My wedding never happened: I gave birth to a son, and Marek married the woman his mother had chosen for him.
Sometimes fate collapses suddenly, like a house of cards built on hope, love, and belief in the future. Then everything turns into betrayal, pain, and a silent loneliness. Thats exactly what happened to me.
Im Claire, and Im ready to tell my storyone I still recount through tears, even after all these years.
Marek and I had been together for almost a year. It was a genuine lovesimple, warm, sincere. He was caring, always present, and it felt as if we spoke the same language. After six months together, I moved into his place, and soon we applied for a civil ceremony. The wedding date was set, our families were preparing everything with joy, and my mother had even ordered her dress in advance. Mareks mother seemed equally happy about our union; she welcomed me with a smile, brought homemade pies, and said I was just right for her son.
Marek grew up in tough circumstanceshis father left the family when he was still a child, ran off with another woman, divorced again, and disappeared. Perhaps thats why Marek was so attached to his mother; her opinion was everything to him.
Ten days before the wedding I discovered I was pregnant. I wanted to surprise him and announce it on the wedding day. My father, an oldschool man, would have been devastated to hear such news before the ceremony. I dreamed of telling him proudly as he walked me down the aisle.
The preparations were in full swing: we chose the venue décor, discussed the menu, rehearsed our first dance Then, a week before the wedding, during my mothers birthday, Marek announced that the wedding was off. The reason? The baby wasnt his.
Those words were a crushing blow, not only to me but to my whole family. My parents didnt even know I was pregnant. Horrified, I asked him what he meant. Marek showed me a photographme standing at a crosswalk next to an unknown man. It was taken from afar, at an angle that created an illusion of closeness. He claimed it was proof of my infidelity.
I tried to explain that I didnt know the man, that he could have been any passerby. Marek wouldnt hear it. He shut out my words as if he had already decided to believe the lie.
That night my mother was devastatedby shame and humiliation. We had to call the family to announce that the wedding was cancelled, that their daughter was pregnant, and that the fiancé had fled, leaving me on the brink of motherhood.
Five months later I gave birth to a son. I named him André. My parents, despite everything, stood by me, even though I could see how much it cost them. They held firmfor my sake and for my childs.
I tried not to think about Marek. Later, however, the truth emerged. His mother had never wanted me in her family. She deemed me too simple, not the sort who would conform, obey, be acceptable. She persuaded her son to break the engagement and orchestrated the photo stunt. In my place, she forced him to marry Agathea daughter from an influential family, with good connections and money.
Marek married Agathe a few months after our tragedy. But life quickly set things straight. Agathe turned out not to be who she pretended to be. She immediately took control of the household, drove out anyone who tried to intervene, and left Marek unable to cope. He went to work in Germany, then asked for a divorce.
Recently he started contacting me through social media, apologizing, saying he understands, wanting a relationship with André. No matter who the father is, I just want him close to me, he wrote.
I no longer believe him. My trust has burned to ash. I dont want my son to grow up near someone capable of such betrayalsomeone who ignored his own heart to obey his mother, who chose lies, convenience, cowardice.
Yes, forgiveness is a virtue, but I refuse to let back into my life the ones who once chose to betray me. Ive learned to be strong, to wait for nothing, to be a mother without a mans help. I have Andrémy purpose, my love, my strength.
As for Marek may he live with his conscience. If any fragment of the love he once swore to me remains, hell understand why I never opened the door when he knocked ten years later.
And perhaps that will be his true punishment.
My Canceled Wedding: I Gave Birth to a Son, While Marek Married the Girl Chosen by His Mother
