Eleanor didn’t answer immediately.
She didn’t want her own hurt to decide her son’s future.
“Daniel, I cannot make that decision for you.”
“But what do you think?”
She looked at him carefully.
“I think you should ask yourself how she treats people when she has nothing to gain from them. I think you should ask yourself whether you would be comfortable watching someone speak to your wife the way she spoke to me today.”
Daniel’s eyes filled with tears.
“And I think,” Eleanor continued softly, “that you should never marry someone simply because you’ve already spent money, invited guests, or made promises. A wedding is one day. A marriage is the rest of your life.”
Daniel looked toward Victoria.
She was standing beside her father, demanding that he find a way to salvage the reception.
Even now, she was more concerned about the event than about the woman she had hurt.
Daniel finally understood something he had spent months refusing to see.
His mother’s money had not created the problem.
It had only made the problem impossible to ignore.
The Groom Makes His Decision
Daniel walked back to Victoria.
“We need to talk.”
“Not now,” she snapped. “Your mother has already destroyed everything.”
“My mother didn’t destroy our wedding. You made it impossible for me to ignore what kind of person you are.”
Victoria stared at him.
“You’re not seriously blaming me for this.”
“You humiliated her. You demanded that she fund a wedding you couldn’t afford. And when she finally stood up for herself, you expected me to force her to pay again.”
“She offered the money!”
“She offered to help us. She never offered to be your punching bag.”
Victoria’s eyes filled with tears.
“Daniel, please. We can fix this.”
“Can we?”
“Of course. I’ll apologize and treat her better. I’ll do whatever you want.”
