Dad’s Rolex was all he left me. Mom and her new husband sold it for my stepbrother’s startup—then the pawn shop called: “Ma’am, you need to see what was hidden inside.”
One quiet Tuesday, I got a call from a pawnshop saying they had my father’s Rolex—something I thought was safely mine. Turns out, it had been pawned years ago to cover school costs and recently sold by my stepbrother Tyler without my knowledge. The pawnshop owner, remembering my dad’s honesty, let me have the watch back without charge.
At home, I confronted my mom and her husband Richard, who tried to justify Tyler’s actions as family support, but I wasn’t having it. I demanded my money back—funds that had been wasted on Tyler’s failed ventures.
Using a hidden key from my dad’s toolbox, I accessed a safe deposit box containing bearer bonds and a journal documenting debts owed to my dad’s contracting business. With a lawyer’s help, I recovered tens of thousands from those debts.
Tyler’s startup soon collapsed, and I bought a modest home with the recovered money. The watch, now truly mine, reminds me that my dad believed in me—and that time and self-worth are things no one should steal.
