I Couldn’t Attend My Daughter’s Wedding In Paris – The Same Wedding I Helped Pay For. She Told Me By Email: “If You Want To Be A Part Of It, You Can Watch Online.” So I Just Said, “Sure. Enjoy Your Big Day.” The Next Morning, She Kept Calling Me.

At work, I found an email from Natalie waiting in my personal inbox. The subject line read:

Please don’t ruin my wedding. I opened it, curious to see how she’d frame her argument.

Mom,

I know you’re upset about the live stream situation, but this is extreme. We’ve lost our venue deposit, and if we don’t pay the rest by end of day Paris time—in six hours—we lose the caterer, too. Marcel’s parents are furious and saying this proves they were right about you all along.

Please don’t do this to us. We can talk about you coming to the wedding, but we need that money first. So, that was it.

They were willing to talk about my attendance now that the money was in jeopardy. Not guarantee it. Not apologize for excluding me in the first place.

Just talk about it. As if my presence at my own daughter’s wedding was a negotiable item contingent on my financial contribution. I closed the email without responding and focused on the contract review I’d been putting off.

Around noon, Robert Caldwell stopped by my desk. “Lunch?” he offered. “That new Italian place opened across the street.”

I almost declined—my standard response when someone interrupted my carefully planned day—but something stopped me.

Maybe it was the events of the past 24 hours. Or maybe it was just the genuine warmth in Robert’s eyes. Whatever it was, I found myself nodding.

“I’d like that,” I said, surprising us both. Over pasta, Robert told me about his weekend with his grandchildren. “Exhausting,” he admitted.

“But wonderful. Everything in my life seems sharper, more meaningful since Victoria died. Like I’m living for both of us now.”

“That’s beautiful,” I said, meaning it.

He set down his fork. “Sharon, forgive me for saying this, but you seem different today. Lighter somehow.”

I considered deflecting, as I usually did when conversations turned personal.

Instead, I told him the truth about Natalie, the wedding, the uninvitation—all of it. “So, I canceled the money transfer,” I finished. “And now they’re scrambling.”

Robert whistled low.

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