.
When the lawyer said that Peter would get Edward’s house, Julia would only get an old, torn jacket, and the rest of the money would go to charity, Peter was furious that Edward had left the money to charity.
“What? Why would he act that way? Why didn’t he just let us handle it?” Peter snarled.
“Well, Mr. Lawson,” the attorney said in a serious tone. “This is how your father wanted his money to be split up. Now that you have everything you need, please excuse me. There are people waiting outside for me.”
Peter was still upset that Edward had given the rest of the money to charity as he and Julia left the lawyer’s office. But when he saw Julia’s pale face, he couldn’t help making fun of the “useless inheritance” she’d gotten.
“Jesus!” he grinned. “Julia, that old man really tricked you! For years, you took care of him, but what did you get in return? A worn-out leather coat? Thank God I didn’t have to help him. It would have been awful.”
Julia was sad that Edward didn’t leave her anything of value, but she respected her father’s choice. She was surprised when she heard Peter talk badly about Edward, though.
“Peter, for the love of God, show some respect for your dad! He worked hard to help you get where you are today. Please stop complaining about him.
“Oh, Julia, I feel sorry for you! I can’t believe you’re still supporting him after he left you with that piece of crap! He was just using you, but you’re too stupid to see it. As he walked to his car and drove away, he teased her, “Have a happy life with that stupid jacket!”
Julia sighed and looked at the jacket her father had given her. “Why did my father have to be so picky? I know that the emotional value is more important, but Peter isn’t totally wrong,” she thought with sadness.
Peter, like Edward, was a businessman who lived in New York. His wife and kids had only visited Julia once, and since then, it had been as rare as oil and water mixing. This was mostly because Julia was a single mother raising her daughter Natalie on her own after her husband left her.
Peter was rich, but he was also strict and cheap. He was afraid that if he got too close to Julia, she would ask him for money, so he had almost stopped talking to her at all. Julia, on the other hand, was not rich, but she had a good job that allowed her and Natalie to get by.
Natalie fell down the stairs at her school one day and hurt her legs very badly. Julia knew she didn’t have enough money to pay for the surgery she needed to be able to walk again.
Julia started crying and called Peter for help, but he told her no. “Hey, Julia, I’m sorry, but that’s a lot of money! He told her, “I can’t just give it to you like that!”
“Oh, Peter, please! “Please,” she begged. “I won’t be able to pay for Natalie to have surgery! I want to borrow it from you!”
“Well, then, you’ll have to find other ways, because I’m not going to help you. Who knows, maybe you’ll never pay me back at all. So goodbye!” He then ended the call.
“Peter….hello…hello?” He had already hung up, and Julia was crying her eyes out because she had no idea what to do to help her 6-year-old daughter. She couldn’t believe Peter had treated her so badly.
When Peter was in school, Julia’s parents were having trouble making ends meet. Since Julia was the older sister (there were 8 years between them), she gave Peter the money from her scholarship to pay for his schooling. But now that she needed his help, he refused to help her.
In the next few days, Julia brought Natalie home from the hospital. She hoped that in 4 or 5 months, she would have enough money for the surgery. At this point, she also felt bad that Edward had given her nothing. If he had just given her some of his money instead of the jacket, she wouldn’t have had to work so hard.
Julia found Edward’s jacket again one day when she was taking clothes to the dry cleaner. She was going to give it to someone when all of a sudden she saw a secret spot she hadn’t seen before.
The pocket was made of a different fabric than the rest of the jacket, so it was clear that a beginner put it on. The threads sticking out of the sides were a different color than the rest of the coat, and it looked like someone tried to fix it but didn’t do a good job because it was fully closed except for a small hole at the top.
“I don’t understand why someone would sew that kind of pocket into such an old jacket.” Julia thought about things as she sat on her bed and began to take it apart.
When the threads were taken out, the cloth patch came off, and she found a letter inside that was written to her. She opened the note to read it and saw that it was written in Edward’s handwriting. Inside, she found a crumpled $2.3 million check! As Julia read the message, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
“Julia, I will never forget you. Don’t think your dad forgot about you. Peter shouldn’t have known about the money, so I hid it here. I know how smart he is, so I thought this was the best way to make sure you got the money. Also, I know that you, Julia, are too kind. So, my last wish is that you don’t give any of this money to Peter. I know he only cares about himself and making money. Thank you for always loving me and taking care of me.
As always, Your old man, Edward Lawson.”
Julia’s eyes filled with tears as she read the note. She yelled, “Oh, Dad!” “Thank you! Sorry I didn’t believe you! You helped me out when I needed it most. Thank you…”
The next day, Julia took Natalie to the hospital and set up the surgery right away. Natalie took a while to get better, but she did in the end.
On the other hand, Peter tried to sell the house he had received, but it was in such bad shape that no one would buy it from him. Edward was smart enough to know what was best for each of his children.
