The mother-in-law pretends to be drunk to test her son-in-law – and the unexpected ending ..
A small and peaceful barangay in the province of Batangas, where people live in harmony and value friendship.
The family of Mr. Ramon – a widower, who lives with his youngest son Miguel and daughter-in-law Althea – is always praised by the neighbors as an exemplary family.
Althea is a young girl from Iloilo, married to Miguel when she was only 23 years old. Kind, hardworking, respectful, she does not allow her mother-in-law to do anything around the house.
Everyone thinks that he is a good son-in-law and a good husband. But Mr. Ramon – a skilled and careful man – remains silent in the face of praise. Not because she didn’t love her daughter-in-law, but because after decades of living in this world, she understood: to evaluate a person, especially in the family, one must look at the moment when they are faced with something “abnormal”.
One day, Miguel received an order to work in Cebu for a month. Before leaving, Miguel repeatedly told his wife to take care of his father, as he was old, forgetful, and had a history of high blood pressure. Althea nodded, not forgetting to prepare a bottle of medicine, and put it in the drawer for him.
For the first three days, everything was normal. Althea cooked, washed, and watched TV with her mother-in-law in the evening as usual. But on the fourth night, Mr. Ramon suddenly came home drunk, with a faint smell of lambanog.
The daughter-in-law was folding clothes, saw him hesitating, and supported him:
– What’s the problem, Dad? Who was it with him drinking that made him drunk?
He didn’t say anything, he just laughed, his eyes were blurry. He suddenly sat down on the chair and grabbed Althea’s hand. She was surprised, and stepped back:
– Dad is drunk, let me make some lemonade to sober him up.
But Mr. Ramon didn’t let him go. He hugged her tightly, his eyes red:
– You… You are so beautiful… Do you know? That man Miguel is always away… At home, just you and me…
Althea was terrified. She tried to grab the glass of water on the floor. Mr. Ramon went downstairs, still trying to call:
– Don’t go, Althea… Don’t disappoint me like your mother did…
He ran upstairs, closed the door, and his heart was pounding. He couldn’t sleep all night. The next morning, when he went downstairs, he saw Mr. Ramon was sitting on the veranda, his chin resting on his hand, his eyes thoughtful.
Althea tried to walk away, but he called out:
Come here, I have something to say…
He approached, keeping his distance. He sighed:
What kind of person was I last night?
Althea was silent. After a while, he continued:
I wasn’t drunk last night. I was sober. I just pretended to be drunk to test you.
Althea was stunned.
– Why did you do that…? Did I do something wrong?
She shook her head:
– No. You’re not wrong. I just want to know how you would react in a bad situation. I lost your mother in a relationship, when she said: “I’m alone, and you’re cold.” I’m afraid… I’m afraid that history might repeat itself in our family.
So I took a risk, foolishly, to see if you could keep your heart.
Althea burst into tears. She didn’t expect that man to bring such deep pain from the past.
That night, Mr. Ramon placed a handwritten letter and a small box on the table. In the letter, he wrote:
“Althea, I’m sorry for testing you in the worst way. But your reaction touched me. You are not only a good wife, but also the daughter I have always wanted.”
Inside the box was a passbook that he had saved for a long time, named Althea.
Since then, the two had become close as husband and wife. And when Miguel returned from Cebu, he only saw his wife hugging her father tightly and crying. He didn’t ask, he just smiled – because he knew, from now on, their family would truly be strong.
A simple but touching story shows: trust is not natural – it comes after collisions, even challenges.
But the most important thing is: sincere feelings always make people look back at themselves – and forgive