Homeless Twins Stunned to Learn about Huge Inheritance from Unknown Granny — Story of the Day

Homeless twins Madison and Jessica turned to a life of robbery after escaping their abusive stepdad. One fateful burglary at an unknown older lady's mansion leads them down an unexpected path when they stumble upon a photo linked to their past.

"Thanks for signing…This estate is officially yours!" the attorney exclaimed with a hearty grin, breaking Madison and Jessica's silence. As Mr. Brentley handed over the keys to the sprawling mansion to the twin sisters, it was hard for them to believe it was really happening, and it all felt too good to be true.

Once the lawyer left, Jessica's gaze lingered on the towering ceilings and ornate décor of the Victorian-style mansion nestled in the outskirts of the quiet town.

"Can you believe it, Maddy!?" she exclaimed, feeling a rush of excitement swishing through her veins. "We are the owners of this grand estate! It's all ours now!" she cried out, still unable to believe it. "It feels like a dream. Tell me it's real! Tell me we won't have to live on the streets anymore or rob anyone again!"

As they breathed in the intoxicating scent of freshly cut roses and expensive perfume lingering in the villa's grand living room, the 25-year-old twin sisters knew this was no fantasy. And the very thought made Madison burst into tears as she slumped into the brown Chesterfield sofa.

"Maddy, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Jessica worriedly turned to her sister as she placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It's just unbelievable, Jess! This mansion, the way we got it...It still feels like a dream," Madison exclaimed. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, transporting her mind back to 16 years ago. It was the most grueling time of their lives when they were just two scared 9-year-olds who had fled from their evil stepfather with only $3 in their pocket...

It was the fall of 2002, the darkest time of their lives the small-town sisters couldn't easily forget. Madison and Jessica lived with their stepfather Martin after their mother's untimely passing in a car crash three years ago when they had barely turned six.

An alcoholic who never returned home sober, Martin used to always vent his frustrations on his late wife's daughters from a previous marriage. The thing was, Martin never stuck to a job too long, and he often blamed the girls for his downfall. He saw them as an unwanted responsibility on his shoulders.

Madison and Jessica were terrified of Martin, given how brutally he treated and humiliated them every time over every little thing. One day, his aggression spiraled out of control when he got home heavily drunk and saw no food on the table.

The girls stopped doing their homework and rushed to the kitchen when their stepfather's voice boomed through the house, startling them.

"What the hell's going on over here? I ain't smelling any food…Where's my dinner?" Martin roared, his eyes blazing with fury and breath stinking of whiskey. "Why is there no dinner on the table again? Did you girls not cook today?"

"We're really sorry, Daddy," Madison said softly, her head lowered in fright. "We had a lot of homework to do today. Dinner will be ready in just 20 minutes. Please forgive us for being late."

"She's telling the truth," Jessica agreed, her angry gaze fixed on Martin's disgusting frown. "We'll finish our schoolwork and then make dinner. We have an assignment due tomorrow."

The stepfather's face twisted in anger as he leaned forward. "Assignment, my foot!" he snarled as he grabbed one of their backpacks and hurled it, sending school supplies and books flying across the living room.

"I don't care, do you understand, you lazy little rats?" Martin towered over them and bellowed as the terrified girls stepped back in shock.

"I work hard all day to provide for you little imps…and this is the gratitude I get? You want to live in my house and do NOTHING, huh? Not on my watch. You WILL cook dinner now. And if there's no food when I come home from work tomorrow, I'm kicking both of you ungrateful brats out. I'm sick of taking care of someone else's kids. You do what I say if you want to live in this house…Do you hear me?"

The girls exchanged a frightened glance, knowing this was not the first time their stepdad had made threats like this. But this time, the gravity in Martin's tone made the girls realize that he might actually do it.

Madison burst into silent sobs as Jessica, the tougher of the two, looked up at Martin and spoke up. "Of course, sir, we understand you," she said, gritting her teeth.

Martin nodded with a smirk as he grabbed a beer from the fridge and clumsily made his way to his room, swaying and bumping into the walls. He settled in front of the loud TV with his drink.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Jessica fumed, stomping her feet as she followed her sister to their room. "Maddy, I'm so sick of him! If he doesn't want to live with us anymore, why should we? Let's just leave this terrible place before he grabs us and throws us out!"

"Go where?" Madison teared up as she looked up at her sister. "We don't have anyone else. We're only 9, Jessica... It could be dangerous for us to run away from home and try to live on our own...Martin is all we have."

