The parents of a young girl oppose her marrying a kind young man whom they believe is poor. However, the young man’s father, a millionaire, pretends to be broke and teaches them a lesson.
There was a time when all stories spoke of great love and how people found each other despite challenges, often while being poor. Nowadays, stories are more about getting rich or marrying someone wealthy.
When Sam Sutton discovered a way to create an unbreakable sealing product for engines, something everyone wanted, he never imagined it would one day affect the romantic life of his son Will, who was still a baby at the time.
In fact, Sam’s discovery immediately improved the family’s life. He began making a lot of money from the patent for the sealing product. Sam, his wife, and their son moved into a beautiful house and bought a new car.
Over the years, the money kept coming—much more than Sam had ever imagined. His small family was comfortable, and that’s all that mattered to him. The extraordinary sums his lawyer kept mentioning didn’t quite feel real.
Then something terrible happened to Sam and his family, and all those millions in the bank didn’t make any difference. Sam’s wife, Rain, fell seriously ill. Sam kept telling the doctors that money wasn’t an issue, but they just shook their heads.
There are two things in life money can’t buy: love and health. Sam discovered the first in the most painful way when Rain passed away, and he would discover the second as Will grew older.
Being a single father to a growing boy wasn’t easy, and Sam may have made a few mistakes. Will was so kind, loving, and untouched that Sam gave him everything he could afford—and Sam could afford a lot.
By high school, Will’s classmates quickly realized his father was very rich and very generous—and so was Will. Soon, Will became the most popular boy in school, not because of his kindness or incredible beauty, but because of his father’s money.
Girls, especially, swarmed around Will like bees to honey. At first, Will enjoyed the attention, but gradually, he realized they didn’t care about him. They only cared about his father’s money and all the luxury it could buy.
Will tearfully told Sam that the girl he loved didn’t really care about him—she only cared about going on the Sutton family trips to Aspen, Vail, and the Bahamas on their private plane.
Sam comforted his son and encouraged him to break up with the girl. Will’s last year of high school was rather lonely, but he had a plan. “Dad,” he said, “I’ve got a plan.”
Sam smiled. “Okay! What’s your plan?”
“I’m going to Yale in the fall, but I want everyone to think I’m on a scholarship.”
Sam blinked in surprise. “A scholarship student? You? But why?”
“Well,” Will said, “if I’m poor and wear ragged clothes, people won’t be my friends unless they really like me. The girls won’t want to date me for our money.”
“That’s very true, Will,” Sam said. “I think it’s a brilliant plan!”
And so, they put the plan into action. Will and Sam bought all his clothes and supplies second-hand, and Will became the most scruffy, poorest student anyone had ever seen.
The plan worked, as Will quickly found many sincere friends, and he even met a girl he truly liked, who liked him in return. By his third year at Yale, Will was very much in love with this girl.
Her name was Eddy—short for Edwina—and he decided to marry her. Sam worried that Will was too young, but he had married young too and had been very happy.
Will then asked Eddy to marry him, and she said yes. At Thanksgiving, Eddy took Will home to meet her parents, and it was a disaster. Eddy’s parents, Marta and Farlow, were wealthy and very proud of their social status.
They wanted their daughter to marry a rich man, not a scruffy third-year science student, no matter how smart, handsome, or funny he was. They were subtly unpleasant to Will, but not enough for Eddy to complain.
In fact, Eddy had accepted Will’s proposal and proudly wore the tiny diamond he had given her as if it were the Koh-i-Noor. She insisted that Will and Sam join her family for Christmas. Marta and Farlow were horrified, but they smiled, accepted, and made their own plan.
Will and Sam then took a Greyhound bus from their mansion in New Hampshire to Eddy’s family’s beach house in Narragansett to join them for Christmas.
Eddy’s father picked them up at the bus station, and the festivities began. Farlow looked Sam up and down and sniffed. (Sam had gone shopping at the local thrift store and had overdone it.)
Sam didn’t just look poor; he almost looked like a homeless person. Farlow drove them to their big house, talking about his wealth, houses, and cars. “Just so you know,” he said to Sam, “I’ve done very well with my family. We live in comfort—actually, we live in luxury.
“Not everyone is used to that, of course, and we understand, but we hope you and Will will fit in. Christmas is very important to us.”
“It’s important to us too,” Sam said. It turned out that Marta and Farlow’s idea of Christmas was to splurge on expensive gifts and show off how successful they were.
The days that followed were a nightmare. Farlow and Marta didn’t miss an opportunity to show Sam they thought their daughter was far above Will.
“Eddy is a young, wealthy woman, Sam,” Marta said. “And her husband should be able to give her the same lifestyle. I know you haven’t done as well for Will…”
Eddy became aware of her parents’ campaign to humiliate Sam, and she was furious. She had a discussion with her parents. “I’m going to marry Will,” she said. “And Sam will be family, so you’ll have to deal with it.”
“But honey,” her mother exclaimed, “this man is a wreck! Have you seen his clothes? He’s an embarrassment.”
“Believe me, mom,” Eddy said angrily, “you’re far more embarrassing than Sam will ever be!” What Eddy didn’t know was that Sam was listening, and he smiled. She loved Will! He had found his daughter unique.
It was Christmas Eve, and when the family gathered around the tree at midnight to exchange gifts, Marta said with a nasty smile, “Don’t feel bad, Sam, we know you’re struggling!”
Marta and Farlow handed Will a box with a car key inside. “This is a wedding gift in advance,” Farlow said. “We thought you needed a better car. Your old heap is at least twenty years old, Will!”
Will smiled and thanked Marta and Farlow, and they all went outside to admire the Porsche in the garage with a big red bow on it. Farlow threw Sam a triumphant look and smiled. He knew Sam could never top this gesture, right?
Then Sam pulled an envelope from his pocket. “Eddy,” he said, “Will told me you plan to move to New York after graduation.”
“That’s true, Sam! You know he has an offer from a research center in New York, and I have an internship at the Met…”
“Well, finding a place to live in Manhattan isn’t easy, so I hope this helps…” Sam handed the envelope to Eddy.
Farlow chuckled. “What’s this? A list of homeless shelters on the Upper East Side? A guide to the best soup kitchens in Brooklyn?”
Eddy opened the envelope and gasped. “Sam!” she whispered. “Is this real?” She showed Will the bundle of papers in the envelope, and Will rushed to kiss his father.
Farlow and Marta looked at each other in shock. Then Eddy turned to her parents. “Sam gave Will and me the deed to a house in Tribeca. He gave us a house.”
Marta and Farlow looked at each other, mouths agape. “But… but… but…” Farlow gasped. “You’re POOR… The way you dress… You took the bus…”
“Well, Farlow,” Sam said gently, “I want my son to be loved and accepted for who he is, not for the 570 million dollars he will one day inherit from me.”
There were no more objections to Eddy and Will’s marriage. In fact, they became Will’s biggest supporters and treated Sam with respect. The following summer, Will and Eddy married and moved to New York.
When they welcomed their little daughter Rain three years later, Sam bought a house next door so he could be close to them.
