A woman told her daughter that her father had passed away – years later, the girl uncovered a heartbreaking truth

When Cassie returns from a getaway with her husband and son, she walks into her home to see a cryptic message from her mother — telling her to watch a video. As Cassie presses play, her entire life changes. In the end, she’s left wondering which of her parents are worthy of forgiveness.

In my eyes, my father could do no wrong. He was everything I needed him to be and more. He was a businessman who was always traveling, but he ensured that he made enough time for me.

“You’re my little girl, Cassie,” he would say, bopping my nose with his index finger. “You’re the most special.”

My parents always went out of their way for me — ensuring that despite their busy schedules, we would have family dinner almost every night.

It was the one thing that kept me grounded while both of my friends from school were in the middle of their parents’ messy divorces.

“I think it’s trendy now,” I told my mother as she cut slices of banana bread for me after school one day.

“Cas, you cannot think that divorce is trendy,” she laughed. “It’s devastating and traumatic, and very few families actually keep things civil.”

“I’m just saying that it’s trendy because a lot of kids live between two homes,” I explained to her. “It’s one of those things we were talking about in class today.”

I was fourteen, and the world seemed more dramatic than it should have been.

But what I didn’t know was that my words seemed to be an incantation that settled over our home.

A few weeks after that conversation, my father went away on a business trip. A few hours after he had been gone, there was news of his passing.

“How?” I asked. “How did he die?”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Cassie,” she replied. “I’m just saying what the paramedics told me.”

“So what will we do next?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” she asked, puzzled by the question.

“For the funeral?” I asked. “Aren’t we going to have one?”

“I don’t think so,” my mother replied. “Dad wanted to be cremated and have his ashes spread at the beach. Let’s do that instead.”

I couldn’t fathom why my mother would want to do that — but at the end of the day, she knew my father best. And the longer I thought about it, the more beautiful and sentimental a private ceremony at the beach felt.

“Don’t be difficult, Cassie,” my mother said when she saw me thinking about my next move.

“I’m not,” I said. “Really. I was just thinking about it. It’s a great idea, Mom.”

I could have fought her for a send-off that I thought would have been more appropriate. But what use would it have been? At the end of the day, we had both lost him.

The months following the beach ceremony felt weighted, and I knew that I was becoming deeply depressed — my father had been our world. And his absence was felt more than anything.

But, with time, I learned to live with it.

Last week, I decided to book a cabin in the woods for a little family vacation. My son was adamant that camping was the new best thing, and I knew that despite the wonders of nature, I wasn’t going to camp in a tent without a bathroom in sight.

Instead, I thought that a cabin would be the best option — my husband, Derek, could camp outside with Drew, our son, if he insisted on it.

We had a dog, therefore, I asked my mother to house-sit for the week so that we could be at peace, knowing that Romeo was taken care of.

A week away was more than enough to restore my mind — and eventually, when we went back home, I was surprised to see that my mother wasn’t there. In fact, it looked like she had never been there.

But there, on the coffee table, was a note beneath the TV remote.

Watch this, Cassie. I’m sorry. — Mom

I didn’t know what was in store for me, but while Derek got Drew into the bath, I put the TV on and began to watch whatever my mother had planned.

The TV flickered to life, and there he was, my father, his voice a long-lost melody, his image aged but still, unmistakably him.

Tears streamed down my face as the realization that he was still alive enveloped me in a mix of joy and disbelief.

The video message was nothing short of unpredictable.

My dear Cassie, I’m still here, alive. I’m so sorry for the pain that you must have felt from my loss. But it was needed. I needed to be removed from your life because of the sordid truth of my past. Your mother knows everything, please ask her for the truth.

My health is on a steady decline, and I would love to see you and explain it all.

Love you, Dad.

Without telling Derek or Drew anything, I grabbed the car keys and ran out. I needed my mother to explain.

“So, I bet you’ve got questions for me,” she said, opening the door.

“Explain it all,” I said.

“Cassie, it’s heavy. You look tired from your trip; are you sure you want to do this now?” she asked.

I nodded. It was now or never. I needed to know why my father faked his own death to get out of our lives.

My mother made us some tea and took out some shortbread.

“Darling,” she said. “I’ll understand if you don’t forgive me, but there’s so much about that time that I need to tell you.”

I sipped my tea, trying to figure out what my mother was about to tell me.

“I remember that you were telling me about your friend’s parents getting divorced. Do you remember that?” she asked.

I nodded. Of course, I did. It was the strangest thing, but it was so common when I was in school.

“Well, your father and I were not legally married. So when I told him about our conversation regarding divorce, he was actually relieved. Without being married, there would be no divorce.”

