To test his bride, the rich groom dressed up in a shabby suit and arrived at the wedding in an old junk car. The bride’s reaction shocked everyone

It’s not every day that you become a hero in such a dramatic situation. Melanie’s father was the first to come out of shock. Daughter, come back, everything is fine.

Anything can happen between a bride and groom. But Melanie, no longer hiding her desperate state, burst into tears and ran down the sidewalk. Vanessa ran after her daughter.

Nicholas sat on the steps of the registry office and lowered his head. Now all attention was focused on Adrian. He confidently handed the chrysanthemum bouquet to his parents and sat down next to Melanie’s father.

How will you explain all of this? Asked Nicholas. He turned to Adrian and looked him straight in the eye. You, dear Nicholas, have worked diligently all your life, just like your wife.

You gave your daughter the best, but only one thing was missing. Honesty and selflessness. What are you talking about? My daughter is an honest girl.

You’re the one who lied to her, took her to restaurants, drove her around in expensive cars. But why? If you couldn’t afford it, why didn’t you tell her yourself? I’m certain if she loved you, it would not have been a problem. You would have achieved everything together with time.

Why didn’t we see through you, swindler? Melanie’s father looked at Adrian with hatred. No one doubts your daughter’s honesty, but why did she run away when she found out about my situation? I’m not a drug addict, not a drunkard, not a criminal. I earn money through honest work.

Yes, the pay may not be big, but it would be enough for us to live on. And you know what? I won’t justify myself anymore. I loved your daughter sincerely, but today I saw with my own eyes that she doesn’t need me.

She cares about money, the impressions she makes on people, but not me. Relatives stood and listened to the groom’s strange confessions, but they still couldn’t understand what was going on. Melanie’s friends were the most perplexed.

Adrian had taken the girl to cafes and restaurants and given her gifts, and now what? Had he suddenly gone bankrupt? Or had he been pretending to be rich all this time? Nothing was clear. No one moved from the square near the registry office, as if they were waiting for something, but didn’t know what. Adrian finally stood up and was about to leave, but suddenly a woman in a bright, colourful dress blocked his path.

It was Melanie’s aunt. Where are you going? Do you think you can disgrace my niece like that and just leave? If you loved her, how would you have arranged this? Look, how many guests have been invited, how much effort has been put in? The woman’s voice broke into a scream. And why don’t you, respectable guest, ask your beloved niece Melanie why she refused to marry a simple working guy? No benefit, so no marriage, Adrian said, noticeably getting nervous.

Is it shameful that a girl wants to do better in life? And children will appear. Then she will have to sit on a penny on maternity leave. Is this calculation? This is called a reasonable approach? Did she deceive you about something? Was she pretending to be somebody? Adrian wanted to argue but fell silent.

Suddenly his mother, Caitlin, approached the bride’s defender and began to speak calmly. You know, Adrian didn’t want to shame his future wife. He fell in love so deeply for the first time in his life and he’s not to blame for what happened.

Melanie is to blame. What are you saying? Is it Melanie’s fault? Of course the mother always has a good son and the daughter-in-law is bad. Melanie’s aunt wasn’t going to give up.

We saw Melanie with another man at the cafe a month ago, said Caitlin, stunning Nicholas and silencing the angry woman. We were sitting with mutual friends at the cafe. Melanie didn’t see us, but we overheard through the partition how she was telling the young man that she really loved him and was only marrying Adrian for his money.

We couldn’t keep this from our son. All the guests stood in shock at what they heard. No one expected such a turn of events.

Even Adrian himself was uneasy with those words. He lightly took his mother by the elbow and tried to lead her away, but Caitlin was not going to leave. Adrian didn’t talk to us for a week and then he said he would still marry Melanie.

So we convinced him to take this step, to say that he’s poor and we couldn’t even imagine that she would behave like that, fleeing from her own wedding. Isn’t this evidence that she doesn’t love our son? She only needs our money. Come on, mum, let’s go, said Adrian and took his mother towards the car.

The guests had already started to disperse and Melanie’s father still couldn’t come to his senses. How could I have raised such a daughter? The man muttered to himself and didn’t understand where he was going or what he was doing. All the pleas of his loved ones that he shouldn’t be upset didn’t work on Nicholas.

He loved Melanie very much and was already looking forward to her happy future, but everything collapsed instantly. Three months have passed since the ill-fated wedding and incredible changes have occurred in Melanie’s family. Nicholas suffered a stroke that paralyzed the left side of his body.

It was a shock to the family. Always active and hard-working, Melanie’s father now spends almost all his time in bed. Vanessa abandoned the affairs of the store, hastily hired a new manager and began to devote herself only to her husband’s health.

Melanie was finishing her final year at university and waiting for her final exams. The gloomy series of events seemed to be not going to leave the family. Sales began to decline noticeably.

Regular customers of the stores, who once did not find the friendly and responsive hostess, began to come in less and less. Salaries began to decline and two sellers had to be fired. Only Vanessa’s elderly friend and a young girl of 25 remained working in the store…