I was so certain the will reading would be a clear-cut affair without surprises. How wrong I was.
The nursing home smelled of antiseptic and faintly of wilted flowers, a combination that made my throat tighten. I took a steadying breath as a young nurse handed me Dad’s belongings, neatly packed in a plain, worn cardboard box.
“Here you are, Ma’am,” the nurse said, her voice gentle but distant as if she’d done this a hundred times.
I nodded, murmuring a quiet thank you as I lifted the box.
It wasn’t heavy, but the weight seemed to press down on me all the same. Inside were the simple things: his favorite worn sweater, a small Bible with its cover frayed from years of use, and several mystery novels with dog-eared pages.
I brushed my fingers over the sweater, catching a faint scent of his cologne, familiar and fleeting.
The finality hit me when I turned to leave.
Dad was truly gone. I tightened my grip on the box as if holding onto it could somehow keep him with me. When I reached my car, silent tears were slipping down my cheeks.
I sat in the car and cried until my tears ran out. My phone beeped and rang several times, but it was just Matt. He was probably worried about me, but some grief you have to wade through alone.
The last thing I expected to find when I arrived home was my whole life strewn across the front lawn like some kind of unholy estate sale.
The wind picked up, scattering the memories I’d so carefully packed into boxes and hauled down from the attic.
Mom’s old recipes, her china, the worn plaid quilt Dad used to nap under, and all his books — it all lay out in the open, unprotected, as if they meant nothing. I stumbled out of my car, heart pounding.
“What in God’s name…” I muttered, my voice swallowed by the wind.
“Oh, good. You’re finally back. I was getting tired of waiting.”
There, perched on my patio furniture with her designer sunglasses and her too-bright lipstick, was Jessica. My daughter-in-law didn’t even glance up from her phone. She took a leisurely sip from her coffee, and her lips curved in a barely restrained smirk.
“Jessica… What is all this?” My eyes swept over the chaos, disbelief clamping down on my chest. “What are you doing?”
She glanced up, lowering her sunglasses just enough for me to see the disdain in her eyes. She waved a manicured hand dismissively.
“I’m doing what’s necessary. This is my home now, after all.”
A cold knot twisted in my stomach. “Your home? What are you talking about?”
“Looks like you should’ve attended the will reading.” Jessica held up a crisp piece of paper, and there was my father’s signature, clear as day, at the bottom. “Guess your dad knew who deserved it most, huh?”
I swayed, gripping the car door for support. “That’s impossible. Dad would never—”
“Oh, but he did.” She smirked, casually inspecting her perfect manicure.
“Signed, sealed, delivered. The house is mine now.” She leaned in close, her perfume, a cloying, artificial scent, invading my space. “I think it’s time you moved on, Hattie.”
A truck rumbled into the driveway, and my son, Matt, climbed out, his face twisting as he took in the scene. His boots crunched over the gravel as he approached, confusion deepening the crease between his brows.
“What the heck, Jess? First you run out of the lawyer’s office, and now you send me this weird text? What’s going on?” he asked, glancing from me to Jessica, his jaw tight.
She stretched, standing at last, looking smug and at ease in her towering heels. It made my skin crawl. “Like I said, I’m making some necessary changes, honey. And actually, there’s more you should know.”
Matt’s expression hardened with a flash of something I hadn’t seen before. “More than you throwing my mother’s belongings all over the yard?”
“Much more!” Jessica’s laugh was harsh. “I want a divorce.”
The word hung in the air like the final nail in a coffin. Matt’s mouth opened, then closed as he struggled to process. “What? You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, I am.” Her voice was dripping with disdain. “I’ve spent enough years suffocating in this house, being made to feel like I don’t fit in, like I’m not good enough!” She gestured at the house with a sweep of her arm. “I need a fresh start.”
“You have no right—” I started, but she cut me off with a scornful wave.
“Oh, save it, Hattie. You never wanted me in this family. You looked down on me right from the start, judging me just because I didn’t grow up with a silver spoon. Well, now I’m finally getting what I deserve out of you people.”
Matt’s face shifted from bewilderment to anger, his fists clenched. “Everything my family said about you is true,” he said, voice low and trembling. “You really are a covetous witch.”
Jessica’s veneer cracked.
“And you’re a spineless mama’s boy!” she snapped. “Always running to her defense, always putting her first.” She sneered, pointing a perfectly manicured finger at him. “It’s pathetic. You’re just as small-minded as she is.”
“Don’t you dare talk about my son that way!” My voice cut through the silence, sharper than I’d intended.
“I’ll do whatever I want, Hattie.” Jessica set her hands on her hips, her expression smug. “And there’s nothing either of you can do about it.”
“In fact,” Jessica continued. “The two of you had best hurry and clear your stuff off MY lawn, before I call the cops and have them arrest you both.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Matt yelled.
I numbly looked on as Matt confronted Jessica. None of this made sense! Dad hadn’t even liked Jessica! My hands shook as I pulled out my phone and quickly dialed Dad’s lawyer.
His voice was a balm, calm and reassuring. “Hattie? I was just about to call you.”
