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\nTimothy was heartbroken after Lindsay mocked him for his gift. | Source: Pexels<\/p>\n
Timothy Simpson worked at a factory and earned a modest wage, but it was sufficient for him to support his three daughters. When his youngest daughter Lindsay turned 25, he had already retired, and all he had was his savings. But it was her birthday, and he wanted to please her, so he bought her a pendant, which Lindsay only appreciated several years after he died.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t be serious, dad! Really, a pendant? Like, is that all you could think of?\u201d Lindsay mocked Timothy as she unwrapped her present and found a silvery pendant inside a box.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut darling,\u201d Timothy said. \u201cTrust me, it\u2019s the most valuable gift your poor father could afford, and it\u2019s not just a pendant!\u201d he boasted gleefully. \u201cIt\u2019s special, just like you are!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCome on, dad,\u201d Lindsay snarled. \u201cI\u2019m not a child! Your flattery will not hide the fact that anyone who looks at it can see it\u2019s really cheap. Wait a minute,\u201d she gasped suddenly. \u201cJesus Christ! IS IT SECOND-HAND? Did you just get it from a flea market?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAh, well, second-hand stuff aren\u2019t that horrible, Lindsay. Don\u2019t forget, honey, that after your mother died, I raised Sophie, Beth, and you all by myself. I never let you girls miss out on anything because I wisely spent whatever money we had.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t believe you bought me a cheap pendant for my birthday, Dad! That\u2019s crazy!\u2026 Meanwhile, you used your savings to help Sophie pay off her apartment mortgage, and you also paid for Beth\u2019s car! I swear to you, Dad! I hate you for this! I SHOULDN\u2019T HAVE COME HOME FOR MY BIRTHDAY!\u201d Lindsay hissed as she tossed the pendant into a drawer. \u201cI\u2019m returning to New York tomorrow, Dad, and I\u2019ll be celebrating my birthdays there from now on!\u201d<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t judge a book by its cover.
\nTimothy was deeply hurt by Lindsay\u2019s mockery of his gift, which he\u2019d lovingly prepared for her, but he didn\u2019t say anything. He groaned regretfully as he watched her leave the house the next day, wondering how times had changed and how his daughter, who loved him so much, didn\u2019t think twice before mocking him.<\/p>\n
Years passed then Timothy passed away unexpectedly due to a heart attack. Following his demise, Beth, Sophie, and Lindsay decided to put his house up for sale. Sophie and Beth were preoccupied with something else, so they couldn\u2019t make time to clean the house before the sale, leaving Lindsay to do it all on her own.<\/p>\n
\nTimothy was heartbroken after Lindsay mocked him for his gift. | Source: Pexels<\/p>\n
One day, Lindsay was cleaning her room when she opened the drawer and found the pendant. She stared at it for a while and snickered. \u201cAh, this ugly thing is still here. I wonder how much money dad wasted on this?\u201d she mused as she turned it in her hands.<\/p>\n
Just then, it slid from her grasp, tumbled to the floor, and clicked open. Lindsay knelt to pick it up and noticed it held a picture of her and Timothy when she was a child. She got a little emotional as she stared at the photo. She turned it over and found an inscription in her father\u2019s handwriting: \u201cLook behind the painting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lindsay pondered what that could imply, and suddenly it dawned on her. Their house just had one painting and it happened to be in Timothy\u2019s room! She dashed upstairs to the painting of the Taj Mahal that Timothy had brought back from his trip to India. She swiftly removed it, but all she saw behind it was a blank wall. She knocked on the wall and tried to push it \u2013 no secret passage either!<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a waste!\u201d she cried, cursing herself for being such an idiot to rush to his room. But when she looked at the photograph again, she felt that she was missing something \u2013 perhaps it was right in front of her eyes and she couldn\u2019t see it! So she reread the words: \u201cLOOK BEHIND THE PAINTING.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/d025992b87428e8273e5e8fa56d79f0d.webp\")
\nLindsay came across the pendant while cleaning Timothy\u2019s house. | Source: Pexels<\/p>\n
\u201cWait, behind the painting could mean the painting\u2019s back!\u201d she cried cheerfully and picked up the painting to investigate it. She flipped it around in her hands several times but couldn\u2019t find anything. At this point, she felt as though the words on the note were ridiculing her for being stupid, and she burst into tears. In a fit of wrath, she threw the image on the floor.<\/p>\n
As the backboard of the painting separated from its frame, she noticed several bills spilled on the floor.<\/p>\n
She couldn\u2019t believe her eyes. \u201cGood Lord!\u201d<\/p>\n
She squatted down and dismantled the backboard properly.<\/p>\n
Behind the picture, she discovered old cash notes from different countries \u2013 several of them. She gathered them and went to a nearby antique shop to have them appraised.<\/p>\n
The appraiser smiled at her as he examined the collection. \u201cI\u2019d estimate a million dollars at the very least. You have a wonderful collection! Many numismatists would die for it!\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/885549a4bd79db62fb7ff21459fb9646.webp\")
\nLindsay found a shocking gift inside the painting. | Source: Pexels<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sure? That\u2019s fantastic!\u201d She returned his smile before exiting the store.<\/p>\n
On her drive back home, Lindsay couldn\u2019t figure out why Timothy never told her and her sisters about the collection. Why did he hide it? She went back to his room and decided to look at the painting again.<\/p>\n
She removed all its layers one by one, and this time, she found a hidden note pinned to the canvas. She unfolded it, and her tears knew no bounds by the time she finished reading what was written on it.<\/p>\n
\u201cDear Lindsay,<\/p>\n
Today I saw how unhappy you were after seeing the pendant I gave you and thinking your birthday gift wasn\u2019t special or that your sisters got more from me than you ever got. Well, honey, I never discriminated between your three. I helped you all whenever you needed it, and I\u2019ll continue to do so until my last breath because I love all three of you more than anything else in the world. But this pendant isn\u2019t what you think it is.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/83945db1499c812a11f0f1da2734105e.webp\")
\nLindsay found a letter clipped to the canvas. | Source: Pexels<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father spent a considerable portion of his savings to collect cash notes over the years and a bit extra to get you the lovely pendant from a flea market and organize this little surprise for you. I know it\u2019s not from Gucci or Louis Vuitton, and God knows what brands you like, but this poor daddy did his best to make this special for you. Also, I didn\u2019t tell your sisters about this, so please don\u2019t get me killed. They will hate me if they find out about it.<\/p>\n
Turn around if you\u2019ve read this letter and your father is waiting to hug you.<\/p>\n
With love,<\/p>\n
Your dad, Timothy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lindsay felt very ashamed of herself. She cried and cried, hoping she hugged Timothy once when he gave her the present. \u201cHow could I be so mean? I am so sorry, dad!\u201d She cursed herself. However, nothing would change.<\/p>\n
She sold the house later that year and split the earnings equally with her sisters. However, she never sold her father\u2019s collection, which was his final gift to her. And now, she wears the pendant every day in honor of Timothy and how much he loved her. Sometimes it would also remind her of her regret in not being able to thank him for his thoughtful gift.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Timothy Simpson worked at a factory and earned a modest wage, but it was sufficient for him to support his three daughters. When his youngest daughter Lindsay turned 25, he had already retired, and all he had was his savings. But it was her birthday, and he wanted to please her, so he bought her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13828"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13833,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13828\/revisions\/13833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}