“Megan Jones thought that she had the best life possible. She was only 27 years old and already owned a very successful retail company that earned her thousands of dollars a year. For the majority of her early adult life, Megan had done nothing wrong but worked solidly as often as she could. However, all of her success did come with a price, and for Megan, that was her total lack of a social life.
Because she had been so invested in creating her perfect future, Megan hadn’t bothered to socialize with too many people while at college or at her job. However, now that she had finally achieved what she had wanted, Megan couldn’t help but feel like something was missing from her life. She had no friends and no boyfriend. It was safe to say that she was definitely feeling lonely.
Wanting to find someone to share her life with, Megan decided that maybe it was finally time to try and enter into the dating scene. She decided to try a few dating apps. However, after a few failed dates, she found herself thinking that it wasn’t really worth the trouble. Deciding that she would give it one last try, Megan went to a local bar where she had arranged to meet someone from the dating app.
But after roughly half an hour past the meeting time, the young woman realized that she had been stood up. Just as she was about to leave, though, a young man came up to her and asked to buy her a drink. Flattered, Megan accepted, and the two began to talk and get to know one another. It turned out that the man, whose name was Toby, was 29 years old and he worked as a part-time teacher.
A few months passed, and Megan and Toby were happily seeing each other on a regular basis. One day, Toby showed up at Megan’s house completely distraught. Toby told Megan that he had been let go from his job as the school was having to make cuts and that he had no way to afford his apartment anymore or any of his bills.
Feeling sorry for her boyfriend, Megan told Toby that he could move in with her. Their relationship was going well, and the woman didn’t see any reason not to move it to the next step. Thrilled, Toby happily agreed and moved all of his things into Megan’s house over the next few days.
At first, everything was going great. Toby would help out with the chores around the house while Megan went to work during the day, and the couple would then enjoy their evenings and free time together. This continued for a few months, and the couple were as happy as they could be. In fact, despite only knowing each other for just under a year, they even decided to get married.
But as the weeks went by after the wedding, Toby began to help out around the house less and less. He also stopped searching for jobs and would just sit on a sofa all day playing on his game console. After a while, Megan began to get fed up with Toby’s attitude. The man that she had fallen in love with was nowhere to be found, and in his place was a petulant person who refused to help with anything and who would always argue with her over every little thing.
Finally, after trying to talk to the man and getting nowhere, Megan told Toby that she thought their relationship was no longer working and that she wanted to go their separate ways. Toby was incredibly angry when he heard Megan tell him this. He had become quite accustomed to a more lavish lifestyle and wasn’t willing to give it up. However, instead of shouting or pleading with Megan to give him one more chance, Toby came up with a different idea.
In an effort to try and make Megan believe that he was going to change for her, Toby told her that he wanted to take her on a romantic surprise date. Willing to give him another chance, Megan agreed to go. Toby ended up taking his new wife to a beautiful forest just a few hours away from their home. The forest was massive as it was under the country’s protection against loggers and developers, and if they weren’t careful, the couple could surely get lost among the trees.
For a while, Toby and Megan walked along the public footpath with a picnic basket between them. But then, all of a sudden, Toby ventured off the path and began to weave his way amongst the trees.
“What are you doing? You’ll get lost,” Megan told him. But Toby simply smiled and encouraged his wife to follow him. He told her that he knew a beautiful little clearing where they could have their picnic and that it wasn’t too far, so they wouldn’t get lost. Trusting her husband, Megan cautiously began to follow him off the marked path and into the wilderness.
The couple walked for a few more hours before finally coming across a beautiful clearing, just like Toby had said. It was a small meadow filled with stunning wildflowers of all different kinds. Megan couldn’t believe her eyes. She began to feel as if Toby truly was trying to be better for her. The couple sat and ate their picnic in a happy silence, simply taking in the beauty all around them.
After roughly half an hour, Toby stood up and told Megan that he needed the toilet and that he would be back in a few minutes. The man then walked off into the trees for some privacy. However, after 10 minutes passed, Megan began to get worried. Toby hadn’t returned, and it was starting to get late in the day. After another 10 minutes of waiting, the woman knew that something was wrong. She began to call out for her husband, but she never got a response.
Starting to panic, Megan began rushing through the forest, trying to find her way back to the footpath. But the more she ran, the more she got lost. Eventually, the young woman ran out of energy and sank to the forest floor. She was scared, cold, and very much alone in a very strange forest.
For the next few minutes, Megan sat and cried to herself. She couldn’t believe that the man she had fallen in love with, who she thought loved her as well, could do something so cruel and heartless. Suddenly, though, the young woman heard a strange sound. It sounded like someone was singing. Hopeful that it could be someone who could lead her out of the forest, Megan followed the noise until she came across a small wooden hut.
Megan couldn’t believe her eyes. It was like something out of a fairy tale, complete with a smoking chimney and everything. Cautiously, Megan knocked on the front door. When it opened, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Inside was a middle-aged woman in a simple dress. The woman looked at Megan in confusion for a second before welcoming her into her home.
The strange woman, who introduced herself as Alison, asked Megan what had happened. The younger woman explained her situation and how her husband had simply left her in the woods to fend for herself. Feeling sorry for the younger woman, Alison told Megan that she would help her get out of the forest and back to her own life.
The next day, for the rest of the evening, the strange woman told Megan all about how she had once lived a life much like the younger woman’s. But she had grown tired of the fake friends and family who only wanted to get close to her for her money.
Instead, she decided to give it all away and move into the forest for a much more peaceful life. Megan thought about what Alison said and knew how she felt. The pressure of making the perfect job and life for herself was the entire reason she was in this mess to begin with. Feeling fed up with everything that had happened, Megan came up with a plan.
The next day, Alison helped Megan find her way back to the public footpath and even helped her find a reliable way to get back to her home. Once back at her home, Megan went straight to the police and reported Toby for the crime that he had committed. However, what shocked Megan the most was the fact that Toby had already been arrested.
It turned out that after leaving her in the forest, Toby had tried to go to her bank and claim all of her money for himself. However, the bank manager had gotten suspicious and had called the police, who arrested Toby for fraud. Megan couldn’t believe it. She happily told the officers that she wanted to add the charges against her to his sentence as well, to which they happily obliged. Toby was sentenced to five years in prison for his crimes.
But it was after only two years had passed that something happened which shocked him greatly. Megan arrived at the prison and requested to meet with him. The man couldn’t believe that she was still alive. He was sure that when he had left her in that forest, it would be the last time that he saw her.
It turned out that the young woman had met somebody else while doing some charity work abroad. She had given away her company and most of her excess money to various charitable organizations and spent her time volunteering for these places as well. She had come to visit Toby as she wanted him to sign some divorce papers for her.
Distraught, Toby tried to reason with Megan and beg her to take him back. But Megan simply told him no. She took the signed documents and left the prison, happy to never see the man ever again. Thankfully, she never did. Instead, she had a wonderful life with the man that she had met and fallen in love with.
Sometimes, all it takes to discover someone’s true intentions is just a little bit of money. Thankfully, there are people out there who aren’t so obsessed with material wealth and would rather get to know the person behind it. Megan learned a valuable lesson and found happiness by focusing on what truly mattered in life.
