A 24-year-old woman got married to the man of her dreams, a 68-year-old from Miami’s Golden Beach neighborhood (mind the age gap), and three months from the wedding (and the wedding night), happily ever after looked like a distinct possibility. It was only after looking through photo albums together that they realized something awful: the bride had married her own grandfather.

The divorced 68-year-old had signed up for a dating website designed to help out older men looking for love, and that’s when he met his third wife a.k.a. his granddaughter. He recounts their unfortunate meet cute, and admits there was something different from the beginning:

“They had a website with profiles of many attractive younger girls. I just felt something strange when I saw her photos. It was like a sense of deja vu, but at the time I couldn’t figure out why she seemed so familiar. We just hit it off right from when she walked into the restaurant.”

Somehow, the topic of family never came up throughout their courtship: the 68-year-old still feeling burned over losing his first wife all those years ago, and the bride estranged from her father after becoming pregnant. It was only after looking through family photos that the bridge recognized her own father, and the awful truth became known.

When the idea of ending his marriage to his own granddaughter was brought to him, the groom dug his heels in.

“If we’d never found out, we would’ve lived out our lives happily together, and us being related shouldn’t change that… I’ve already had two failed marriages and I’m determined not to have a third.”

The bride was equally as defiant, saying their connection is too special to let go of:

“Every couple is different and special in their own ways. I feel our bond is so strong that even something like this is not enough to make us give up.”

Unfortunately, they might not have a choice in the matter, marrying your grandfather is, in fact, illegal in the United States, and the government might step in to end the marriage by force. Having already consummated the marriage, an annulment is also out of the question, too.