There were three men who fell in love with one woman. The last two are best of friends. The third man said to his friend “Since I know you love this woman; I will no longer pursue her and give you my support.”
So, when the time came when the men would meet the woman, the third man accompanied the second man to give his support.
The woman said to the two men “I will be leaving for a while, but I will be entrusting you with something to remember me by. Once I return, I will make my decision”, and she gave both men a small, old, and dust-covered box. “Keep this and give this back to me when we see each other again. Promise me that you won’t open it ‘til then.” The men promised.
Time passed and one day the first man was examining the small box. Seeing that it was dirty, he decided to clean the box and discovered that box was actually made of gold and precious jewels. He was so curious about what’s inside that he opened it and something glowing flew away from the box. Afraid and not knowing what’s inside the box, the first man, as he was a very rich man, decided to replace the empty box with the largest and most expensive diamond he could buy.
Now the second man kept the box safe but after a while, he got bored with it and for waiting for the woman to return. He left it lying around carelessly. The third man saw this and decided to steal the box and kept it to himself.
The time came when the woman returned. And she asked the two men to return the box to her.
The first man proudly presents the gold box to the woman. The woman opened it and found the diamond.
The first man said “My dear lady, I cleaned your precious box. I was surprised to see how lovely your box is underneath the filth. I got so curious that I opened it. Something glowing flew away from it. As I could not find the original content, I decided to replace the empty box with the most expensive diamond I could find. Surely, my gift to you is more precious than what was in your box.”
The woman gave a small nod and turned to the second man. She asked him to return the box. The second man hung his head for he had lost the box.
The second man said, “My beloved, I have guarded your box with my life but sadly it was stolen by thieves in the night and I barely escaped with my life.” He lied.
The third man step out and said, “Lovely lady, my despicable friend lies. He got bored with your box and of waiting for your return that he carelessly left your box. I secretly took it from him and kept it safe. This proves that my love for you is stronger than his for I have taken care of your box while he has not."
The third man handed the small, dirty box to the woman.
The woman faced the three men. “I have made my decision. “The woman said, and the three men eagerly awaited her reply. Both the first and third man was confident that he would be chosen.
“I have decided not to give my heart to any of you. For I have finally found that none of you gentlemen can be trusted with my love.” The woman showed both the clean and dirty box. “Inside these boxes are a piece of my heart.”
She turned to the first man “You have cleaned and kept my box safe, but you did not honor your promise of not opening it until I return. And so, you lost something more important and irreplaceable to me than a façade of gold, nor an expensive diamond. You lost a piece of my heart….”
She then turned to the second man “Your feelings for me is not love, but only fleeting affection, and it would surely fade away in time. You have kept my box safe for a short while and never took the time to know the real me. You became impatient and carelessly discarded my heart as if it’s not worth your while.”
And finally, she said to the third man. “You stole something that was not given to you willingly, and you do not even care if you risk your friendship. A love that is stolen and from a broken promise is not something I wish to have.”
Trust is a short word but a big thing. It’s hard to earn but easy to lose. It can be anything as small dirty box or a piece of someone’s heart.
What do you think? Did the woman make the right decision?
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