Chapter 1: The Wedding That Stopped
I always imagined my wedding day would be the happiest moment of my life. I thought I would cry while walking toward the man I loved, holding tightly to my father’s arm as he proudly gave me away.
Instead, before I even reached the altar, I watched my entire life crack open in front of everyone.
My father, Daniel, had raised me alone. My mother disappeared when I was too young to understand anything. All I knew came from him. He told me she walked away from us and never looked back.
So Dad became everything.
He worked night shifts, packed my lunches while half-asleep, learned how to braid my hair from terrible online videos, and sat beside me whenever I was sick.
Whenever life felt hard, he would smile and say, “Your life will be better than mine. I’ll make sure of it.”