“What’s the big deal?” I asked.

“Then I found out that the real reason that we didn’t get married was because your father was already married to another woman.”

“What?” I exclaimed, almost dropping my cup. “To who?”

“To a woman in the town where he always had his business trips.”

“You didn’t know?” I asked, unable to believe her words.

“Of course not!” she exclaimed. “But when I pressed him about it, he decided to choose that family over us. So, I told him that the story was going to be his death.”

We were both silent for a moment.

Turns out that my mother told him that she would never tell me the truth, not when he was my favorite person. She couldn’t burst my bubble in that way. And she refused to let him see me one more time.

“It was better for you to think that it was an accident,” my mother said. “It just made more sense.”

Now, I understood why we didn’t have a funeral for him.

“What did we throw into the sea, then?” I asked.

“Dust,” she replied with a straight face.

My mother had spoken to him twice over the years. The second time being a day ago.

During their meeting, my father confessed his imminent death due to illness and requested that she give me the recording. My mother, torn by guilt and love, chose to write me the note and have the recording all set for me to watch.

“I would have taken the secret to my grave,” she said. “But knowing that he was ill and wanted to see you just struck something in me.”

Compelled by a need to confront the reality of my father’s existence, I traveled to the state where he lived with his other family.

I spent a few weeks with my father — going in and out of hospitals, watching him take an array of different medication, and growing weaker by the day.

Sitting at his bedside, I listened to his stories, the regrets, the moments of joy, and the love he had for all his children — myself included.

When things started to go downhill, I asked Derek to fly over with Drew. It was going to be a fleeting moment, but at least I’d know that my son had met my father.

A few days later, my father died.

Even now, I don’t know if I’ve forgiven him for the lie of having a double life. I just know that when it came to it in the end — I wanted to spend time with him. I had shoved my feelings aside, hoping for memories that I could figure out later.

But now that the dust has settled, I’m trying to figure out if I should forgive my mother for lying.

What would you do?

new 1498

I Asked My Grandmother to Walk Down the Aisle at My Wedding — My Family Demands That I Apologize for It

Just days before her wedding, Leah discovers that her grandmother didn’t have a wedding. Unable to sleep due to her grandmother having missed her opportunity, Leah wants her grandparents to have their moment and walk down the aisle. Instead of it playing out as Leah plans, she has to deal with a grandmother in a wedding dress, an embarrassed grandfather, and livid family members. Did she ruin her own wedding just to give her grandmother a memory?

“Tell me about your wedding, Gran,” I asked, rocking back and forth on the porch swing. The night was quiet, and we were a week away from my wedding.

A person sitting on a porch swing | Source: Midjourney

All I wanted to do was soak up the time I had left with my grandmother because once we were married, Nate and I would be moving away.

“Oh, honey, there wasn’t really a wedding. Your grandfather always promised, but it never happened,” she smiled, her eyes distant.

A smiling old woman | Source: Pexels

“Never?” I asked, frowning.

My grandmother shook her head.

“No. He didn’t even propose, Leah,” she said. “He always said that we’d get around to it eventually, but life just kept getting in the way. We raised our kids, took care of the house, and before I knew it, decades had passed.”

A woman washing dishes | Source: Unsplash

“But you are married, right?” I asked, trying to understand why my grandmother’s words felt like such a blow to me.

“Married, yes. Your grandfather took me down to the courthouse, and we signed away our single lives. He didn’t ask me; he just said that it was going to happen. And it did.”

The exterior of a court house | Source: Unsplash

My heart ached for her.

“But you wanted one, right? A wedding, I mean,” I pressed.

Her smile was wistful.

“I did, but I let go of that dream a long time ago. Now, come on, I’ll make you some hot chocolate before you leave.”

Two mugs of hot chocolate | Source: Midjourney

Later that night, when I went back home to my fiancé, I couldn’t sleep at all. My grandmother’s words replayed in my mind, and I felt a deep sadness for her unfulfilled dream.

By morning, I had an idea. It seemed perfect. To me, everything was good. Everything made sense.

A woman lying in bed | Source: Unsplash

“Nate, can I run something by you?” I asked my fiancé over breakfast.

He nodded, looking up at me and smiling.

“What if Grandma walked down the aisle at our wedding?” I asked.

Eggs and bacon in a frying pan | Source: Midjourney

“Leah, what on earth do you mean?” he asked, sipping his coffee.

I sat across from him, nibbling on some toast, and I told him everything that my grandmother told me the previous night.

A man holding a mug | Source: Unsplash

“So, you’re saying that you want your grandmother to walk down the aisle in a wedding dress?”

