Three times attending ex-husband's wedding

This third time hopefully will be the last.

I have a close friend who is 10 years younger than me. In the past, because I didn't really like Na's mother, when she was first born, I didn't pay much attention to her.

But it seems that any relationship in life is related to fate, so even though Na and I didn't get along at first, we became closer and closer over time.

When Na was 6 years old, her parents divorced. I told Na's father that no matter what, at this age they are easily traumatized, but sometimes adult things have to happen, whether we want them to or not.

Since her parents divorced, Na has not been close to her father anymore and often comes to my house to play. There was a long period of time when she almost never came home and just stayed at my house all the time. Her father also understood that his daughter was mentally unstable, so he asked me many times to take care of her. So, from a childless child, I became an involuntary foster mother.

The year Na was in 8th grade, I think, I vaguely remember, that was when she entered the rebellious age. I think the biggest reason why she had such a psychological crisis and became so destructive was because her father got a new wife around this time. Although I didn't say it, I was sensitive enough to know that she was not comfortable with a strange woman in her house and her father even suggested calling her "mother".

Na called her father's new wife "Mom". For her, calling anyone "Mom" was fine because in her mind, Mom was very vague. Not only when her parents divorced, but even before that, Na's mother did not care much about her daughter. She wanted to give birth to a boy to please her rich husband's family but failed. Later, no matter how hard she tried, she could not get pregnant, so all the sins somehow became Na's.

In the end, her father discovered that her mother was having an affair, so they went their separate ways. According to Na's father, this affair was because her mother was trying to "find" a son.

Since then, Na never saw her mother again. I only heard rumors that she went to work abroad, and some people said that she followed her lover to the South to do business. Where she went was not important, the important thing was that she completely abandoned her own daughter.

Na's father's new wife continued to give birth to another daughter, when Na was in 12th grade, they divorced again. The reason this time was because the girl's grandmother kept tormenting her daughter-in-law because she couldn't give birth to a son. I understand this, of course I know how harsh Na's grandmother is.

This time was different from the previous time, because Na's new wife insisted on taking her child with her instead of letting her daughter stay with her parents. Having met her a few times and through the stories Na told, I could tell that she was a person who loved her child very much.

Once, after going to her house for dinner and a little wine, her father told me that this was probably his last marriage because he was so tired. This time, he would stay single and raise Na until she got married.

Exactly 1 year later, I heard Na say her father was getting a new wife. You really can't trust a man's words.

On the wedding day, I was there, looking at the big wedding hall, I found it funny. Na's thing is that she never lets her woman down. Every time she gets married, she has to have a big wedding.

That day, little Na ran around to entertain guests for her father. Her father had a wide network of connections and a bit of status. Her paternal family was rich, so every time there were as many guests as the first time. I don't know why, but I suddenly asked her if she was sad, if her stepmother, who was only 3 years older, made her think about anything. Surprisingly, she smiled and replied:

"No! Dad can marry anyone, it's not the first time."

I looked at the man who had been my husband for a short period of a few months happily holding the hand of the new bride cutting the cake. This was the third time I had attended my ex-husband’s wedding. We had a civilized divorce, the reason being that I could not stand my mother-in-law and I could not get pregnant. At that immature age, I could not stand the terrible harshness of my husband’s wealthy, unsuitable family.

When I saw my ex-husband passing by the table to invite me to drink, I half-jokingly said that I didn't mind giving money to the wedding three times in a row, but I hoped this would be the last time because Na was already grown up, even if she was a sensible child, she would still be hurt. It's easy for us adults to find a new family, but it's not that simple for a child...

Source: https://giadinh.suckhoedoisong.vn/ba-lan-di-du-dam-cuoi-chong-cu-172241030213245209.htm