"I know…but it's not any safer here! Why do we have to live with this horrible man? Just look at how he treats us every day, Maddy!" Jessica snapped.

"He was supposed to take care of us...but it's like we're taking care of him instead. He's making us clean and cook like we're his maids, not his daughters...and he doesn't love us. Don't we deserve someone who loves us? Mom wanted us to have a Dad, not a monster like Martin."

The sisters embraced each other, feeling helpless and defeated. They knew they couldn't count on their stepfather to provide for them. So when Jessica insisted on running away before Martin forcefully kicked them out of his house, Madison eventually gave in, and the two sisters planned to escape that night.

As the night wore on, Madison and Jessica quietly gathered their belongings, carefully packing their backpacks with everything they needed for the unknown journey.

"I'm not sure if we should do this," Madison hesitated. "I don't think we're heading the right way. But I don't see any other choice..."

Jessica's eyes glittered with a strange excitement as she grabbed Peanut, her little teddy bear, which was her last gift from their late mother. "Don't worry, Maddy. Everything's going to be fine once we get out of this place…Just pack my clothes. And don't forget Cookie, your teddy. I have a small thing to do in the kitchen…Be right back!"

But when Madison quietly followed her sister, she noticed Jessica was heading to their stepfather's room upstairs and not the kitchen. "Oh God, Jessica, stop…what are you doing?" Madison was alarmed when she saw her sister spiking Martin's beer with laxative pills.

Like her sister, even Madison hated their stepfather, but she knew revenge was not the answer. So when Jessica left Martin's room grinning and proud of her little act of revenge, Madison snuck in and quickly emptied the beer down the toilet while their stepdad was sound asleep on the couch.

"Finally, everything's set! Let's go now. How much do we have?" Jessica counted the change they had stolen from their stepdad's pocket. To their dismay, there was only $3. The twins hastily searched the house for money Martin could have hidden from their sight but couldn't find a penny.

Disappointed, the girls clutched their favorite teddy bears tightly and nervously looked around as they darted out of the house with their backpacks on. They had no money in their pockets and clearly no plan for the future. But the girls knew just one thing—they had to run away from their evil stepfather as far as they could.

15 years had slipped away like a thief in the night since that fateful day. Madison and Jessica lived nomadic lives, resorting to thefts and burglaries for a living. With the money they had robbed, they bought a cheap minivan, and this makeshift home on wheels served as more than just a mode of transportation.

The sisters traveled across the States in their minivan, changing appearances and names as they raided expensive homes of rich people and stole precious items that they sold in the black market. Although Madison didn't like what they were doing, she accompanied Jessica, the bolder of the two, who usually took on the most daring tasks.

Once, while passing through a new town in Boston, Jessica stopped driving and peered through a tall wrought iron fence, her eyes glinting with excitement. "Whoa! Maddy, look at that place. Only one room in that house is lit. Looks like not too many people are in there. It's our perfect chance for a little treasure hunt, don't you think?!" she whispered, turning off the engine.

"Jess, I don't think it's a good idea. We can't keep taking risks like this. What if someone catches us? We could land in a lot of trouble," Madison said worriedly. "Let's just stick to our plan and cross the state border by morning. We can't afford to get in trouble again, okay?"

But Jessica's ears had deafened, and her mind was racing with the possibilities of finding handsome loot in the secluded mansion on the outskirts of a less-populated area.

Before Madison knew it, Jessica hopped out of the minivan, planning her next move as she wore her mask. "Oh, c'mon, Maddy! Do we have a choice? We've run out of all our money. We have to do this if we don't wish to starve. Just this one in this town. I promise we'll not rob any other house until we cross the state. Trust me and move it, sis!"

Madison hesitated, but there was nothing much she could do to talk her sister out of it. She shakily donned her mask as they climbed over the fence and made their way to the back door.

"Jess, I still think it's wrong. We almost got caught shoplifting just this morning at that supermarket. What if we get caught and end up in jail… Let's just go back to the van and leave this town," she whispered.

"C'mon, Maddy! Trust me, you won't regret it. These rich folks won't even notice a few missing trinkets. It's just our luck that we stumbled upon this mansion. Let's make the most of it, and we won't have to worry about the next meal for months!" Jessica chuckled as she picked the lock with ease and slipped inside the mansion.

