I think the fact that the daughter or her surrounding world has troubles rooted in the lack of father representation is the terrible part.

Not that someone has to be blamed, but it’s the shitty start of the story.

From there if the mother can fake it until her daughter is in a better situation, I think it’s positive.

Even if it doesn’t turn out that well, I am not sure it would much more devastating than having been bullied for all that time she was decieved, and it could a start for a discussion on how she deals with her father image.

> The mother is paying $200/month for a service that could disappear at any moment.

The real father actually did disappear, after a history of abuse.

Presumably if her mom is about to run out of money, she pays for a final session where the dad gets hit by a car and has a funeral, right?

If it costs $18,000 USD for a wedding, I wonder what it would cost for a funeral. Likely more than $200.