His words landed with a sickening thud that made the world feel like it had stopped spinning. I stared at him for a long moment while waiting for him to break into a grin and tell me it was just a cruel joke.
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.