My father married my aunt just eight days after my mother’s funeral, but a discovery at the wedding changed everything.

Silence fell suddenly.

My father spoke of grief and confusion. Sophie spoke of healing.

But the dates don’t lie.

It was not a consolation born of grief.

It was a relationship that started long before.

What they hadn’t planned

The next day, messages circulated. Guests asked questions. Photos were examined.

My father accused me of humiliating them.

“No,” I replied. “I simply refused to bury the truth with Mom.”

He admitted that they were “separated”.

Maybe.

But my mother deserved better than to be replaced in eight days.

What I keep

I went to the cemetery with some tulips I had retrieved from the pile thrown behind the shed.