![\"\"](%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/newzdiscover.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2024%5C/07%5C/2fc6107235d5239c1c9ef0554d673fa23274cbb4c90784f1610d2cdcc3900d6e.webp%5C%22 "\\"\\"")
\nOn my sunny New York wedding day, I was a bundle of nerves and excitement. My mom, coming all the way from Paris, was running late, and it was almost time to start. Zack, my soon-to-be husband, was waiting at the altar. I tried to stay hopeful, but not having Mom there was eating away at my happiness.\n
\n
Then, out of nowhere, a loud scream cut through the ceremony.\n
\u201cApril, honey, STOP THE WEDDING!\u201d\n
It was my mom, Heidi, looking all worn out and frantic. She barged in, staring daggers at Zack.\n
\u201cCHRISTIAN?\u201d she shouted, throwing everyone into confusion.\n
\u201cChristian? Who\u2019s that, Mom? This is Zack,\u201d I said, totally confused.\n
Mom was fuming. \u201cDon\u2019t play dumb with me, Christian. You shouldn\u2019t be here, especially not with a fake name.\u201d\n
I was getting scared. \u201cMom, what\u2019s going on? You know Zack?\u201d\n
![\"\"](%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/newzdiscover.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2024%5C/07%5C/9d640a7fb52b2f61f6077198b29280d76c3bd54539886d6cc26a71ef7e21f38f.webp%5C%22 "\\"\\"")
\n
Her next words hit me like a ton of bricks. \u201cI barely made my flight, but I got here just in time. April, he\u2019s not Zack. He\u2019s Christian, YOUR REAL DAD,\u201d she said, her voice trembling.\n
I felt like the ground swallowed me up. Everything went black. When I opened my eyes, surrounded by worried faces, I was in shock. \u201cHe\u2019s\u2026 my dad?\u201d I sobbed, unable to grasp the reality.\n
Mom nodded, her eyes filled with tears. \u201cI\u2019m so sorry, honey. The man you were about to marry, he\u2019s your father. We thought he was gone, but he\u2019s been here all along.\u201d\n
Mom let out a deep breath and started to tell me about her past: It all began\u2026\n
![\"\"](%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/newzdiscover.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2024%5C/07%5C/7a4211d0fd4bc7964166388a4ae8f56958ca3c5baadc17e1a5052eee62126c3e.webp%5C%22 "\\"\\"")
\n
Back in Chicago, twenty years ago, I met Christian at the art gallery where I worked. He was charming, and we both loved art. We soon started dating, and everything felt perfect, like a fairytale. But then he just disappeared, taking my savings and a valuable Renaissance painting with him.\n
When I got home that day, the whole place was in disarray. The painting was gone, and so was he. But he didn\u2019t know the painting he took was a fake; the real one was safe.\n
At the police station, I tried to explain my situation, but without Christian\u2019s photo, they said it would be hard to catch him.\n
I never had a photo. He wanted our relationship to stay private, and I trusted him too much. I felt so trapped, like the walls were closing in. I begged the police to do more, but it felt like there wasn\u2019t much they could do.\n
![\"\"](%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/newzdiscover.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2024%5C/07%5C/2d7c22a4ff37b01a239ba26c2ba01fd92feeef92c76dc6d34c3af03dab2b7a1f.webp%5C%22 "\\"\\"")
\n
A sketch artist was called. I described Christian, and soon, sketches of him were circulated in and around town. It was a small step in the right direction.\n
I visited the station several times. But with each visit came defeat.\n
As days turned into weeks with no word from Christian, my determination grew. I kept telling myself I\u2019d find him, using whatever it took.\n
I even went to his favorite pub and sat for hours, thinking he might visit. But then I realized his love for art could be his downfall \u2014 the best way to catch him.\n
So I decided to set a trap with the real masterpiece, hoping it would draw him out. Despite my doubts, I was ready to try anything.\n
![\"\"](%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/newzdiscover.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2024%5C/07%5C/55b8de92c908dbe6afc84dec5b8665120fd9a78a76d676ca804b99823960c043.webp%5C%22 "\\"\\"")
\n
At the auction, my heart was racing. I blended in with the fancy crowd, waiting for Christian. He was there, pretending to be just another rich bidder. When he raised his paddle for the painting, I knew my trap was set.\n
