Javier always claimed he didn’t want a grand wedding because “he had no family to invite.” I accepted that, though my parents insisted on hosting a beautiful celebration for their only daughter.
Finally, we booked an elegant hall inside a luxury restaurant in Mexico City and welcomed nearly 100 guests, mostly relatives and friends from my side. I controlled the dress and the invitations; Javier managed the ceremonial details. He appeared more pensive than usual, but I assumed it was just nerves before the big moment.
The day arrived: glowing chandeliers, fresh blossoms, delighted guests. Javier and I stood on stage, exchanging rings and vows. Yet, in the audience, I spotted something unsettling: an older couple, poorly dressed, stood quietly in a corner.
The man, frail, with silver hair, leaned on a worn cane, trembling. The woman beside him clutched a faded cloth bag, her sorrowful eyes locked on us. They looked like lost shadows amid the splendor.
I leaned toward Javier, whispering,
“Darling, who are those people? Why are they here?”
He flinched, then quickly replied:
“Probably vagrants who sneaked inside. I’ll have them removed.”
I stopped him:
“No, let me ask them to sit, poor souls.”
I moved toward them, but my mother seized my arm, irritated:
“Mariana! Don’t let strangers spoil this day. Call the guards.”
I resisted, pleading:
“Mom, they’re elderly, what harm in letting them rest awhile?”
But when I turned back, waiters were already escorting them outside.
They remained there, trembling, no chair, no water. My chest tightened, yet the ceremony swept me away.
During the banquet, Javier fidgeted constantly, glancing at the doors. When the celebration ended, the couple was still waiting. I approached them. The man whispered in a frail tone:
“Miss, thank you for caring, but we didn’t dare… we only wanted to see our son Javier again.”
I froze:
“You… know him?”
The woman sobbed:
“He’s our boy. But he no longer accepts us.”
My heart thudded. Javier had always claimed he was orphaned. Nervous, I called him over:
“Javier, they say they’re your parents. What’s happening?”
He blanched, stammering:
“Mariana, neglect them. They’re mistaken.”
But his eyes betrayed the truth. I demanded answers.
They revealed everything: they were Javier’s real parents, poor farmers from Oaxaca. When he was little, crushing debt drove them into despair. Unable to provide, they placed him in an orphanage, hoping he’d have a chance.
Later, when fortune improved, they tried reclaiming him—but Javier, now a student, rejected them. Ashamed of his roots, he abandoned them, pretending to be an orphan. Through an acquaintance, they heard about the wedding and traveled just to glimpse him once more.
Anger burned inside me. I dragged Javier aside and shouted:
“You deceived me all these years? You discarded your parents out of shame? This is who you are?”
He bowed, muttering:
“Mariana, you don’t get it… I just wanted to escape. My parents gave me nothing but poverty. I wanted you to live free from that.”
Tears blurred my vision:
“And you believe happiness comes from lies and scorning your own blood?”
I removed my ring and placed it in his palm:
“This wedding ends today.”
Gasps swept the hall. My mother tried stopping me, but my resolve held. I led the couple to the main table and announced before everyone:
“These are Javier’s parents. Forgive me for not knowing sooner. I’ll look after them.”
A heavy silence fell. Javier stood frozen, wordless.
Weeks later, I took them to the hospital. His father was gravely ill. In their cloth bag, I explored a box with a deed: land in Oaxaca worth millions, placed in Javier’s name. After losing their child, they worked endlessly to purchase it, intending it as his legacy. They weren’t the beggars Javier painted them as, but devoted parents who gave everything.
I never went back to Javier. I sold the property to cover treatment and build them a humble home. When Javier begged forgiveness, I told him,
“You chose the wedding lights, but ignored your parents’ gaze. Now live with that choice.”
He collapsed to his knees, but I was no longer the same Mariana. Our problem wasn’t only his lie, but that he crushed the very bl00d who sacrificed all. Beneath the wedding lights, I lost a husband, but found my dignity… and two real parents.