Derailed

I started to tell a story that was going to have an amazing ending, and to be as accurate as possible I was going to take a direct quote from an email I had received. In the course of looking for the email I received a follow up email that totally ruined the story by taking away my happy ending.

How does a story recover from a hit like that? Is there any way to resurrect it, even when your character is no longer getting the resolution they desire? Do you scratch it and begin anew?

These are the things I'm pondering as I lay in the ashes of my happily ever after... what do you think?