“… really believed I liked you?” Jessica yelled in the background. “You were just a means to an end, a way for me to leave my old neighborhood behind. Now I have the house, I don’t need you anymore!”
“Please,” I whispered to the lawyer. “Tell me she’s lying. There’s no way Dad left his home to Jessica.”
There was a pause, then a warm chuckle.
“You’re right. Your father didn’t leave her the house. It was all a test to get her to show her true colors.”
“A…test?” Relief rushed through me, and I started laughing, tears gathering in my eyes. It was the kind of laugh that came from somewhere deep, a laugh that surprised even me.
Jessica’s face twisted, her confidence faltering. “What are you laughing at?”
“Oh, Jessica,” I managed, still shaking. “You really should have waited for the real will reading.”
“What?”
I let the satisfaction roll through me as I explained. “Dad never left you the house. It was fake — a test to get you to show your true character.”
Matt turned to Jessica, his face a storm of emotions. “Looks like Grandpa’s plan worked.”
Jessica’s eyes widened. She glanced between Matt and me as the realization of what she’d done sunk in. Her confident facade crumbled, her voice turning desperate as she scrambled to save face.
“Matt — baby, please.” She reached out, but he recoiled, the finality in his eyes unmistakable.
“I swear, I never meant it!” She pleaded. “I was just…upset, frustrated. You know I love you!”
He shook his head. “Save it. You want a divorce? You’ve got one.”
As Jessica stomped off the property, her heels sinking with each step, I felt an odd peace settle over me. Dad’s wisdom lived on, a quiet, guiding presence.
Matt and I gathered the remnants of my life from the grass, and I couldn’t help thinking that sometimes the real inheritance isn’t in a house — it’s in the lessons of who truly deserves to be in your life.
Dad would have been proud.
Woman defends decision to tattoo boyfriend’s name on forehead, says it’s an expression of love
A woman who tattooed her boyfriend’s name on her forehead is defending her face art, suggesting that anyone who refuses to do the same, isn’t really in love.
Ana Stanskovsky, who penned a permanent love letter to Kevin on her face, insists it’s an expression of love, but online users are saying “it’s stupid” and that her “next boyfriend will hate it.”
Polish-born Ana Stanskovsky surprised her 588,000 TikTok followers by sharing a post of her newly transformed face.
In a viral TikTok clip, Stanskovsky is seen sitting in a chair, having some work done to her forehead.
The “my new face tattoo” video, which has 18.3 million views since it was first shared November 6, shows Stanskovsky getting her boyfriend’s name, penned in large black cursive letters, across her forehead.
The clip zooms in on the artist permanently inking over the stencil that reads “Kevin,” and Stanskovsky wincing in pain.
When the art is complete, she stands up to view her extreme expressions of love in the mirror.
“Done? Okay let’s see. Oh my God, I love it. Wow, Kevin’s gonna love it,” she says.
She finished the clip by asking her followers “Do you think he will like it?”
Responding to her question, one netizen jokes, “He’ll love it! Your next boyfriend will hate it though.” Another user writes, “I don’t know who Kevin is, but wherever you are…. Run!”
As the video hits the eyes of the puzzled social community, people are warning her of future regrets.
“Great decision here. I don’t see how you could ever regret this,” one fan shares.
Replying to the overwhelming suggestions of regret, Stanskovsky fired back with another clip saying she will never regret the Kevin tattoo.
Stanskvosky replies, “I know many of you said I’m gonna regret that and what if we break up and all of this stuff, all of this horrible stuff and I just wanna say this is how I’m expressing my feelings so if I love someone, I’m doing this.” She continues, “I’m loving it, I’m definitely never gonna regret that. How can I regret this? It’s beautiful.”
“A handwritten note is a precious way to express your feelings,” quips one cyber citizen. Fans still aren’t convinced, and many think her outrageous announcement of love must be a joke. “Wait. Wasn’t it a joke?” writes one while another says, “I was waiting for them to say it’s just a prank but they never did.” The influencer then tells viewers that every time she looks in the mirror she is “in love.”
“I’m in love with the tattoo and I’m in love with my boyfriend,” she said. “I think if you really love someone, you’ve just got to show it you know, you’ve just got to prove it…So I think if your girlfriend doesn’t want to tattoo your name on her face, you just need to find yourself a new girlfriend because I don’t think she loves you.”
Shocked by her comment, users jumped in saying she needs to reconsider her shows of love.
“‘if [your] girlfriend doesn’t want your name on the forehead she doesn’t love you,’” One netizen writes, quoting her. Then offering this advice to Kevin, the user continues, “dump her ASAP.”
Credit / South_agency / Getty.
Given the uncertainty of relationships, one netizen asks, “and if he breaks up with you what then?”
Stanskovsky answers: “What if we break up? I’ll just have to find myself a different Kevin.”
But one person has a better idea: “It would be better if you wrote on it that I am stupid.”
At the moment there’s been no response from Kevin.
What do you think of this woman getting her boyfriend’s name tattooed across her forehead?
There are far better ways of expressing your love, and if you insist on a grand gesture, maybe a smaller tattoo in a place it’s not so visible?
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