Paul Davis had almost everything a man could desire in his life. He had a successful business, a lovely family consisting of a loving wife and daughter, and a wonderful home in a beautiful neighborhood of San Francisco, California.
But sadly, his perfect life came crashing down one day when he learned that his wife and daughter had died in a fatal plane crash.
Paul was on a business trip to Texas at the time, but as soon as he received the devastating news, he flew back to California, hoping it was all a bad dream that would end soon. Unfortunately, it wasn’t.
Paul was devastated after losing his family, to say the least. He became depressed, refused to do anything, and stayed in bed for weeks. His company began to lose money, but he didn’t care. All he cared about was his family! He wanted his wife Linda and his daughter Claire waiting for him every night when he returned home.
When Paul’s secretary, Mr. Jones, saw him in such distress, he was very concerned and decided to visit him. “Mr. Davis,” he said. “I understand it’s difficult for you to let go of what happened, but you must. You can’t just throw everything away like that.”
“Mr. Jones,” Paul said quietly. “At this point, I don’t care about anything. I want my wife and daughter to return! We had such a lovely family! But it – it all…just…how could it…” Paul’s eyes welled up as he spoke.
Mr. Jones had been with Paul since the beginning of the company. They had been working together for nearly 15 years at the time. He genuinely cared about Paul and felt it was his responsibility to help him get through this difficult time.
So he gradually began approaching him with office work to divert his attention from his family. Sometimes he would purposefully make errors in the company’s reports, and when Paul saw it one day, he was enraged. “Mr. Jones!” he cried. “These reports are utter nonsense! If the employees continue to work like this, we will go bankrupt!”
“That’s right, sir,” Mr. Jones said solemnly, pleased to see the old Paul. “You must be present in the office, sir. None of the employees are working properly. We need to do something about it!”
Paul agreed with Mr. Jones, and before he knew it, he had become the old workaholic, working days and nights to help his company reach new heights, which eventually bore fruit to the point where Paul became a millionaire, and minting millions of dollars for him became a simple task.
But there was one thing he was adamant about: he didn’t want love to enter his life again. He had closed his heart to love after losing his wife and daughter, vowing never to be hurt again.
However, several years later, when he turned 81, fate brought him to Laura, a 23-year-old intern at his company who looked just like his late wife, Linda. She was a lovely brunette with hazel green eyes.
Paul fell in love with her at first sight, and the young lady didn’t hesitate to accept the old man’s love. After a few dinner dates at exotic hotels and a year of vacationing at one of the best places in the world, Laura had her sights set on the old millionaire’s money, and she proposed marriage to him.
Paul said yes without hesitation, and the two married at one of the most exquisite banquet halls in Los Angeles.
Paul wasn’t a fool, though. He knew Laura wasn’t in love with him but with the millions of dollars he owned. But he genuinely cared for her. She reminded him of Linda, and he wished he could stay with her until God called him home.
Unfortunately, his hopes were dashed when Mr. Jones informed him that Laura was cheating on him with his business rival, Kevin. Mr. Jones had brought photos and Laura’s call record information, proving Laura and Kevin had been together for four months!
Paul broke down. He loved Laura so much that she was the only person who knew about his past, including how depressed he’d been after losing his family.
But things didn’t end there. When he got home late one night, he overheard Laura on the phone with Kevin. Paul discovered she intended to invite him on a date and bribe a waiter to poison his wine. His death would appear natural because the poison would cause a heart attack, and no one would suspect it was all staged.
Paul was devastated. He didn’t say anything and went straight to bed that night. But from that day on, the man was sad again. Mr. Jones sensed it, and he asked Paul to divorce Laura.
Paul refused, saying he would teach her a lesson in his own way and already had a plan in place. He could take anything but betrayal, and he was decided he’d make Laura regret what she’d done.
So when Laura came chirping to him one evening and invited him to a date night, Paul accepted her invitation. The next evening, they went on a romantic dinner date to L’Ardoise Bistro.
Paul took a few sips of the wine the waiter had brought, and before the food arrived, he was on the floor, unconscious.
Laura immediately called the ambulance and took him to the hospital. However, after he was admitted, she left to meet Kevin.
Laura knew Paul was so in love with her that he would have left his entire estate to her in his will. So on her way back, she was excited at the prospect of living a luxurious life with her husband’s money.
The doctors, on the other hand, declared Paul dead due to a heart attack. The news reached Laura through a call, and the doctors asked if she wanted to conduct an autopsy. She refused, pretending to cry inconsolably, saying she didn’t want anything.
A very delighted Laura, pretending to be a dutiful wife, planned her husband’s funeral at his gigantic mansion in California the following day
When Paul’s coffin was brought inside, she stood beside him, sobbing uncontrollably, grieving the loss of her beloved husband. Everyone who approached her at the funeral assured her that everything would be fine.
Later, when Paul’s coffin was carried to the burial grounds, the priest asked her to come forward and wish her husband a final farewell. Laura closed her eyes and clasped her hands. “Paul, I loved you a lot, honey. You were the most wonderful husband. I was extremely fortunate to have met you,” she said.
“I know we’re not physically together, but I hope you’re happy wherever you are,” she continued, her voice breaking up. “I love you, honey, and I hope to see you again in the next life,” she said, ending her speech. But just then, she heard a knock from inside the coffin.
At first, she dismissed it as a suspicion. But then there was another knock, and Laura knew it wasn’t her imagination this time.
“This….This can’t be….” she mumbled when the knocks became louder. Everyone at the funeral was now murmuring, confused by the situation, and Mr. Jones eventually went to the coffin and opened it.
Laura froze in terror when Paul rose from the coffin bed, coughing. Mr. Jones helped him get out after which the man exposed his so-called wife in front of everyone.
“I’m sorry, everyone,” Paul apologized. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, but I had to do this to expose my wife, who is only interested in my money. My secretary suggested that I divorce her, but I wanted to teach her a lesson. So I devised a plan. My wife loved all the fame and money she got from me, so I figured I’d expose her in her own way, in front of the public.”
That afternoon, Paul revealed that Laura had planned to kill him for his money and that she was secretly dating his rival. He also stated that he agreed to the dinner date because, with Mr. Jones’ assistance, he had identified the waiter who had taken the bribe from Laura. The wine was never poisoned, and the fainting and death were simply acting to expose the truth.
Paul had also ordered Mr. Jones to get the cops on the scene to arrest Laura for her crimes. He turned over all of the evidence he had, as well as the testimony of the waiter who was involved with Laura.
Kevin was tracked and arrested too. And later, when everything was over, Paul announced in front of the entire public that he had changed his will and he’d be donating his entire estate to charity, specifically orphanages, to help orphans get a better life because he, too, was an orphan
What can we learn from this story?
Greed will lead you to nowhere. Laura was after Paul’s wealth and planned to kill him, but in the end, she ended up in prison.
If you do wrong to others, you’ll be punished for it sooner or later. Laura and Kevin planned on killing Paul to get all his money, but they paid for their crimes in the end.
