A man left his young daughter in his mother’s care so he could start a new life with his wife—but when he came back a decade later, the homecoming wasn’t what he’d hoped for.

Doris Durán had raised her only child, Nicolás, entirely on her own after her husband walked out when Nicolás was just seven. It was a struggle, but by juggling two jobs, she ensured her son never went without.

She was only thirty then. She never imagined that at sixty, she’d be reliving the same heartbreak—this time watching her son abandon his own daughter, Paula. It stunned her how much Nicolás had come to mirror the man who once left them both behind.

Nicolás had married a kind woman named Sandra, but tragedy struck when she died, leaving Paula motherless at the age of nine.

Doris believed her son had been overwhelmed by grief and loneliness—perhaps that’s why he fell for Diana so quickly, just weeks after Sandra’s passing. Within six months, they were married.

Paula, once cheerful and full of life, had suddenly become withdrawn and quiet. Doris chalked it up to the trauma of losing her mother. She still believed her son had a good heart—and wasn’t ready to face the possibility that she was wrong.

The summer Paula turned ten, Nicolás asked his mother to look after her for three weeks while he and Diana took a vacation—just the two of them.

“Every couple needs some alone time, Mom,” he said. “And Paula has become difficult lately… She doesn’t get along with Diana.”

Doris listened, surprised. “Alright, Nico,” she said. “Maybe a break will be good for all three of you. But if you don’t mind… I think Diana knew what she was getting into. She knew you had a grieving daughter.”

“A grown woman should be able to handle the pain of a small child who’s still trying to cope with her mother’s death and her father’s quick remarriage,” she added.

Nicolás’s face turned red, and he pressed his lips into a tight line—a gesture Doris knew well.

“I should’ve known you’d take Paula’s side!” he shouted. “Diana loves me, she makes me happy, and that’s all that matters.”

“Well, SOMEONE has to be on Paula’s side, and I’m shocked it’s not her own father,” Doris said, wounded. “Your daughter’s happiness should be YOUR priority!”

Nicolás stormed out, yet when he returned a week later with Paula and her suitcase, he seemed just as cheerful as ever. He gave his daughter a loving goodbye kiss and hugged Doris.

“I’ll be back on August 27th, Mom,” he said and left with a big smile on his face.

Doris and Paula wouldn’t see him again for more than 10 years. August 27th came and went, and Nicolás never showed up. Doris called him, only to find his number had been disconnected.

He never called his daughter again after leaving, even though he had occasionally replied to her texts—until the day he was supposed to return. Doris discovered they had sold their house. He had left with Diana.

He had abandoned his daughter with his mother without a word and without caring for her well-being. Doris sat Paula down and said:

“Listen, we’ll be alright, you and me. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you. I love you, Paula. And I know your father will come back someday, regretting what he’s done.”

Still, it would be years before they saw him again. Ten years later, Nicolás drove to his mother’s house. The place looked abandoned. The yard was overgrown with weeds, and the windows were shut tight.

Nicolás knocked on his mother’s neighbor’s door. The woman was surprised to see him and seemed reluctant to give him his daughter’s address. She looked at his shabby clothes and old rusty car.

“Paula got married, and Doris lives with her. Don’t expect the warm welcome the prodigal son got,” she said coldly. She was his mother’s best friend. “After what you did to them, I’d expect the worst if I were you.”

Nicolás didn’t even reply. He just turned his back and walked away. He wasn’t worried—he thought he knew how to handle his mother…

As he got to the address, he was stunned. His daughter and mother were living in a huge, luxurious mansion!

He walked to the door and rang the bell. “I’d like to speak with Doris or Paula Durán, please,” he said to the uniformed maid who answered.

“You must mean Mrs. Durán and Mrs. Hidalgo, sir,” the maid corrected him with a disdainful smile, then led him into an enormous, elegant living room.

Some minutes later, Paula entered. She looked at him in silence, without any trace of surprise, and Nicolás realized the nosy neighbor had warned them he was coming.

“Paula, my baby…” he said, stepping forward to hug the beautiful woman his daughter had become. She stepped back.

“What do you want, Father?” she asked, without a hint of anger in her voice.

“I wanted to see you and my mother, sweetheart,” Nicolás said with his best smile. “I’ve missed you both so much…”

At that moment, Doris walked in. She, too, looked calm and very well put together.

“Nicolás,” she said with slight indifference. “What are you doing here?”

Nicolás blushed. “I wanted to see my family,” he said in a choked voice. “I was hoping for a warm welcome!”

“You abandoned me, Father,” Paula said coolly. “Did you expect warmth?”

Nicolás looked at his mother, hoping for support. “It wasn’t me… Diana… she insisted. She said she’d leave me if I didn’t…”

“Wow!” exclaimed Doris, revealing her discomfort. “You’re here alone. Does that mean the money ran out and Diana left you too?”

Nicolás didn’t take the hint. He looked around the beautiful room with envy. “I see you’ve done very well!” he said bitterly. “Maybe you could help me with something… I’m unemployed and have nowhere to go…”

“I’m surprised you have the nerve to ask us for anything, Father,” Paula said. “You left us when we needed you most, but we managed to get by. And yes, we live well now, but not thanks to you.”

“I’m still your father,” Nicolás said indignantly.

“You’re nobody to me,” she replied. Then she approached her grandmother, who looked at Nicolás with a hint of sadness in her eyes. “But for Grandma Doris’s sake, I’ll help you.”

Paula went to a delicate Louis XV desk and opened a drawer. She took out a set of keys to their old house and put some money into an envelope.

“These are the keys to the old house.”

“There’s $5,000 in this envelope. You won’t get a cent more, so don’t bother coming back.”

Paula put her arm around Grandma Doris’s shoulders and led her out of the room. Within seconds, the maid was there to escort Nicolás to the door.

Nicolás sat in his car for a long time, staring at his daughter’s vast property.

“I did what I had to do,” he complained. “That was the only way I could be happy, and they had each other. Why do they treat me like this? It’s so unfair!”