A young woman returned a lost wallet without taking a penny—not knowing that its owner was Patrick Mahomes, the famous football player.
Lena had just finished another long shift at the bookstore. Her feet ached, and her shoulders felt heavy from the weight of the day, but her mind was focused on one thing—her younger brother Jamie’s dinner. “Have you eaten dinner yet? And don’t tell me it’s just instant noodles again,” she said, balancing her tote bag on one shoulder as she walked down the street, the fading sunlight casting long shadows across the sidewalk.
Jamie’s voice came through her phone, muffled by the traffic. “I had a sandwich. Sort of counts, right?”
Lena rolled her eyes, smiling despite her exhaustion. “That’s not real food, Jamie. You’re not my mom.” She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “But seriously, don’t take the shortcut through 9th Street. It’s getting dark.”
“I’ll be fine. It’s faster, and my feet are killing me. Don’t worry.”
Lena didn’t answer right away. She looked up at the sky, the deep hues of orange and lavender melting together. Another long shift. Another day spent barely scraping by. “Yeah. Talk to you later,” she murmured, hanging up the phone. She shoved it into her coat pocket and walked on.
The bookstore was a couple of buses and a 10-minute walk from home, but Lena had grown used to the routine. The tired legs, the sore shoulders, the silence. She adjusted her scarf and turned onto a quieter side street, her boots clicking softly against the concrete. The wind picked up, rustling the papers and dry leaves along the curb, when her eyes caught sight of something.
A black leather wallet, half-hidden under a damp newspaper, lay near the edge of the sidewalk. Lena slowed her pace, frowning as she looked around. The street was empty—no joggers, no dog walkers. Just her and the lost wallet.
She hesitated for a moment before picking it up. The leather was smooth, expensive, and not the kind you’d find in a bargain bin. When she opened it, the contents were just as extravagant—cash, neatly folded in 50s and 100s; a black credit card, one she recognized from a finance blog; and an ID with the name Patrick Mahomes. The name felt oddly familiar, but she couldn’t place it.
There was a business card tucked behind the ID. It read “Mahomes Innovations” and had no phone number, just an email and a Midtown office address. Lena exhaled slowly. The weight of the wallet in her hand suddenly felt much heavier than its contents. She sat down on a nearby bench, her heart racing.
She’d been here before, though not with a wallet. She’d faced a moral dilemma before, and it hadn’t always gone well. There had been that boyfriend who’d stolen from her savings and disappeared. The coworker who took credit for her ideas. The world often turned a blind eye when someone tried to do the right thing.
She stared at the cash again, then quickly snapped the wallet shut. “Not who I am,” she muttered to herself. She wasn’t naive or a martyr. She was tired—tired of doing the right thing in a world that didn’t seem to care. But she couldn’t stomach the idea of stealing. Doing the right thing wasn’t about being noticed; it was about not hating the person she saw in the mirror.
With determination, she stood up, clutching the wallet tightly, and walked faster now, as if afraid that second-guessing would catch up with her. When she arrived home, she dropped her bag on the floor of her narrow, third-floor apartment and turned on her laptop. She placed the wallet on the table, took a deep breath, and typed “Patrick Mahomes” into the search bar.
The search results popped up instantly. “Tech entrepreneur, CEO of Mahomes Innovations. Young, reclusive millionaire known for high-profile product launches and philanthropy campaigns. Net worth in the nine figures.”
Lena whistled low under her breath. “Of course,” she said aloud to the empty room. “It’s not just anyone.”
She clicked on the company’s website, finding a generic contact form. She quickly typed a short message:
Subject: Lost Wallet
“Hi, I found a wallet on 9th Street with an ID for Patrick Mahomes. Please let me know how I can return it. I didn’t take anything, just hoping it gets back to the right person.”
She clicked “send,” then stared at the screen for a moment. The wallet on the table stared back at her. She didn’t know it yet, but in returning that wallet, Lena wasn’t just returning lost property. She was opening the door to a life she had never imagined.
The next morning, she received an email from Mahomes Innovations. The subject: Re: Lost Wallet
“Dear M. Lena,
Thank you for your message. Mr. Mahomes has authorized us to retrieve the item. Please bring the wallet to our Midtown office anytime between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM today. Ask for Monica at the front desk.
Best regards,
Mahomes Innovations.”
