Brothers Rick and James are shocked when they learn their rich Dad left his fortune to a little slum boy. Rick, who is indebted to a dangerous gang, is determined to reclaim the money. He devises a cruel plan to seduce Brady’s disabled mother.

“Brady? Who the hell’s Brady??”

27-year-old Rick stared daggers at his family lawyer, Mr. Fox. He and his brother, James, were at the lawyer’s office for the reading of their father’s will.

“Brady is the son of the woman you hit with your car during a drunken driving accident three years ago, Rick,” Mr. Fox explained. “Your father supported them financially after the lady, Megan, lost her ability to walk. He paid her hush money so you wouldn’t be arrested. Now, he’s left his entire fortune to the boy.”

Rick was dumbfounded. “Dad never told me this. God…Is there something we could do to get the money?”

“I’m afraid not!” Mr. Fox replied, closing the file.

Rick stormed out, swearing under his breath. Just as he stepped out of the building, his phone rang.

“Got the money from your Dad?” A menacing voice on the phone sent shivers down Rick’s spine.

Rick had borrowed money from gangsters with whom he was involved in illegal activities. He’d thought he would pay the debt off once he got his inheritance, but now Rick was in deep trouble.

“You’ve got one month to repay us,” Ricardo snapped. “Take one day more, and we’ll turn you in to the cops.”

There was no escaping his debt. Rick had to come up with something quickly.

“I…I have a plan, Ricardo,” Rick stuttered. “I…I’ll seduce the mother of the kid who received Dad’s inheritance! I’ll get the money out of her.”

“I don’t care what you do…or how you do it. One month. August 28 is the deadline…”

Rick stormed back to the attorney’s office and slammed $500 on the table.

“Don’t tell Brady’s mother about the inheritance until four weeks time,” he demanded, “and give me her address…”

Half an hour later, Rick arrived outside the dilapidated house nestled within the grim confines of a poverty-stricken slum and knocked. The door creaked open.

“Yes?” Megan, the woman he had hit with his car three years ago, looked up at him from her wheelchair.

“Good afternoon, Ma’am. I’m Rick…The county contracted me to inspect the plumbing in this area. Can I come in?”

“Oh, sure. This way, please…” Megan wheeled aside.

Rick followed her inside, relieved she hadn’t recognized him. Paint peeled off cracked and stained walls, and the air stank of clogged drains.

Then a drunk man stumbled inside, downing a bottle of whiskey.

Megan stormed toward the drunkard as Rick watched in disbelief. “Dwayne, how many times do I have to tell you not to come home drunk? We have a kid in this house.”

But Dwayne just gulped the liquor and stared at Megan with bloodshot eyes.

“He’s your kid…I work hard to feed you both and you’re not my wife so quit nagging!”

Dwayne was obviously not Brady’s biological father or Megan’s husband. As Rick watched the couple argue, it seemed like Rick could easily make Megan fall for him. The fight ended when Dwayne passed out on the sofa. Megan promptly leaned over and took his wallet from his pocket.

“I…I’m so sorry. He’s just…” Megan gestured and then blushed as she noticed she was waving the wallet around.

“It’s okay, Ma’am. I understand!” Rick said. It was clear she took Dwayne’s wallet so he wouldn’t spend everything on alcohol.

Soon afterward, Rick pretended to inspect the ancient, rusting pipes in the kitchen. He quickly realized he was in over his head. He told Megan he needed a colleague’s help, then called a plumber and promised him a good wage for fixing the pipe without a word. A couple of hours later, the piping was fixed.

“Thank you so much!” Megan followed Rick to the doorway to send him off.

With Dwayne passed out, Rick knew this was his chance to seduce Megan.

“Hey. I know this sounds weird coming from some guy you just met, but you’re an amazing, beautiful woman. Dwayne seems to take you for granted. You deserve someone who really cares about you.”

Megan was clearly not impressed with Rick’s flirty talk.

“Sir, thank you for fixing the pipes,” she fumed, “but I will not listen to a stranger trash talk my fiancé! Please leave.”

“See you!” he said as Megan slammed the door shut in his face.

Rick wasn’t used to this ugly feeling of rejection. Megan seemed to be immune to his charm, unlike the other women he’d known. Suddenly, Rick understood how to drive Dwayne out of Megan’s life forever.

Two days later, he discreetly followed Dwayne to the warehouse where he worked. Rick crept into the workers’ locker room and noted which locker Dwayne used. When the coast was clear, Rick opened Dwayne’s locker and stashed a crumpled $100 bill in his jacket.

Rick dressed to the nines the following evening. Clutching a bouquet of red roses, he knocked on Megan’s door.

“You again?” Megan looked up at him in shock.

Rick extended the flowers. “I wanted to apologize for being a jerk the other day. I’m sure your fiancé is a nice guy, and I wanted to apologize to him, too…”

“He’s no longer my fiancé!” Megan stopped Rick’s rant.

“Well…I’m sorry to hear that!” Rick said, barely containing a smile as he realized his plan worked.

“My son’s gonna be home from school soon. I need to get dinner ready,” she said, staring Rick in the eye.

“Does that mean…uh…you want me to leave?” Rick asked sheepishly. “I thought I’d check your bathroom pipes, if you don’t mind?”

Megan agreed and led him to the bathroom. Despite having zero plumbing knowledge, Rick couldn’t let the chance of getting closer to Megan slip away.

