Nathan fired a mature woman, Catherine, from his restaurant for being ‘too old’ after she accidentally spilled coffee on a customer. “You’re what? 60? 65? As I said, we have standards here and old ladies who can’t watch their hands don’t fit our image.”

The next day, while signing her termination letter, Nathan noticed Catherine’s surname, Wilkinson, which was the same as his birth mother’s. His mother had abandoned him as a baby, and he wondered if Catherine could be her. He immediately sent his limo driver to bring her back.

Nathan found a letter in Catherine’s documents. It read, “Dear Nathan, This is the same Catherine you fired yesterday. I am your birth mother. I left you with an old acquaintance when you were a baby because I was afraid that if you stayed with me, only troubles awaited you. I had to save you from the fate that later befell me and your late sister when we were arrested…”

The letter revealed Catherine and her husband Simon turned to robbery to pay for Nathan’s cancer treatment. After a successful heist, Simon abandoned the family, taking all their loot. Catherine and her daughter Elizabeth continued stealing but were eventually caught. Catherine was imprisoned for 30 years, and Elizabeth, who continued a life of crime, died in prison.

“I left you for your own good, Nathan. I wanted to shield you from the dark life I’d lived.”

Nathan, overwhelmed, hugged Catherine tightly when she arrived. “You did the right thing,” he whispered. “Please, don’t leave me again… Mom.”