Lena read it twice, feeling a strange tightness in her chest. There was no “thank you for your honesty,” no curiosity about how she found it, no appreciation for the effort—just a cold, formal instruction. Still, she gathered herself, got dressed, and made her way to Midtown.
The Mahomes Innovations building was a towering glass and steel monument. Lena stepped into the lobby, feeling small under its sharp, modern lines. The receptionist, cold and impersonal, directed her to the 14th floor. There, a woman in a beige pantsuit greeted her. “You must be Lena. Thank you for coming.”
Lena nodded and handed over the wallet. The woman took it with one hand and offered a small white envelope with the other. “Mr. Mahomes asked me to give you this as a token of appreciation.”
Lena hesitated, but to avoid the awkwardness, she took the envelope. She didn’t do it for a reward. She didn’t want a thank you. But she didn’t argue. As she stepped into the elevator, she opened the envelope. A stack of crisp $100 bills stared back at her. She closed her eyes, shaking her head.
When she exited the building, the rain had started to fall. Lena stood on the street corner, her coat soaked, the envelope still in her hand. After a long moment, she walked to a nearby trash bin and dropped it in. The rain mixed with her hair and skin, but she didn’t care. She had done the right thing. Again. And yet, she felt invisible.
What she didn’t know was that high above her, Patrick Mahomes was watching. He had pulled up the security footage, and when he saw Lena hand over the wallet without hesitation and then drop the envelope in the trash, he was stunned. She didn’t want his money. She didn’t want any recognition. She had done the right thing because it was who she was.
Patrick couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Days later, he entered the bookstore. Lena was restocking the poetry section when she noticed him. “Can I help you find something?” she asked.
Patrick looked at her, not as a billionaire CEO, but as a man with a question. “I was actually looking for a recommendation. Something thoughtful, but not too depressing.”
Lena smiled softly. “Literary fiction, memoir, poetry. Surprise me.”
He didn’t know it yet, but just a few quiet moments with her would change everything.
Patrick Mahomes Addresses Home Robbery Amid Ongoing Investigation: ‘It’s Disappointing’
Patrick Mahomes Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Patrick Mahomes broke his silence on the recent robbery at his home.
“It’s frustrating. It’s disappointing,” Mahomes, 29, said during the Kansas City Chiefs press conference on Wednesday, November 13. “I can’t get into too many details because the investigation is still ongoing.”
He continued: “But [it’s] obviously something you don’t want happening to anybody, but especially yourself.”
When asked by reporters if Patrick and his family — which includes pregnant wife Brittany Mahomes and their two children: daughter Sterling, 3, and son Bronze, 23 months — were at the house during the incident, Patrick added that he “can’t speak” on the “details” due to the investigation. However, Patrick is “sure” that information will be discussed “at some point.” It has been unclear if the family was home at the time.
News broke on Tuesday, November 12, that Patrick’s home was burglarized. According to police documents obtained by People, officers from the Cass County Sheriff’s Office were sent to the Chiefs quarterback’s Belton, Missouri property at 12:08 a.m. on October 6 after the home was “broken into around midnight.”
The robbery at Patrick’s home took place the night before the Chiefs faced off against the New Orleans Saints at Arrowhead Stadium for Monday Night Football.
Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
It was also reported that Patrick’s teammate and friend Travis Kelce’s home was also burglarized. Kelce’s Leawood, Kansas property was robbed at 7:33 p.m. on October 7, with police “not called to the house until 1:36 a.m. the following morning,” per docs obtained by People. The authorities detailed that $20,000 was taken from the tight end’s home and a rear door at the estate “was broken.” The incident at Kelce’s home took place during the Chiefs game.
Before the time of the break-ins, Patrick was seen at Kelce’s 35th birthday celebration which took place on October 5. The duo attended a Zac Townsend comedy show at the Midland Theatre in Kansas City.
Patrick bought his mansion in 2020 but he and his family fully moved in three years later. A series of renovations on the home were recently finished. Earlier this year, Brittany showed off a completed dog shower that was built for their two dogs, Steel and Silver.
Kelce, for his part, recently moved to a new location after going public with his romance with Taylor Swift in October 2023. “People would show up at his [previous] house and leave things on his doorstep,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly at the time. “It kind of freaked him out at first. He didn’t feel safe.”
