Our marriage lasted only seven days. I remained beside Thomas until his final breath, holding his hand when he died. Hours later, his attorney arrived carrying an old green backpack and told me Thomas had kept an important secret. Inside were photographs, documents, letters, and papers revealing that Thomas had once founded a successful manufacturing company and had quietly accumulated considerable wealth.
Thomas had deliberately lived modestly after becoming estranged from relatives he believed cared mainly about his money. His final letter explained that he had not married me to secretly leave me his fortune, because his estate had already been arranged. Instead, he left me the deed and keys to a small lakeside cottage that had belonged to his late wife, along with a trust to maintain the property.
Thomas remembered me talking about my dream of creating a peaceful place for grieving families, and he wanted the cottage to make that possible. I eventually transformed it into a small nonprofit retreat for families dealing with serious illness and loss, while the rest of his fortune went to charities and people who had cared for him. Our marriage lasted just one week, but the kindness that brought us together continued long after Thomas was gone.
