**Diary Entry**
Our daughter has always been secretive about her love life. Shed chat about university, her plans, even the latest gossip about her friendsbut never a word about boys. My husband and I used to joke that she must be waiting for the perfect moment to introduce someone truly special.
Well, that moment finally came. She told us she wanted us to meet her boyfriend.
I spent all Sunday morning bustling about the kitchen, setting out a proper spread. My husband prowled around the house, grim-faced, but I put it down to nervesjust a fathers natural worry.
When the doorbell rang, I smoothed my apron and went to answer. There stood a tall man in a smart suit, and beside him, our daughter, beaming.
“Mum, Dadthis is my boyfriend,” she announced, pride glowing in her voice. For a second, my heart squeezed with joy.
Then I saw my husbands face. It froze, then drained of colour.
“You?” he breathed. “What are you doing here?”
The man stiffened but only shrugged. “Im your daughters boyfriend.”
“What?!” My husbands voice cracked. “Get out of my house. Now.”
“Dad!” our daughter cried, stunned. “Whats going on?”
Thats when he told us the awful truth about her new beau.
Clenching his fists, my husband said, “This man hes the reason I went to prison. We were lads together, got tangled up in something stupid, and he pinned the whole blame on me. A year of my lifegone. He was my old schoolmate.”
Silence. Our daughter stared at us, torn between confusion and fury.
“And what? People change in twenty years! I love him!”
Her boyfriend left without another word. She stormed out after him, slamming the door.
Now its just the two of us. My husbands hands wont stop shaking. I understandold wounds ripped open. But I also understand our daughter: the heart doesnt pick and choose.
Now were left with the hardest choice of all. Do we accept this man for her sake, or risk losing her forever?
