“Are you going somewhere, Tina?” he asked. “Yes, I’m leaving. I can’t live with you anymore, Kyle.” Tina zipped her bag and dragged it near the apartment’s entrance. “Jack is here to pick me,” she added.

“Jack? Who’s Jack?” Kyle asked. He could feel his heart race and his cheeks flush red. Tina was his girlfriend for two years, and they had recently moved into an apartment.

Kyle met Tina at the grocery store he worked at. He was the manager when she began interning there; they had been inseparable since then. Living without her was something he could never imagine.

“Jack is my boyfriend, Kyle,” Tina replied coldly. “I have been with him for six months, and we can’t live apart anymore. He works as a manager at one of the biggest construction companies in town.”

“How could you cheat on me, Tina? I trusted you!” Kyle cried. It was hard for him to believe that the woman he loved the most didn’t want to be with him. She had chosen someone else over him.

Kyle told Sarah he was her father and promised his little angel that he would return to take her back home.

Kyle helplessly watched his girlfriend leave their apartment as tears rolled down his cheeks. He thought he would live with her forever, but fate had other plans.

Soon, Kyle stopped returning home early from work and went to the bar instead. Over there, he made friends who eventually ruined his life. Within a few weeks, Kyle lost his job and couldn’t pay his bills on time. Eventually, his landlord evicted him, forcing him to live on the streets.

“Kyle? Is that you?” he heard a familiar feminine voice. When he looked up, he saw Tina’s friend standing in front of him on the sidewalk. “What happened to you?” she asked, surprised.

It had been two years since Kyle and Tina had broken up. After losing his job, Kyle had been living on the streets and eating leftovers from the dumpster.

“Yes, it’s me. It’s a long story,” Kyle said as he stood up from the sidewalk. He could see how confused Tina’s friend was, so he decided to tell her about what had happened a year ago.

“Oh, Kyle. I feel so bad for you!” Tina’s friend said. “Tina never told me she cheated on you with Jack.”

“I never expected her to leave me like that,” Kyle replied.

“Well, Kyle, I wanted to talk to you about something. I’m glad we met today.”

“Sure, what’s on your mind?”

“Kyle, do you know Tina was pregnant when she left you?”

“What? I didn’t know.”

“I’m sure she didn’t tell you about it. She had a baby girl six months after she left you.”

“Oh my God! I’m a father?” Kyle sat up. He looked mindlessly at the cars passing by while he thought about his daughter. “I’m sure Tina will never let me meet her.”

“I don’t think so,” Tina’s friend replied. “Jack found out the daughter wasn’t his, and he pressured Tina to give the child up. So Tina dropped the baby at a shelter just months after she was born.”

“What?” Kyle covered his mouth and looked at Tina’s friend in disbelief. “Which shelter is it? Can you give me the address?”

The next day, after shaving his beard and wearing clean clothes, Kyle entered the shelter to meet his daughter. Soon, the receptionist took him to see a 1.5-year-old girl who looked just like him.

“Oh my!” Kyle gasped.

“Hi, little princess! Look who’s here to see you,” the receptionist said to Kyle’s daughter. The little girl looked at him with eyes wide open and then smiled.

“Hi, Sarah. I’m Kyle. How are you, sweetheart?” Kyle asked.

After the receptionist left, Kyle told Sarah he was her father and promised his little angel that he would return to take her back home. However, he had no idea how he would afford to rent an apartment after being homeless for two years.

The following day, Kyle visited several stores and told the owners about his experience as a grocery store manager. Since he wasn’t dressed appropriately and didn’t have his experience letter or CV as proof, no one hired him.

Instead, the store owners laughed at him because they thought he was a homeless person who didn’t know what he was doing. Instead of giving up, Kyle asked the store owners to hire him as a cleaner, but no one agreed.

“What should I do now?” Kyle wondered. He knew he couldn’t give up because his daughter’s life depended on him. Later that day, Kyle cleaned the area outside the stores, hoping the shop owners would appreciate his hard work.

All except one older man mocked Kyle. The kind store owner asked Kyle to join his store as a cleaner starting the next day. “I’ll see you tomorrow, sir,” Kyle said before he left.

The following day, Kyle began working at the store. He worked as a cleaner for the entire week and waited for the right opportunity to tell the shop owner about his past work experience. He didn’t want to keep working as a cleaner.

“I have worked as a store manager for about two years, sir,” Kyle said. “However, I lost everything I owned after an unfortunate incident in my life. But I want to work and earn a living again. I’m so glad you gave me a chance.”

After Kyle shared his knowledge about management with the shop owner, he resumed mopping the floor. While cleaning, Kyle stumbled across a wallet full of cash. “Who left this here?” he wondered.

Instead of stealing the money, Kyle gave the wallet to the store owner and told him a customer might have accidentally dropped it in the store. Even though he was tempted to keep the wallet, he decided to be honest, unaware of how things would soon take a turn for the better.

“I kept the wallet there, Kyle,” the store owner replied. “I wanted to test you, and I’m glad to announce that you have passed. I think it’s about time I promote you to the store manager position.”

“Oh, thank you, sir!” Kyle replied. “I promise you I won’t let you down.”

“You better increase the sales and watch out for shoplifters, young man!” the store owner joked.

Kyle worked at the same store for two years until he had saved enough money to get Sarah out of the shelter. On her fourth birthday, Kyle surprised her and took her to his new apartment.

“How do you like your new home, my little princess?” Kyle asked.

“Oh, Daddy! Our house is so beautiful,” Sarah cheered. “I can’t believe you kept your promise.”

Sarah hugged her father while tears rolled down Kyle’s cheeks. Soon, he enrolled her in the nearest school and continued his job as a store manager. Kyle had finally found a purpose in his life.

What can we learn from this story?

• Never judge a person based on their appearance. Although Kyle didn’t look the best, he had the skills to manage a store. However, none of the store managers trusted him because his clothes made them think he was a homeless man.
• The truth always comes out. While Tina tried her best not to tell Kyle about their daughter, he ultimately learned that Sarah was in a shelter.

Share this story with your friends and family. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

Click here to read another story about a widower who worked three jobs to take his daughter home from the shelter and soon learned she was not his child.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.