
Hey, Happy Birthday! đđ Itâs totally understandable to feel let down if you donât receive the birthday wishes you were hoping for. Maybe your friends are busy or simply forgot â but donât worry, that doesnât mean youâre any less special or important. Your birthday is about celebrating YOU and how unique and amazing you are. So why not use this as an opportunity to treat yourself, do something you love, and just enjoy your special day however you want? At the end of the day, the most meaningful birthday wishes come from within, so Iâm sending you my warmest and sincerest wishes.
My Father Bragged about Expensive Gifts He âBought for Meâ but Doesnât Even Pay Child Support â He Learned a Harsh Lesson

When Lexieâs mom surprises her with an expensive and meaningful graduation present, she is truly over the moon. Like any teenager, she takes to social media to talk about her gift and how grateful she is. But soon, Lexieâs absent father tries to claim that he bought her the elaborate gift. Soon, his lie begins to unravel punliclyâŚ
My father was a ghost long before I even understood what it meant. He walked out on us when I was five, and I can count on one hand the number of times Iâve heard from him since. No birthdays, no calls, and not a dime of child support.
Nice, right?

A smiling little girl | Source: Midjourney
But my mom? Sheâs been my everything. And itâs been the two of us against the world, and somehow, she has always made it work. And honestly, this woman has sacrificed so much to give me a shot at everything Iâve ever wanted to pursue. Out of all the things that Iâve wanted to try my hand at, music was my absolute love.
Music had always been my escape. Especially the piano. My mom had enrolled me in lessons when I was little, and from then on, I was just hooked. My dream was to compose my own music, but for me to do that I needed a professional-grade digital piano.

A little girl playing the piano | Source: Midjourney
The problem?
Those things are expensive. Like proper, expensive.
And while mom and I werenât living in poverty, we werenât exactly rolling in cash, either. Being a single mom and a nurse, my mother went out of her way to ensure that I could keep playing. Recently she had started working extra shifts wherever possible, cutting corners where she could, just so that I could keep playing.
More than that, even though she came home exhausted, she never complained about the long hours or the money. My mom simply believed in me.

A smiling nurse | Source: Midjourney
âLexie,â she would say. âYouâre just seventeen. And to have found something that youâre so passionate about at your age is amazing. Not to mention that you have real talent here, itâs not just a whim. You have a dream and you can get to it. Iâll do everything I can to help you achieve it.â
Fast forward to graduation.

A smiling teenage girl | Source: Midjourney
I wasnât expecting anything other than a cake, which was our tradition at the end of every school year. I knew how hard my mom worked just to keep everything going, and there was no way Iâd want anything else from her.
âIâm serious, Mom,â I said one night over dinner. âI donât want anything for graduation. I promise you, I understand the situation and Iâm more than grateful for your support.â
âOh, darling,â she said, giving me a spoonful of mashed potatoes. âIâm your mother, itâs my job.â

A bowl of mashed potatoes | Source: Midjourney
âI know, but I want you to know that I donât expect anything,â I said.
We went to my graduation ceremony, and my mother bawled her eyes out when it was my turn to walk the stage.
âMy darling girl,â my mother said after the ceremony as she enveloped me in a tight hug. âI am so proud of you!â

A teenager in her graduation gown and flowers | Source: Midjourney
The real surprise came when I walked into our home that afternoon. There it was, my dream piano.
A high-end digital piano, complete with every feature that I needed to start composing. I couldnât believe it. I actually cried.
It wasnât about the piano itself, it was about how much my mother sacrificed for my dreams.
Naturally, I posted about it on social media because I was over the moon. I tagged my mom because she was the one who dreamed and inspired me. I wrote a long heartfelt caption about how she was truly the best mom in the world.

A keyboard with a pink bow | Source: Midjourney
My post got tons of likes and comments, and honestly, I was just happy to share this moment with my mother. She deserved all the credit.
âMom, I donât know what to say,â I told her that evening as we sat outside on the porch together.
âBaby girl, I told you. Iâm your mother, this is my job,â she said.

A mother and daughter duo sitting on a porch | Source: Midjourney
Then, a few days later, something weird happened.
I got a text from one of my dadâs old friends. He was someone I hadnât heard from in years. He congratulated me on graduating and then casually mentioned how generous my dad was for buying me such an amazing gift.
My stomach dropped immediately.
âWhat?â I muttered.

A teenager holding her phone | Source: Midjourney
At first, I thought that he must have been confused. But then I saw the post that made it all make sense.
My dad, the same man who hadnât shown up for my graduation or acknowledged my existence in years, had re-posted my story on socials.
Onto his own page!
And of course, he captioned it like it was his moment. Like he had bought me the piano and had been the supportive dad all along.