It took him less than two minutes to destroy her toilet and flood the bathroom.

Megan was embarrassed for Rick while suppressing her laughter, looking at him drenched in stains. And he smelled horrible! When Rick expressed his worry about her and Brady staying there with the house in that condition, she was forced to admit she had nowhere else to go.

Rick then offered them to live in his house. Megan wasn’t comfortable with this initially but soon realized that taking this man up on his offer was her best bet. He was clearly falling for her, and though he was a stranger, he wasn’t as creepy as some of her neighbors.

“This is your house? Are you sure you’re a plumber?” Megan looked at Rick with growing suspicion when he pulled into his driveway.

“Uh…well,” he stuttered. “It belonged to my late Grandpa!”

Rick showed Megan and Brady the guest room and helped with their luggage. Later, he and Megan chatted by the fireplace. As time fleeted by, Rick started to harbor a strange fondness for Megan. But to his dismay, she still treated him coldly.

“Hey, I was thinking. Since I ruined your house and all, how about we spend the day out today?” Rick said over breakfast the next morning, waving three tickets to a local basketball game.

“Mama, please say yes,” Brady pleaded, looking up at Megan with his big, brown eyes. “I want to go. Please, Mama. Pleeeease.”

The light in Brady’s eyes was too bright for Megan’s toughened heart not to melt. The boy never asked for anything. Also, what bad could come from going to a silly game?

They had an amazing time at the stadium that evening. While Megan watched Brady cheer out loud for his favorite team, Rick tried to process the strange fluttering in the pit of his stomach every time he saw Megan smile.

Little Brady fell asleep in the back seat on the way home. Rick drove silently, unable to shake off the feelings brewing within him.

“I haven’t had such a wonderful day in a long time. Brady had such fun.” Megan smiled, her sweet melodious voice moving Rick’s heart. “Thank you so much, Rick. You know…Brady’s laughter is so infectious. It makes me forget all my worries…makes me want to live my life to the fullest, just watching him laugh.”

That night, for the first time since moving in, Megan hugged Rick goodnight.

Two weeks flew by as Rick, Megan, and Brady spent time together. They laughed a lot, and Rick’s caring and attentive nature touched Megan. But things hit a brick wall for Rick when they returned home from the store one evening and had a visitor.

“I came to see you and Brady!” Dwayne greeted Megan with a bouquet of roses.

Rick’s heart started pounding. The gangster’s August 28 deadline was in two weeks. Rick would land in big trouble if Megan reconciled with Dwayne, but at that moment, all that mattered was how much it would hurt if she left him.

“Dwayne? What are you doing here?”

Megan was startled.

“Megan, look, I’m so sorry. Please, come back,” Dwayne pleaded. “I got a new job that pays well. I really want you and Brady back. I’ve given up drinking.”

Rick carried Brady inside but returned to the garage to eavesdrop on Megan and Dwayne’s conversation. His heart sank lower and lower as he listened to Dwayne push Megan to make a decision: Go back to him or call off their wedding.

Rick bolted back to the house when he heard Megan’s wheelchair heading inside. Time froze when he saw Megan packing.

“Megan, stop…don’t do this to me…” Rick took her hand and stopped her.

Megan burst into tears and withdrew her hand from Rick’s grip. She didn’t love Dwayne anymore, but men weren’t lining up to marry her and provide for her and Brady.

“I have to go, Rick,” she sobbed. “Thank you for everything, but Brady deserves a father more than I deserve to be happy…”

She cried and continued to pack when Rick’s voice distracted her again. This time, he was on one knee, holding a ring. Megan threw herself into Rick’s arms and accepted his proposal.

After spending several more days together and exhausting all his leaves, Rick returned to his managerial job. Life was back on track until Ricardo called again.

“It’s August 28 tomorrow.” The gangster’s grim voice sent chills down Rick’s spine. “Hope you have the cash ready!”

“Ricardo, hey, I remember.” Rick trembled. “I just need two more weeks.”

“What the hell?” the gangster yelled. “You had big plans about extracting money from some disabled blondie. Do you need help persuading her?”

Rick was shaken. “No…no, I don’t need help. I’ll get the money, alright? Just give me more time…” he replied and immediately hung up.

When Rick returned home that evening, Megan and Brady were nowhere to be found. He bolted to the bedroom and froze after finding all of Megan’s and Brady’s things missing from the closet. He found an envelope on the kitchen counter beside a duffel bag that belonged to Megan.

“Rick, you lying scumbag. I hate you more than you’ll ever know. You are the reason why I can’t walk. And you hid it from me. You deprived me of my future with Dwayne. You used me for money. We don’t need your damn money. Rot in hell. Goodbye.”

Rick was paralyzed with shock, trying to process everything. He unzipped the duffel bag and found the money Brady had inherited from Rick’s late father. Rick burst into tears, but his grief was soon interrupted by a phone call.

“Heard she left you, Rick!” the gangster chuckled on the other end of the line. “You were getting a little too emotional so we gave you a little helping hand with blondie! We’ll be waiting for the money.”

Rick hurried back to his car with the duffel bag and sped down the street. He stopped outside the ‘City Bank’ building and approached the cash counter.

“I need to make a deposit,” he said.

Having signed the paperwork to transfer all the money into Brady’s name, Rick left the bank. He smiled sadly as he drove to the police station to surrender.

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