They didn’t even let me see her grave. They erased her from my life as if she had never existed.
I threw myself into my work and raising Emma. I finished my studies and started designing houses instead of just building them. People noticed my talent.
Three years later, I had my own firm. Emma grew up to be a smart, happy girl, just like her mother.
Five years passed. Life went on, and the pain dulled to occasional pangs.
Then the invitation came.
Stefan, my best friend from several years ago, was getting married. We had struggled to keep in touch after he joined the army, but now he wanted me to be at his wedding.
‘What do you think, Em? Should we go see Uncle Stefan’s wedding?’ I asked my daughter as she was putting on her makeup.
‘Will there be cake?’ she asked seriously.
I laughed. ‘There will definitely be cake. A big, fancy one.’
‘Then we should go,’ she decided, returning to her masterpiece.
The wedding was at a seaside resort, all white flowers and ocean breezes. Stefan gave me a big hug when we arrived.
‘Man, look at you! So grown up and successful,’ he said, tapping me lightly on the arm. ‘And this beautiful girl must be Emma.’
Emma smiled shyly.
The ceremony was beautiful.
Guests filled the white chairs on the beach. Emma sat next to me, swinging her legs and playing with the flower I had pinned in her hair.
The music started and everyone stood up.
The bride walked down the aisle with her face covered.
And then the moment came.
Stefan beamed as she approached. When she reached him, he gently lifted her veil.
I stopped breathing. Tears streamed down my face before I realised I was crying.
Emma looked up, confused. ‘Dad, why are you crying?’
I froze, staring at the ghost of my dead ex-wife in her white wedding dress.
Natalie turned to smile at the guests, but her eyes widened in shock when she saw me standing there with our daughter.
Then she ran away.
Stefan called after her in confusion, but she was already gone. I stood up, my legs shaking.
‘Stay with Aunt Linda,’ I said to Emma and directed her to Stefan’s sister, then followed Natalie.
I found her in the hallway, trembling, pale, clutching her wedding dress.
‘You’re dead,’ I whispered, my voice breaking. ‘They told me you were dead.’
She stammered, ‘I… I didn’t know they told you that.’
I laughed. ‘I begged them to let me see your grave. I spent years mourning you, Natalie.’
Tears glistened in her eyes. ‘I just wanted to find a way out… to start over. My father arranged everything.’
I felt a surge of anger.
‘You let me mourn you. I had to tell our daughter that her mother was dead! It’s one thing to give up your parental rights, but this? What the hell?’
Natalie shuddered. ‘I thought she’d be better off without me.’
Stefan appeared, looking tense and confused. ‘What’s going on? Why did my fiancée run away from our wedding? And why are you two arguing?’
I turned to him. ‘Because five years ago, she abandoned me and our daughter. And then her family told me she had died.’
‘What?’ Stefan’s face drained of colour.
‘Her father and his lawyers cut off all contact. Then they told me she had died in a car accident. I mourned her. And now I see her at the altar, marrying my best friend.’
Stefan challenged Natalie. ‘Tell me you didn’t fake your death.’
She couldn’t deny it.
‘Oh my God, Natalie,’ Stefan whispered, broken.
Stefan left, his face pale, his fists clenched. The wedding was cancelled. Natalie’s parents appeared out of nowhere and took her away.
They didn’t say a word to me. But I didn’t follow them. Not this time.
Two weeks later, Stefan and I met for a drink.
‘She fooled everyone,’ he said bitterly, staring into his glass. ‘Her parents introduced us at some charity event last year. She never mentioned that she had been married before or that she had a child.’
I nodded, but strangely enough, I felt at peace. ‘You couldn’t have known.’
‘Are you okay?’ Stefan asked.
I thought about the question. ‘Yes, I think so. For years, I wondered what I had done wrong and why she left. Now I know it wasn’t me at all.’
I realised that I was no longer broken. Now I had a daughter and a successful career.
I had built my life despite the ruins she had left behind. And for the first time in five years, I felt truly, completely free.