The complexity of family ties sometimes leads to issues that are hard to handle.
A man named Mark shared his life story on Reddit asking if he was in the wrong for refusing to walk his daughter down the aisle on her special day.
After years of believing that Alice was his daughter, Mark learned that his wife, Clare, cheated on him some 18 years ago and that her then lover, James, was the biological father of Alice. This shattered Mark’s life into a million pieces.
Unable to cope with the thought of his wife’s betrayal, he decided to divorce her. This revelation, however, never changed his feelings towards Alice. She was still his daughter and the person he loved the most. In fact, his entire life revolved around her happiness and her well-being.
Sadly, after learning the truth about her biological father, Alice started resenting Mark for no reason. She somehow blamed him for not revealing the truth to her earlier, although he himself wasn’t aware of it until then.
All of a sudden, Alice wanted to meet her biological father and wanted him to be part of her life, leaving Mark behind. She never took into account all the years of love and attention Mark gave her as a father when she made the decision to cut him off her life.
Mark was devastated. He tried contacting Alice multiple times, but she never cared to pick up the phone, and that one time she did, she told him to stay away from her because she was now living with her mother and her real father.
One day, Mark got a call from the college Alice attended. They were worried for her academic progress. Mark was determined to try to get into contact with his daughter again in order to learn why she was falling behind and offer her some help.
“Don’t call me again or I’ll report you to the cops!” she told him, ready to hung up on him.
“Alice, please wait. I swear I won’t call you again, but this time it’s not about me. It has to do with your academics,” Mark said.
“Oh my god! Are you sick of acting like a daddy? How long can you act like that, seriously?” she answered.
“But honey, I was actually worried about you,” Mark told her.
“Mark, that’s enough!” was Alice’s reply. “If you do this again, or even look for me, you know what the next step will be!”
Did she really call him by his name? When did he stop being her dad? Mark was devastated and decided not to call Alice ever again although his heart ached and he loved her more than anything.
Some years passed by, and out of the blue, Mark received a text message. It was from Alice. He started shaking and was short of breath. He dreamed of this moment for so many years. He honestly believed that she wrote him in order to apologize and he was ready to forget everything and welcome her in his life again. But sadly, that wasn’t was Alice wanted.
“Hi Dad, this is Alice,” she started her text. “I am about to get married soon and I want you to walk me down the aisle.
“I understand our relationship hasn’t always been smooth sailing, but I really need your help. Adam, my fiancé, has been my only support system since my father passed away two years ago.”
Alice explained that the reason why she needed Mark to be there on her wedding day was because her future mother-in-law told her so. In fact, the mother-in-law was coming from a family in which they were all very close with one another, and she wanted her son to marry someone like that, who respected tradition and family values, otherwise, she wouldn’t approve of the wedding.
So, Alice wasn’t the one who wanted Mark there, she just wanted him to save her relationship and her big day.
She then demanded that Mark forgets everything that had happened between them years ago because he was the one to be blamed for their failed relationship.
Mark couldn’t believe that even after all those years, Alice was still unaware that what happened after he and her mother divorced was her fault only. She only cared about her wedding, and that was it.
After giving it some thought, Mark refused to walk Alice down the aisle.
Some of his friends believed he did the wrong thing, but he knew he wasn’t welcome to that wedding, it was just a way for Alice to present a happy family in front of her mother-in-law.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you believe Mark is in the wrong for not walking his daughter down the aisle?
