Because her daughter Danni can’t bring herself to watch as her mum weds Anthony Key – the man Marie stole from her.
The sordid affair between Danni’s cheating ex and her mum, 44, nearly tore the family apart.
Yet the young mum has forgiven Marie for the ultimate betrayal.
She says: “I won’t be going to the wedding because it would be awkward for us all.
"I can’t forget what happened, but I have forgiven my mum and I’m happy for her.
“The affair broke my heart and had a huge impact on me, but I’ve learnt the true meaning of the saying ‘blood is thicker than water’.
Danni, who is happy with new partner Damion Airth, split from Anthony after he confessed to having sex with her mum.
Devastated, she cut the pair off and left the town where she grew up. But the couple remained together and recently got engaged.
The man who was once her lover will soon be her stepfather, but Danni has let her mum back into her life.
She says: “People might think I’m mad for forgiving her, but she’s my mum and I love her.
"Nothing will change that. I thought it was just sex or a cheap affair, but they are in love and Anthony isn’t going anywhere, so I have to deal with that.”
Unemployed Danni first started dating him in October 2011, when she was just 17.
Anthony, now 34, was the uncle of a family friend and he quickly became smitten with his younger girlfriend.
Danni says: “I knew Anthony was a bit of a charmer and a player, but he was really keen on me.
"He treated me like a grown-up, taking me out on dates to the cinema and buying me little gifts.
“Mum remarked that Anthony was quite good-looking, but I didn’t think anything of it because we were friends as well as mother and daughter.
“I had my own place, but we’d go round to Mum’s quite a lot.
"She thought I treated Anthony badly sometimes because, being young, I still wanted to go out with friends and couldn’t understand why he wanted to stay home or at Mum’s so much.”
Six months into the relationship, Anthony took a bad fall on his ankle and spent weeks bedridden – at Marie’s, in Long Eaton, Notts, as he didn’t want to burden the sister he was staying with.
Marie insists it was naivety that led to her letting him sleep in her bed, “on condition he slept on top of the covers”.
She adds: “I’ve taken in a few waifs and strays in my time and had another male friend staying, sleeping on the sofa.
“I told Anthony he could sleep in my bed as long as there was no funny business.
“I won’t lie, I was attracted to him. But he was my daughter’s boyfriend and I never thought anything would happen. It was all pretty innocent.”
But it wasn’t long before the pair ended up having sex.
“It just happened,” says the grandmother of seven.
“It wasn’t something we had planned, but once we had slept together we just kind of knew it was meant to be.
"The question was, what and how would we tell Danni? I didn’t want to hurt her.”
Marie is adamant she and Anthony had full sex just once before he plucked up the courage to tell Danni, who says: “He was acting a bit odd, then just started crying for no reason.
"Big, proper tears. I kept asking him what was wrong, but he wouldn’t say.
“I got fed up and said I was going to leave if he didn’t tell me and it was then he blurted out, ‘I slept with your mum’. My jaw dropped.
“I was so shocked I walked out the door. I called Mum and asked her if it was true and she said yes.
"I hung up. That was the last time I spoke to her for a year.”
She goes on: “I made a decision there and then to pack a bag and go and stay with my dad in Grimsby.
“In that phone call I lost my mum, my boyfriend and my family.
"I couldn’t face talking to my two sisters or two brothers about it so I cut them off, too. I just wanted to be away from the whole situation.”
Marie says: “I had no idea he was going to tell her that day, or be so blunt about it.
"The call came out of the blue and I felt mortified.
"I wanted to get back in touch with Danni, but didn’t know what to say or what reaction I would get, so I guess I just ignored it.
"I was also loved up with Anthony and, although I knew I’d done wrong, I wanted to be with him.”
And she claims she had no idea her daughter would be so upset.
Marie adds: “I really didn’t think she was that into Anthony. She used to say he was annoying because he followed her around.”
As Danni tried to rebuild her life with dad Patrick Summers’ family, close friend Damion became a shoulder to cry on.
Within weeks they were dating and soon after Danni was pregnant, and the couple moved to Leeds. It wasn’t until she was seven months pregnant that she got in touch with Marie.
CULLED MIRROR
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