I wanted so badly to buy a small house in good condition in a quiet neighborhood in my city. The times of renting were over. I had been saving all my money for years to achieve this dream.

I went through several places in the city until one day I saw this little house.

How nice it looked!

I contacted the person who posted a sign at the entrance of the house. She was a very sweet-voiced lady, I pointed out that I wanted to see her house to buy if the house pleased me on the inside as much as she pleased me on the outside.

Grandma's voice on the phone was slow but very eloquent. She pointed out that the inside of the house was in as good condition as the outside. She had always kept it in good condition herself. She pointed out very convincingly that if I was interested, I should do the paperwork as soon as possible because someone else had already gone ahead and would buy it the next day.

F

I said to myself, this is my chance, I can't miss it, this sweet grandmother will sell it and I will have to keep looking.

No... I will not allow it!

I immediately told the lady on the phone to give me her address to talk business. So it was that at 3 p.m. I was sitting in a coffee shop with a nice old lady, closing a deal for a nice little house at a very good price. Of course, it was all my savings and any repairs the house might need inside would have to wait for a few more months until I was stable again.

I thought it was a good deal, the old lady pointed out that the house had two bedrooms, a living and dining room, two bathrooms, and a nice fireplace.

Everything was very well taken care of by her and her husband who had just left this world and she no longer wanted to live in that place. Her best decision was to sell and stay with a daughter who was hosting her.

I asked her for the daughter's address in case I needed to go see her for any circumstance and she kindly gave me a phone number and address. It was a bit far from where we were but the grandmother was not worried about the distance because she knew all those places and where to take the bus back home.

So we negotiated and I left to go to my little house the next day.

I did it, what a thrill!

I removed the for sale sign, inserted the key, and opened the door, but not before noticing that the door had resistance as if no one had opened it for a long time.

I was even more surprised when I saw the chaos of the house. There were no such rooms, no bathrooms, no dining room, only the rubble of an unbuilt house, the chimney was in the middle of the house, on a roof that was a meter away from the floor. She had to crouch down and if she wanted to get anything there she would have to tear down the floor and give the house more space. I had all the wires lying on the floor and badly laid on the ceiling. I had never seen such a mess in a room, dirt, filth, papers, and iron thrown away.

For a moment my heart began to beat more desperately, then a thousand questions came into my head...

Was I scammed by an old woman?

This house is not a house, it is a simulacrum... Did I buy this or did the old lady cheat me?

Have I lost everything or can I still say that I have this mess of a house?
I'll look for the old lady at her house, I'll call the phone number she gave me...

no... no one answers.

After a while, I went to where she told me she lived with her daughter. But nobody knew her. I went to the land sales office in the area where I bought and there was no sign of a house, no sign of an old lady, no sign of anything.

I was scammed, the sweet old lady took all the money I had saved in 5 years of work. And I remembered my mother when she once told me...

"you will find wolves in sheep's clothing, never trust anyone even if they seem trustworthy, behind a sweet appearance there may be a very delicately hidden poison."

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