A father-of-two has told of his heartbreak in turning down the opportunity to walk his daughter down the aisle after she ‘disowned’ him years ago.
The anonymous man told Reddit users of the devastating moment he discovered his child was not biologically his own.
His wife at the time had an affair with a friend and came clean when their daughter was 15-years-old - which led to a devastating divorce.
The user claimed that the teen decided to get to know her biological father and slowly began pulling away from him - until she returned to live with him at 20.
During the time they were living together, the pair had an argument that virtually ended their relationship, as he explained: “We were arguing because she’d dropped out of her college courses, hadn't done anything for three months and was mad because I told her she either needed to go to school or work if she wanted to stay here for free.
“She told me I’m not her real dad so stop pretending like I am and she’ll just go stay with her real father.
“That broke me honestly. But I told her if that’s how she really feels then there’s really nothing left to say between us. And she did move out to go live with him.”
The father went on to say that his son, who is 24-years-old, is the reason he kept going throughout the years of grief and that out of anger for what his sister had done to his dad, he rarely stayed in contact with her.
The girl's biological father passed away in 2019, and the Reddit user explained that he recently found out through his son that she is now engaged.
“She reached out to me, saying first that she knows that ‘we haven’t talked in a while,’ but wants to ask me if I’d be willing to walk her down the aisle," he said.
“After a pretty long message about how much she hurt me in the past with her actions, I told her no. She didn’t want me to be her father anymore so I learned to no longer view her as my daughter.
“This turned into a fight between us because according to her it’s not her fault she wanted to know her real dad. And I agreed with her it’s not, but what was her fault was how she treated me ever since.
“In my mind I know if he hadn’t passed we wouldn’t even be speaking right now. It ended with telling her I hope she enjoys her wedding but I want no part of it or her life.
“My son told me she’s ranting to my family that I’m ruining her day and she thought parents are supposed to love their kids unconditionally.
“My brothers seem to think now that I am being an asshole and this is my chance to be in her life again. But I have no interest in that.”
He then added that his family has a strong opinion on his decision and believe he’s “making it difficult” for his daughter to “have the wedding she wants when it would mean a lot to her”.
He asked “for his sanity”, what did people make of the situation, and since posting his story, many have jumped to his defence on the forum.
Among the hundreds of comments, one user wrote: “She decided that you're not her father in any capacity. You've respected that. Now that the other guy is passed, she doesn't get to change the rules.
“She doesn't want you, she wants someone to play a part. Maybe your son can be the one to give her away instead.”
Another said: “You attempted contact throughout the years, but it wasn't you that became distant, it was your daughter.
“She wanted to get to know her bio dad (nothing wrong with that), but at the expense of becoming distant and eventually having no contact with you, her dad who had been there for her since she was born.
“Now the bio dad isn't there to walk her down the aisle. In my opinion, if she wanted you at her wedding you would have gotten an invitation, and not become a stand-in for deceased bio dad.
“Why can't her brother walk her down the aisle? Personally, I think she just wants her wedding to look good, irrespective of how you feel.”
A third added: “You are almost certainly right. She was an adult when she decided that she didn't want you in her life. It's sad that it was a bad decision, but it was her decision.”