“Yes,” I said, getting more excited by the idea. “We could get her a simple dress and some flowers. And she could walk down the aisle. It would be like giving her a piece of the wedding she never had.”

Nate smiled at me, the smile reaching his eyes.

An old woman in a wedding dress | Source: Midjourney

“Leah, what on earth do you mean?” he asked, sipping his coffee.

I sat across from him, nibbling on some toast, and I told him everything that my grandmother told me the previous night.

A man holding a mug | Source: Unsplash

“So, you’re saying that you want your grandmother to walk down the aisle in a wedding dress?”

Nate smiled at me, the smile reaching his eyes.

An old woman in a wedding dress | Source: Midjourney

A hanging garment bag | Source: Midjourney

She gasped quietly, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Oh, sweetheart, I couldn’t…”

“Yes, you can,” I said firmly, handing her a bouquet of flowers. “I know that you’re married to Grandpa already, but this is part of your dream. Let’s make it happen.”

A bouquet of flowers | Source: Unsplash

She hugged me tightly, nodding against my ear. I asked another one of my bridesmaids to take my grandmother to one of the other dressing rooms so that she could take in the moment for herself.

Next, I asked for my grandfather to come to my dressing room.

A bride in a dressing room | Source: Pexels

“Grandpa, we’re going to have Grandma walk down the aisle today. Like a bride, okay? You guys can have your moment. And it will be beautiful because we get to share the day.”

He snorted, immediately dismissive.

An upset old man | Source: Pexels

“Leah, that’s ridiculous,” he said. “At our age? It’s more a mockery than anything else.”

I was taken aback by his reaction.

“But it’s something that Gran has always wanted.”

Instead, he waved me off.

“I’m not interested, Leah. We are here for your wedding. That’s it.”

An old man holding a cane | Source: Pexels

Despite his refusal, the ceremony proceeded. I knew that I should have tried to convince him harder, but there wasn’t any time.

As the music started, my grandmother stepped onto the aisle, with me watching her from behind.

“It’s okay,” I told her before. “You just do it alone if you have to. Walk to Nate, and then you can take a seat at the front. And then it will be my turn to walk to my future husband.”

A groom | Source: Unsplash

There was confusion when Gran started walking down the aisle, especially because she wasn’t walking toward my grandfather, but to Nate instead.

As she walked, guests gasped, unable to comprehend what was going on.

My grandfather’s face turned red, and he stood up abruptly. He looked me straight in the eye as he stormed out of the venue.

An old man with his mouth open | Source: Pexels

I felt a pang of guilt but quickly refocused my attention on my grandmother, who had hugged Nate and was beaming with joy.

When she sat down, my entrance music began, and I walked down the aisle bursting with love for Nate. I hadn’t expected him to be okay with any of it, but the fact that he was just made everything more magical.

“Hey there,” he said as he took my hand when I reached the altar.

A couple at the altar | Source: Midjourney

The rest of the ceremony went off without any hiccups, and whenever I turned to look at my Gran, she had her little handkerchief in her hands ready to dab her eyes.

But then, everything changed after the ceremony.

It started with my nephew crashing into the table holding the champagne glasses, leaving glass everywhere.

Shattered glass | Source: Pexels

And then, instead of my family coming to me and throwing confetti on Nate and myself in celebration, they did the exact opposite.

My parents pulled me aside, my mother tugging harshly at my arm.

“What were you thinking, Leah?” she hissed. “You embarrassed your grandfather with that childish stunt. Why does it always have to be about you?”

An angry woman | Source: Pexels

“It wasn’t about me!” I protested. “It was about Grandma and her dream. She deserved this moment as much as I did. As much as you did when you got married, too.”

“And what about your grandfather?” my father chimed in, flagging down a waiter with canapes as he spoke. “You made a good old fool of him.”

But it didn’t stop there.

An angry man | Source: Pexels

My relatives kept coming up to me, agreeing with my parents. They didn’t even allow me to eat my first meal with Nate as his wife or have our first dance together.

It was all about them and how they thought that I had ruined my grandfather’s mood, and was it worth it?

“Of course, it’s worth it!” I told my mother’s sister when she slid into the chair next to me. “Anything for Gran!”

“It’s okay,” Nate said, as he pulled me into his arms, my tears threatening to escape.

A bridal couple standing together | Source: Pexels

“Did I ruin our wedding?” I asked him.

“You did no such thing,” he reassured me. “I’ll get the car, we can go to the hotel. We’ll take your grandmother, too. I’ve seen how everyone has been circling her.”

Later that night, I sat with my grandmother in her hotel room. Nate had booked her a room for the night.