He remained perfectly still with a cold and unyielding expression that offered no comfort. “What do you mean you didn’t invite me?” I asked as I felt a tremor begin to creep into my voice.
Wesley let out a long, weary sigh as if explaining a basic concept to a difficult child. “I know who you are, Dad, but Penelope and I decided this ceremony was for family, and you are simply not part of ours anymore.”
The rejection felt like a physical blow to my chest that shattered my heart into a thousand jagged pieces. I struggled to breathe as I stared at the man I had raised.
“What is that supposed to mean?” I managed to ask while my mind raced to make sense of his cruelty.
“It means that Penelope and her parents do not want you here because they are the ones financing nearly the entire event,” he replied.
“Wesley, I am the one who paid for your Ivy League tuition,” I reminded him firmly. “I provided the down payment for your townhouse and gave you a massive loan for your startup two years ago.”
“I appreciate those things, Dad, but that was a different chapter of my life,” he said without looking me in the eye. “Penelope’s family has certain social expectations, and frankly, you do not fit into the image we are building.”
The phrase about not fitting in echoed in my skull like a bell of humiliation. I realized I was being discarded because I drove a truck and lacked the prestigious pedigree of Penelope’s inner circle.
“Please do not make a scene and make this more difficult than it already is,” Wesley urged in a low hiss. “Just leave now because there is truly no place for you at these tables.”
I looked at him and saw the little boy I had raised alone after his mother disappeared when he was five. I remembered holding him when he was bullied and cheering the loudest on the day he graduated with honors.
“Okay, son,” I finally whispered with a calmness that seemed to catch him off guard. “I understand.”
Wesley blinked in surprise as if he had prepared for a loud argument or a tearful plea that never came. “Is it really okay?” he asked with a hint of suspicion.
“Yes, it is your day and your choice,” I replied while stepping back. “But Wesley, make sure you check your phone in about ten minutes.”
“Why would I need to do that?” he asked as I turned my back on him.