My daughter, Alice, and I haven’t spoken in years. When she turned 18, we found out that she wasn’t my biological daughter. My wife, Clara, had cheated on me with a friend, and that so-called friend, James, turned out to be Alice’s dad.

Honestly, it didn’t make a difference to me whether Alice was my child or not. I’ve always treated her like my daughter, and I wanted to continue doing so. But sadly, Alice didn’t want the same.

“How can you even do that, dad?” Alice was furious when she returned from college that day. “Oh wait, am I even supposed to call you dad?”

“Honey, I wanted to tell you,” I explained. “But I thought the fact that Clara and I are divorcing would already be a lot for you to process. I’m sorry!”

“No, dad!” Alice retorted. “Your sorry isn’t going to make anything better.”

“Alice, please, you’re the only one I have now,” I pleaded to her. “I don’t want to lose you. It doesn’t matter to me if you’re my biological daughter or not. I love you, honey!”

Alice glared at me. “Well, if you loved me, you wouldn’t have hidden the truth about my real dad!”

“But Alice…” Before I could say anything, Alice packed her bags and left.

I was heartbroken. It was fine with me if Alice preferred her biological father to me. But the fact that she never gave a thought to all the years of love and care I had given her as a father really hurt me.

From that day on, I tried contacting Alice several times. Sometimes, I would skip work to visit her at college. But every time I tried talking to her, she’d just ignore me and walk away.

Once, I received an email from Alice’s college that she wasn’t doing well in her studies. She had failed in several subjects, and the college had given her a warning to clear her subjects or else she’d be rusticated.

I was concerned about her, so I tried contacting her again. Thankfully, she picked up the call.

“Don’t call me again, or I’ll report you to the cops!” she said and was about to hang up.

“Alice, wait,” I said. “I promise I won’t call you again, but it’s not about me this time. It’s about your studies.”

Alice started yelling at me on the call. “Oh god! Aren’t you tired of pretending to be a fatherly figure? I mean, how long can you act like that?”

“But honey, I was actually worried about you,” I told her.

“That’s enough, Mark!” she answered. “If you do this again, or even come around looking for me, you know what’s going to be the next step!” she added and disconnected the call.

I was stunned. Mark? Did she really call me by my name and not dad?

If you’re a parent, you know how helpless a parent feels in such a situation when their child doesn’t want to listen. They believe you’re only pretending to be nice to them when you genuinely care about them. Sadly, that’s exactly what had happened to Alice.

From that point on, Alice and I didn’t contact each other again. Anyway, expecting a text or call from her was a distant dream. After all, she was happy with James and Clara.

But one day, finally, Alice texted me. And that message made me believe that turning down her request was the best decision…

“Hi Dad, this is Alice,” the message began.

Dad? Does she not remember my name is Mark, or did she just send the text by mistake?

“I am getting engaged, and I want you to walk me down the aisle,” the message read. “I know we’ve had a rocky relationship in the past, but I really need your help. My fiancé, Adam, has been my only source of support since my father died two years ago…”

I was gradually gaining an idea of the message’s direction.

“And now his mom is adamant she wants to meet you. She might call off the engagement if you and mom are not there. Adam comes from a close-knit family, and his mom wants him to marry a girl who is close to her parents and learns how to value relationships.”

Alice also wrote that it was my fault that our relationship was ruined as I held the secret about her birth parents from her, and she requested me to forget everything and attend the wedding. I was shocked that she didn’t realize how wrong she was. All she cared about was the wedding.

I don’t know what you would have done in this situation, but I refused her. She texted me that evening asking for help again, but my answer didn’t change.

Honestly, if she had even once apologized to me, I would have agreed to her request. But Alice took me for granted. She thought I would listen to her no matter what.

Some people are still ridiculing me for ruining my daughter’s special day, especially my friend Kevin. He keeps telling me I should forget everything and just go to the wedding. But that way, Alice will just continue to take everything for granted, and she will never improve.

I hope she learns a lesson this way.

What can we learn from this story?

• Stop taking people for granted. The way Alice treated Mark was not right at all.
• Relationships are built with love and care and not necessarily blood. The way Mark cared for Alice and loved her proves that.