He won the auction, and right on cue, an undercover cop spilled water on him. That\u2019s when I saw it \u2014 the scar on his neck. That was the sign I needed to confirm it was him. As Christian headed to pay, the cops surrounded him. \u201cChristian, you\u2019re under arrest!\u201d they announced.\n
I felt a wave of relief. My plan had worked; we were finally going to get him.\n
But then, Christian dropped his suitcase, and it popped open \u2014 empty. The cops yelled, \u201cDon\u2019t move!\u201d But Christian just smirked, pulling something from his pocket. Suddenly, the room was full of tear gas, and in the chaos, Christian slipped away with the painting.\n
He escaped AGAIN. I couldn\u2019t believe it.\n
![\"\"](%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/newzdiscover.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2024%5C/07%5C/c5597433a945d78c6283697c93ebb5249c3f6eabd28b243e2a98705fae917ab5.webp%5C%22 "\\"\\"")
\n
His face was all over the wanted posters, but he was never found.\n
Then, the backlash hit me. People thought I was in on it with Christian. My job was on the line. \u201cI was trying to catch him, not help him!\u201d I tried to explain, but it was like talking to a wall. And on top of everything, I found out I was pregnant.\n
I decided to start over in Paris, away from the mess. It was just me and the new life growing inside me, trying to find some peace.\n
I held Mom\u2019s hand tight, my eyes all teary. \u201cIt\u2019s so unfair, what happened to you, Mom.\u201d\n
She sounded sad but hopeful. \u201cEven after everything with Christian, my love for you, April, keeps me going.\u201d\n
A pang of guilt stabbed at me. How could I have been so oblivious? The age difference I\u2019d brushed aside, Zack\u2019s insistence on keeping our relationship private, the subtle unease I\u2019d sometimes felt \u2014 it all came flooding back. My happy wedding day fell apart right before me.\n
I looked at Mom through my tears.\n
\u201cI had no idea he was your\u2026 he was Christian. I had to stop the wedding, sweetheart,\u201d she said.\n
Everyone at the wedding couldn\u2019t believe it. The whole thing stopped because of this huge secret.\n
Then, Christian tried to run away. But he couldn\u2019t get far before everyone started chasing him.\n
Mom looked really scared and dialed 911. \u201cThere\u2019s been a crime,\u201d she said, her voice all shaky.\n
I felt so drained by everything that happened.\n
I just hugged Mom, trying to feel a bit better. Watching the police take Christian away, I was relieved.\n
Later that day, we were at the police station. But Mom was calm, and her voice didn\u2019t even shake as she told the detectives about all the tricks Christian had pulled. \u201cHe had it all figured out from the start. The art cons, stealing that old painting\u2014he did it all.\u201d\n
The detective nodded, his pen pausing over the notes he was taking. \u201cAnd you\u2019re saying he kept the original Renaissance painting all this time?\u201d\n
\u201cYes,\u201d an officer from the interrogation room chimed in. \u201cHe\u2019s confessed. The crook intended to sell the painting through a black market auction. He\u2019d been holding onto it for years, waiting for the right moment.\u201d\n
When they searched Christian\u2019s place, they found it packed with all sorts of stolen art. It turns out Mom and I weren\u2019t his only victims. Getting back that painting felt like a small victory in all this mess.\n
Before we left, Mom looked straight at Christian, her eyes sharp. \u201cYou\u2019ve done a lot of damage, Christian,\u201d she said. \u201cBut in the end, justice wins.\u201d\n
Walking out of there, painting in hand, it was like a weight lifted. This chapter of hurt was finally over, and now we could start fixing things, bit by bit.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On my sunny New York wedding day, I was a bundle of nerves and excitement. My mom, coming all the way from Paris, was running late, and it was almost time to start. Zack, my soon-to-be husband, was waiting at the altar. I tried to stay hopeful, but not having Mom there was eating away …\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":75018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[642],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-moral-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75017"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75019,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75017\/revisions\/75019"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}