"Oh my! Look at this, Maddy. Just stay close, alright?" Jessica whispered in amazement as they crept across the candle-lit hallway. "Bag everything valuable you find in here. Oh God…look at all those antiques! They could be worth a fortune and will set us up for life. Quick, get them!" she urged her sister with excitement.

As they stuffed their bags with expensive items and jewelry, Madison scoured through the drawers for money.

As she rummaged through the little wooden cabinets, her hand brushed against a photo frame, and she pulled it out to look closer. It was a picture of an older woman smiling warmly at the camera, and something moved in Madison's heart as soon as she saw the photo.

"Jess, I think an older lady lives in this house," she sadly turned to her sister. "She looks so innocent. Let's not do this to her. Please…She probably doesn't earn much. Let's put everything back and leave."

But Jessica was hellbent on not turning around empty-handed. "Oh, do we earn much then? Cut it, Maddy...Besides, this old lady can't be poor if she's living in such a huge mansion. Quit overthinking and bag everything you find. Just throw that damn photo and hurry up!" she frustratingly snapped at her sister.

Jessica grabbed the picture frame from Madison's hand and hurled it carelessly across the table, causing a ceramic vase to drop on the floor and shatter the silence.

"Oh no! I hope that oldie didn't hear this. We need to hurry…Quick!" She turned around and stuffed the loot into her bag. The room was filled with whispers, sounds of drawers creaking open and shut, and things being moved about as the twins filled their bags up to the brim.

Suddenly, the door creaked open, and the lights turned on. A grave silence filled the room as an anxious older lady stood in the doorway, staring at the two young women with disbelief.

"Jesus, my Lord! Who are you? H—How did you get inside?" she exclaimed, clutching her chest.

Madison and Jessica looked at each other nervously, realizing they had been caught. Jessica quickly scanned the room for an exit, hoping to make a quick escape.

"Oh god, please put the jewelry back," the grandmother noticed the ornate jewelry boxes in their hands and pleaded with them. "Please, I beg you. Take anything you want from my house. These jewels are very important to me. They are a memory of someone dear to my heart. Please, take all the money. Just don't touch the jewels. I beg of you. Leave the jewels."

The older lady's voice choked up as she spoke, and tears streamed down her face. But before she could finish, Jessica yelled, "Maddy, run!" and darted towards an open window on the farthest corner.

Madison hesitated for a moment as she regretfully stared at the grandmother. But she tossed the last jewel box into her bag and followed her sister's lead towards the window.

As they jumped out of the window and onto the grassy lawn outside, they heard the older lady's loud sobs of desperation echoing across the empty hallway.

But the sisters did not stop to look back and kept running towards the fence until they were out of sight. The night was dark, and the air was cold, and they knew they had to run and get to their minivan before the grandmother called the cops.

"Holy Mother of God, that was close! That oldie terrified me like a ghost! I'm sweating, but it was worth it. Just look at this whopping treasure we found, Maddy!!" Jessica gasped as they settled in their minivan several blocks away from the mansion and began counting the loot.

"We did a terrible thing, Jess," Madison disappointedly said. "She said those jewels were dear to her. She didn't care about the money, did you notice that? But these jewels…We shouldn't have taken them. We made that poor old lady cry."

"Stop whining, will you?" Jessica snapped at Madison. "We robbers know no sentiments, okay? Can you please stop grumbling and help me put the jewels and antiques in separate bags? We did what we had to do. End of the conversation! There's some takeaway left. That'll do for dinner. We'll leave this place first thing at the break of dawn."

Madison nervously nodded but couldn't shake off the feeling of guilt and pity for the poor grandmother they had robbed. So when Jessica fell asleep later that night, Madison gathered the bag of jewels and silently crept out of the minivan and back to the grandmother's house.

But this time, she did not climb the fence and approached the mansion through the main gate instead, her heart throbbing in her chest as the elderly woman, Mrs. George, answered her late-night knocks.

"I'm sorry for what we did earlier," Madison spoke in a soft voice laced with guilt and sympathy. "My sister and I were in a tough spot. We didn't know these jewels might be dear to you. Here, take them back. I hope you can forgive us…and I understand if you want to call the police…."

Mrs. George was stunned, and her eyes welled up with tears as she realized what Madison had done. "Oh my! Thank you, dear," she cried, reaching out for the jewels in Madison's hands. "You have no idea how much these jewels mean to me. Please come in, dear. I was just about to call the cops. Thank God I didn't!"