A phone opened to social media | Source: Midjourney
So proud of little girl! Iâve always believed in your dreams. This is just the beginning!
I was shocked. The actual nerve of this man was insane.
I just stared at the screen in shock. This was a guy who hadnât paid a cent in child support, who hadnât called to check in. Even when I was twelve and I fell off a tree and had broken my arm? My mother had told him, but he didnât bother to see me at the hospital or after.
âI just want him to sign my cast,â I remember telling my mother.
âI know, Lex,â my mother said, rubbing my arm. âBut he doesnât seem to care.â

A little girl with her arm in a cast | Source: Midjourney
So this? This was absurd.
âThis man needs to pay child support,â I muttered.
But I didnât know how to go about it. I didnât want to embarrass him on socials because I couldnât risk rocking the boat before those payments were settled.
Still, I was fuming inside, waiting for the day his lies would catch up to him.

A shocked girl | Source: Midjourney
Turns out, karma was already in motion.
About two weeks later, my mom and I went to a community event. It was one of those things where everyone in town shows up because it was a charity event to raise funds for the community theater.
At one point, we were chatting with a group of people, when a random guy came forward to talk to us. He started talking to my mom like they were old friends, and then he turned to me.

A crowd of people | Source: Midjourney
âLexie!â he said excitedly. âIâm Ralph, I work with your dad! Thatâs how I recognized you, heâs been posting photos of you recently. Heâs very proud. And that piano he got you for graduation? Wow! That was a real show of support, huh? Youâre a lucky young lady.â
I felt my mom tense next to me. She didnât even blink.
âOh, you must be terribly mistaken, Ralph. My ex-husband hasnât paid child support in years. He had nothing to do with the piano or any part of his daughterâs life, really.â

A smiling man | Source: Midjourney
âYeah, weâre looking at outstanding child support for about what, Mom? Thirteen years now?â I said.
The manâs face went from smug to confused.
âIâm sorry⌠what?â he said.
My mom didnât let up though.
âThe piano was a gift from me. Iâve been working extra hours to make sure that my daughter has everything she needs for her music career. Her father didnât contribute at all.â

A frowning woman | Source: Midjourney
Poor Ralph just stood there, speechless.
It turns out that this man wasnât just my dadâs coworker. He was my dadâs boss.
My dad had been spinning this tale for months, talking about how he was this amazing, supportive father who did everything for his daughter.
Well, not anymore.

A smiling man sitting in his office | Source: Midjourney
The look on Ralphâs face told me everything that I needed to know: my father was done for. His lies had caught up with him.
Not long after, he was let go because Ralph said that he couldnât trust him at all. He was also hit with yearsâ worth of payments heâd been dodging, and there was no escaping it.
The courts were involved now, and he had no choice but to pay up.

A close up of an angry man | Source: Midjourney
As for me?
Iâve been spending every spare minute on that piano, composing music that I know will make my mom proud. After all, sheâs the one whoâs always been there, the one who truly believed in me from day one. And soon, Iâll be going off to college to study music, too.
And my dad?
Well, he learned that pretending to be a parent is a lot harder than actually being one.

A teenager playing on a keyboard | Source: Midjourney
What would you have done?
If you enjoyed this story, hereâs another one for you |
My Father Skipped My Graduation to Take His Stepson to the Zoo â I Taught Him a Good Lesson
When Michaelâs father misses his graduation to take his stepson, Tommy, to the zoo, Michael wants to teach him a lesson. After years of being sidelined, Michael finally retaliates. He plans a graduation dinner with the intention to expose his father, but then, things take a turnâŚ
As I watched my classmates hug their families on graduation day, the absence of my father, Henry, cast a long shadow on what should have been one of the happiest days of my life.

A graduation cap and degree | Source: Pexels
Ever since my parentsâ divorce when I was ten, Dad had built a new life with Sandra and her young son, Tommy.
It was goodâI wanted my father to be happy. He deserved it. Because as much as he and Mom tried, they just werenât compatible anymore. I needed them to be apart so that they could co-exist for me.

A divorce agreement | Source: Pexels
But then, when Dad and Sandra got together, he entered a new chapterâone that seemed to include everyone but me.
Initially, things werenât so bad, but as my father grew closer to Tommy, he began to play a bigger role in his life. He consistently missed the milestones that marked my childhood journeyâmy science fair victories, my soccer finals, even several birthdays.

A father carrying his son | Source: Pexels
Each absence was attributed to something involving Tommyâa school play, a baseball game, or just a day outâleaving me to celebrate or commiserate without him.
I met with my father a week before the graduationâwe were having lunch at a diner, something that he still tried to keep going, even when his life got busy.

A tray of burger and fries | Source: Pexels
âIâll be at your graduation, Michael,â my father said. âIâll wear a suit and tie and be there, in the front row with your mom. This is a big moment in your life and I love you. Of course, Iâll be there.â
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided âas is,â and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
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