My husband left his seriously ill mother with me and went on a business trip for almost a year: all that time I took care of her every day, fed her with a spoon, and bought medicines with my last money 

Before she died, my mother-in-law took my hand and quietly said, “Go to the village and dig in the cellar under the potato box.” After the funeral I went there, and when I saw what was hidden in the ground, I was overcome with real horror 

My husband brought his mother to us late in the autumn. She could barely walk and spoke with difficulty. The doctors immediately said that the cancer was in its final stage and that she had very little time left to live. That same evening my husband told me that he was being sent on a long business trip abroad, almost for a year.

He helped his mother lie down on the sofa, kissed her on the forehead, and then turned to me. He said it was a chance to earn good money and that I would manage. Two days later, he left.

From that moment on, all the responsibility fell on me. I was left alone with a seriously ill person. I got up before dawn because it was hard for my mother-in-law to stay in one position for a long time. I washed her, changed her clothes, fed her with a spoon, and made sure she took her medicines. At night I hardly slept, because the pain returned every few hours.

My husband sent money irregularly, and it was barely enough for the medicines. I paid for everything else myself. Over time, my savings ran out, and I started borrowing money because I could not leave a sick person without help.

By winter, my mother-in-law had grown completely weak. One night, when it was snowing outside and the apartment was unusually quiet, she called me over. She squeezed my hand with unexpected strength and quietly said that after her death I must обязательно go to the village. She told me to go to the summer kitchen and dig under the potato box. She explained nothing more.

A few days later, she passed away.

After the funeral, I hesitated for a long time before going, but my mother-in-law’s words would not leave my mind. In the end, I gathered my courage and went to the village.

In the old kitchen, everything was just as it had been many years before. I moved the potato box aside, took a shovel, and began to dig. At a depth of about half a meter, the shovel hit something hard. I knelt down and began clearing the soil with my hands. At that moment, chills ran through my body when I realized that my mother-in-law had been hiding something there for more than thirty years.

Inside the pit there was…  Continuation in the first comment 

In the ground there was an old metal box. It was heavy and rusty. With difficulty, I opened the lid and immediately saw money, neatly stacked in bundles. Next to it were documents and an envelope with my name on it.

I sat down right on the floor and could not move for a long time. There was more money than I had ever held in my hands. I immediately understood that she had been saving it for years and had told no one about it.

Inside the envelope was a letter. My mother-in-law wrote that she had been saving this money for more than thirty years. She knew that her son thought only of himself and that in a difficult moment he would simply walk away. She asked me not to give him anything and not to feel guilty.

She wrote that she had seen how I took care of her, how I spent nights without sleep, and how I spent my last money on medicines. She thanked me for not abandoning her when others did.

At the end of the letter there was only one sentence. She asked me to start a new life and no longer have to prove anything to anyone.