Madison nodded, and as she followed the grandmother into her bedroom for the first time, she saw a framed photo resting on the mantelpiece. It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck her, and her hands trembled as she gently lifted the picture. Madison couldn't believe her eyes, and Mrs. George keenly wondered what had caught the girl's attention.

"Wh—Who is this?" Madison stuttered, her eyes brimming with tears. The grandmother's eyes followed Madison's gaze at the photo, and she was puzzled about what had suddenly made the young woman cry.

"Well, that's…that's my late daughter, Amber," the grandmother replied softly, her glass becoming foggy due to the warm tears in her eyes. "She was a beauty, wasn't she? But why do you cry?"

Madison's heart skipped a beat as she stared intently at the photo and then back at Mrs. George. "What? Your daughter?"

"It can't be…Th—That's my MOM!"

The living room fell gravely silent as the two women exchanged a puzzled glance, their eyes filled with emotion. "Your mother?!" the grandmother whispered as her face was drained of blood.

"Yes, she's my late Mom! Here, take a look at this!" Madison took out her wallet and showed the older lady a photo of her mother, who bore an uncanny resemblance to the woman in the picture on the mantelpiece.

"Oh, my God! This is unbelievable! Honey, I'm your grandmother!" Mrs. George gasped as she pulled Madison into a tight embrace, realizing they were connected in a way they could have never imagined.

"Wh—What...How can this be? I never knew we had a grandmother!" Madison exclaimed in shock. "I'll go bring my sister. She needs to know too!" Madison bolted to the minivan and told Jessica everything.

"What…and she's our grandma? OMG… how's that possible? How come we didn't know about her all these years?" Jessica was stunned when her sister revealed the encounter back in the grandmother's estate.

"Yes, Jessica! It's unbelievable. The woman we just robbed is our GRANDMOTHER! Let's go and find out further."

The twins took a DNA test with Mrs. George the next day, and the results that arrived a couple of weeks later connected the dots to a past they had never imagined. The older widow they had robbed turned out to be their maternal grandmother! But the shock did not end there.

Madison and Jessica sat in silence in their grandmother's house, trying to process the astounding revelation of their kinship with Mrs. George.

"Why didn't we know anything about you, Grandma?" Jessica spoke up. "Our stepdad Martin and Mom never said anything about you."

The grandmother sighed deeply and could not hold back her tears. "Your mother…well, our relationship had hit rock bottom, dear. A year after your biological Dad died from cancer, Amber took you babies with her, saying she was moving in with her new boyfriend. I was against their relationship. But Amber married your stepfather and stopped communicating with me. I couldn't stand that man, and he couldn't stand me. I used to come to see you when you were little girls in school. But he never let me meet you and kicked me out, threatening me not to come back. Later, I found out you had disappeared from his house. I looked for you everywhere but couldn't find you girls."

A year had passed since, and the sisters were sitting in the living room of the intricate estate they had inherited from their grandmother. "Grandma was right! Mom looks so beautiful in this picture," Jessica said, snapping Madison to the moment as they flipped through an old photo album.

"If we only knew we had a grandmother, our lives would've been completely different, don't you think?" Jessica said, tears streaming down her face as she ran her fingers across her grandma's photo.

Madison turned to her and smiled sadly. "You're right!" she said. "Sometimes I can't help but feel like we missed out on so much in our lives. We found Grandma when she didn't have much time left to live. She was 91 when she passed...what a lovely lady she was! It breaks my heart to remember her beautiful smile that evening before she closed her eyes forever."

The sisters sat there for a while longer, lost in deep thoughts and memories of their final days with their grandmother. The crackling of the fireplace filled the cozy room with warmth, the flickering flames casting dancing shadows across the room as Jessica rose. "There...they are together again!" she said, putting a framed photo of their late grandmother next to the picture of their late mother.

What can we learn from this story?

• Good deeds can have a ripple effect and come back to you in ways you can never imagine. Despite struggling with hard days, Madison returned the jewels she and her sister Jessica had stolen from the grandmother's mansion. Ultimately, her kind gesture reunited them with a grandma they never knew existed.
• Truth always finds a way to come out. Sometimes, the way certain truths are revealed can be surprising and life-changing. Robber duo Madison and Jessica lived a life of burglars for 15 years, thinking they had nobody. However, they were stunned when fate dragged them to their estranged grandmother, the older lady they had robbed one day.

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A protective father is worried when he finds a mysterious gift box in his vulnerable teen daughter's closet. A photo of an unknown older man with a note detailing their meeting confirms his worst fears. Click here to read the full story.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.