On Wedding Day, Groom Learns Wife Deleted His Foster Mom’s Name from Guest List – Story of the Day

A man worried when his foster mother didn't show up at his wedding, so he left to find her. His bride followed and told him she was responsible for her absence and revealed the heartbreaking reason why.

"Oh my god, please come in! I'm happy you're here!" Violet greeted her son, William, after opening her door and smiled brightly. Her son was visiting her for a special reason: to introduce her to his new fiancée, Hazel.

"Hi, Mom," William said, hugging the older woman. "This is… my dear, Hazel."

"Mrs. Hubert, I'm so sorry we couldn't meet before. I kept telling him that we had to before we got engaged," Hazel said, sounding apologetic.

"Don't worry about that, honey. I'm just glad you're here now," Violet said, kissing her cheek and nudging them into the house.

They had a fantastic dinner and talked about the wedding, which was going to be small and intimate, but held at the local country club where Hazel's family had been members for generations.

"You can't go in there. She can't be at our wedding. She's not a good woman," Hazel sputtered.

***

"How was your meeting with your future mother-in-law, darling? I can't wait to meet her," Hazel's father, Roger, asked. They were in her childhood home a day before the wedding, and Hazel was going through a checklist to see if something was missing for the following day.

"Oh, it was great. She's so happy and can't wait to see her son. I was nervous, but she was so nice. I think we're going to have a fantastic relationship," Hazel said, distracted from her list. But it was a happy distraction. She had meeting Violet.

"That's great, honey," her father nodded, opening the fridge and grabbing a soda.

"Oh, she even insisted on taking a picture with us," Hazel said and grabbed her phone. Her father came closer and frowned at the picture.

"That's William's mother? Violet?" he questioned, confused. "Oh, jeez."

"What?" Hazel asked, looking at him and seeing his awkward expression. "Do you know her?"

"She hung out around my fraternity brothers a lot," Roger said, wetting his lips and looking away.

"So, what's the problem? You sound odd."

"There's no problem… it's just… Violet was not the nicest girl."

"What does that mean?" Hazel wondered, getting anxious due to her father's attitude.

"She was looking to marry for money, and everyone knew it," Roger answered.

"Well, lots of women want to marry a rich man. It's not that odd," Hazel said, shrugging but still frowning at her dad.

"That's true, but there's something else. When she couldn't find a rich frat boy to marry… she did something else. And it's kinda horrible," Roger replied cryptically.

"Stop with the mystery and just tell me the truth," Hazel demanded, frustrated.

"Ok. Well..." he began, and Hazel was appalled by the time he finished. The truth about Violet was so heartbreaking – not for her, but for William – that Hazel made a drastic decision and removed her name from the guest list.

***

William and Hazel's wedding day….

"What do you mean I'm not on the list? I'm the groom's mother. There must be a mistake. Here's my invitation," Violet said, offended. She grabbed the invitation from her purse and showed the guard.

"Ma'am, that invitation doesn't have your name anywhere. How do I know you didn't steal it to crash the event? Also, if I don't have your name on this list, I can't let you in," the security guard outside the country club shook his head and refused to let her in.

Desperate, Violet grabbed her phone and tried calling her son. He didn't answer – William had put his phone on silent during preparations – and she tried calling Hazel, but she didn't answer, either. She didn't know anyone else and hadn't met Hazel's parents.

The guards told her she couldn't stay outside or they would call the cops, so in the end, Violet got in her car and drove home, crying silently as she kept trying to dial.

***

"We can't start the ceremony until my mom gets here!" William shouted. "Where's my phone? Do you have it?"

"No one has seen your phone for a while, dude," William's groomsman, Josh, said. "Look, Hazel is ready. It's time for the ceremony. Let's do it, and we can find your mother later."

"NO! I can't get married without my mom. She needs to be here," William said, walking back down the aisle toward the changing rooms. His phone was not there at all, even though three groomsmen were also looking everywhere.

Suddenly, he couldn't help the feeling of dread that crept up his spine. "I have to go," William announced, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Where are you going?" Josh asked.

"Mom's house. I have a feeling, Josh. I think she might be hurt or something. My mom wouldn't miss my wedding for the world," William told him and ran to his car.

The groomsmen told Hazel where he went and said he would return soon. But Hazel knew she had to reach him and tell him the truth about the woman he called mom.

