“No, this can’t be happening!” My husband’s anticipation for our wedding night turned to horror when I took off my wedding dress. I had kept a secret hidden beneath my dress all day, but it was time to reveal a shocking truth.

My wedding with Greg had been a fairytale affair. He stood at the end of the aisle, beaming like a lottery winner. Greg believed that this was the beginning of our perfect life together, but little did he know the truth.

The perfect bubble we lived in was about to burst. But not just yet, not until I was ready.

The reception unfolded like a dream – glasses clinking, laughter filling the air, and Greg’s parents playing the role of loving in-laws. They believed their son deserved the perfect day, and everything seemed flawless.

And me? I played my part. I smiled at the right times, laughed at jokes, and even danced with Greg as if everything was just fine.

Greg thought he knew me, thought he had me all figured out. But he was wrong.

As the night wore on, Greg’s anticipation for our wedding night became nearly unbearable. He couldn’t hide it, even if he tried.

His touches lingered longer than they should have, and his smile was too wide. I felt like a performer on a stage, playing a role that I had been given long before I agreed to put on my wedding attire. But I had my own script.

We bid farewell to our guests, expressing gratitude for their presence and accepting their compliments on how beautiful everything turned out. Greg’s parents retired to their guest rooms downstairs, giving us some privacy. Greg couldn’t wait to take me upstairs.
His grip tightened as he led me to the master suite – the same room his parents graciously let us use for our first night as husband and wife. How poetic.

He closed the door behind us, and the atmosphere in the room grew charged with excitement. I could see it in Greg’s eyes as he approached me, his hands already reaching for the zipper of my wedding dress.

“I’ve been waiting all night for this,” he murmured against my neck, his breath full of anticipation and promise.

I smiled, a small secret smile that he couldn’t see. “Me too.”

Carefully, he unzipped my dress. I stood still, my heart racing. He was eager, so confident about what was to come next. But he had no idea.

When the dress finally fell to the floor, I turned around slowly. I’ll never forget the look on his face when he saw what lay underneath. It was as if he was standing on the edge of a cliff, teetering, trying to maintain his balance.

“No…” His voice cracked, barely above a whisper. “No, no, no! This can’t be happening!”

The tattoo of Greg’s ex, Sarah, stretched across my torso, down to my waist. Beneath her face were the words he had spoken to her the night before our wedding:

“One last taste of freedom before I’m bound to the same body forever.”

It was temporary, of course. But Greg didn’t know that. The tattoo seemed authentic enough to make him collapse.

“How did you know?” He sobbed, his eyes fixed on the ink.

“Saray was all too eager to rub your betrayal in my face,” I replied in disdain.

“I didn’t mean it,” he cried, his voice thick with regret. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it!”

That’s when we heard footsteps. Marianne and James burst through the door, their faces filled with concern.

“What’s happening?” Marianne’s voice trembled, her eyes darting between her sobbing son and me. Then, her gaze fell on the tattoo. Her face turned pale.

“It’s simple,” I said. “Greg cheated on me.”

Marianne gasped, disbelief filling the room. James, Greg’s father, stood frozen in the doorway. He had always been stoic, the silent type who let Marianne handle drama. But this? This was something even he couldn’t dismiss.

He didn’t need to say a word – it was all in his expression. The tension in his clenched fists and the tightness of his jaw said it all. He was a man of few words.

Silence hung heavy in the air. The weight of the truth was suffocating. Greg remained on the floor, his hands clutching his hair as if trying to hold himself together.

Marianne looked back at Greg, her tremulous voice filled with ache. “Greg? Is this true?”

She took a step towards him, her voice fragile, pleading for him to deny the reality before her, that her son could not have committed such an unforgivable act.

Greg couldn’t bring himself to respond. He was trembling, his sobbing now subdued. He crumpled on the floor, unable to face the consequences of his actions. That’s when I decided to step in.

“He slept with her on the eve of our wedding,” I spoke, my voice slicing through the tension. “He told her he needed ‘one last taste of freedom before he was bound to the same body forever.’”

Marianne let out a strangled sob, collapsing onto the edge of the bed as her world crumbled.

James’s face darkened. Fury simmered beneath his stony expression, his nostrils flaring as he glared at his son. Disgust and disappointment were visibly warring within him.

“You have brought shame upon this family,” he spat, his voice tight with anger. “How could you? How dare you betray Lilith like this?”

Greg raised his tear-streaked face towards me, his eyes pleading. “Please, Lilith… please, I love you. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I’ll do anything! Just please, don’t leave me.”

I laughed then, a hollow sound that filled the room.

“Love me? You love me?” I shook my head in disbelief. “Greg, you don’t know the first thing about love. If you did, you wouldn’t have done what you did. You wouldn’t have betrayed me like that.”

He reached for me, his trembling hands and desperate eyes begging for redemption. “Please… I’m begging you.”

I stepped back, letting him fall short, my eyes cold and unfeeling. “I’m done, Greg. This is over. When you went back to Sarah, you destroyed us.”

Greg’s tear-soaked face turned towards me, his eyes widened with desperation. “Please, Lilith… please, I’ll change! I’ll fix it!”

But I didn’t bother responding. There was no more to say.

As I left the room, I heard James’s voice, laced with fury, filling the silence. “This is your doing, Greg. You’ve ruined everything.”

Then, the sound of Greg’s pitiful sobs echoed through the house. But they didn’t touch me. With every step down the stairs, I felt lighter. I was free – free from him, free from the lies, free from the betrayal.

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