***

William parked his car on his mother's driveway and was shocked to see her sitting there. At least he knew she was not in an accident or something. But before he could reach her door, another car arrived, and Hazel got out, running in her wedding dress.

"Hazel, what are you doing here? This would only delay things for a few minutes. I just had to come to check on my mom," William said, but Hazel grabbed his arm and breathed rapidly.

"You can't go in there. She can't be at our wedding. She's not a good woman," Hazel sputtered, and the door of Violet's house opened. The older woman was wide-eyed but happy to see them there.

"Oh, dear. You're here. I'm so happy. The guards told me I couldn't enter because my name was not on the list and that I had to leave or they would call the cops," Violet said, walking towards the groom and bride in her yard.

William frowned and looked at Hazel. "Hazel, did you remove my mother's name from the guest list? What do you mean she's not a good woman? You understand she's my mother, right?"

"She fostered you for the money!" Hazel yelled, making everyone freeze. "My dad knew her. He said your mother used to party with his frat brothers and wanted to find a rich man. When that didn't happen, she decided to foster you and get money from the state! That's despicable. I couldn't have her there!"

William stared at his bride in shock but turned slowly to look at Violet. Violet's expression was frozen in distraught as she stared at Hazel.

"Is this true, Mom?" he asked, tilting his head and remaining calm.

Violet's eyes turned to him, and her face changed with sadness. "It's true," she nodded and started speaking, although her throat felt clogged. "I did that. I… never wanted to work, but I couldn't find the right man to marry me. So, I read about receiving money for fostering, and it seemed like a great deal."

Hazel held her groom tighter to her, but William still didn't get angry. "And everyone knew why you did it?" he continued, his eyes squinting at her.

"Well, yes. I told some girlfriends about it. They all tried to get me not to do it, but I continued," Violet answered carefully, wrapping her arms around herself. "I guess they told the frat boys. I don't know who your father is, Hazel."

"Roger," the young bride answered.

"Oh, I knew him, but I never dated him."

"I don't know what to say," William added, looking between Violet and his bride. "But Hazel, Mom spent almost all the money she had or got from the government on me. She had almost nothing most of my life."

"What?" Hazel breathed, looking at her groom. "I didn't know that. Is that true?"

"Yes. I fell in love with my son almost immediately, and I put all the government money I received into his college fund," Violet confirmed, walking closer to them. "I love him dearly, Hazel. He's my kid, and he changed my whole world. I started working hard for everything we had. I tried to give him the world with that monetary assistance and my job. I also never associated with the party people I had met before. So, your father couldn't have known that."

William looked at Hazel and smiled sadly. "Why didn't you talk to me before removing my mother from the list? You, silly goose."

"Jeez. I was so startled that I just reacted. I'm so sorry. Violet, please forgive me," Hazel said, the tears starting to fall. "Why didn't you adopt him at some point?"

"I thought he would benefit from that money. And then, it just seemed like a stupid formality. He's my son regardless of any paperwork," Violet assured, grinning slightly.

"Did you also take my phone?" William added, putting out his hand.

"I did, but my bridesmaids have it," Hazel confessed, feeling stupid and horrible. "How can I make up for this, Violet?"

Violet walked towards her and grabbed her cheeks. "You love my son. I appreciate wanting to protect the people you love from those who could hurt them. So, let's forget this incident, and let's get you two married," the older woman said, and Hazel burst into heavier tears and wrapped her arms around her mother-in-law.

They got into William's car and returned to the country club, where the bridesmaids took Hazel away to fix her makeup. William escorted Violet inside to make sure that no one would stop her.

The older woman met Roger and his wife and explained what had happened. Roger apologized profusely for creating this mess unnecessarily. Violet forgave him quickly, and they moved on with the wedding.

The reception was brilliant; Violet danced with her son while Hazel danced with her father.

"You are my mom. No matter how it started," William said. He might not have known about the original reasons why Violet did what she did.

"My dear boy," Violet whispered and leaned her head on his shoulder, blissfully content.

What can we learn from this story?

• Don't make assumptions about people if you don't know the whole story. Hazel jumped to conclusions, not knowing the entire truth about Violet, and it created a big mess on an otherwise happy day.
• A piece of paperwork doesn't matter as long as there's love. Violet never needed to adopt William because he was her son through and through.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a poor woman who showed up at a luxury wedding and was mocked until she revealed her identity.

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