\n\n\n\nI thought I was living a fairy tale when I married Damian. But my dream turned into a nightmare before the reception even ended. Three days later, I buried my husband\u2014only to find him alive, driving a taxi, staring at me with the same hazel eyes I\u2019d fallen in love with.\n\n\n\n
I can\u2019t share this story with anyone in my life, so I\u2019m turning to the anonymity of the internet. You can call me Paige. I\u2019m 28, and just a few months ago, I was the picture-perfect bride, ready to start a lifetime of happiness.\n\n\n\n
Damian and I met at a small caf\u00e9 where I worked part-time. He was a quiet, thoughtful customer who always tipped generously, his nose buried in a book as he sipped his coffee. I admired him from afar, convinced someone as handsome and put-together as him would never notice someone as ordinary as me.\n\n\n\n
Then, one day, he asked me out.\n\n\n\n
Damian was magnetic\u2014sharp cheekbones, warm hazel eyes, and a quiet confidence that made him seem untouchable. On our first date, as we strolled along a local pier, it felt like the universe had aligned just for us. A year later, we were standing at the altar, exchanging vows with tears in our eyes.\n\n\n\n
But the dream ended just hours after it began.\n\n\n\n
During the reception, while we were taking pictures with friends, Damian suddenly collapsed. At first, I thought he was joking\u2014he had a dry sense of humor\u2014but when he didn\u2019t get up, panic surged through me. Paramedics arrived and worked on him right there, but it was no use. At the hospital, a doctor emerged hours later with grim news: Damian had died from a sudden heart attack. He was only 32.\n\n\n\n
The days after his death were a blur. I couldn\u2019t make sense of how a healthy, vibrant man could be gone in an instant. His family, who I\u2019d only met once before, attended the funeral, but their presence felt like a shadow looming over me.\n\n\n\n
Damian had warned me about them\u2014his adoptive parents were cold, controlling, and judgmental. I hadn\u2019t known the full extent of their wealth or their disdain for me until I overheard his mother at the funeral. \u201cShe was probably after his money. Get the lawyer on the phone,\u201d she whispered, her words dripping with venom.\n\n\n\n
I wanted to scream that I hadn\u2019t even known Damian was wealthy. But I was too broken to defend myself.\n\n\n\n
Three days after the funeral, the grief became unbearable. The emptiness of my apartment, filled with memories of Damian, was suffocating. His family\u2019s threats and accusations only added to my despair. I needed to escape.\n\n\n\n
I packed a small suitcase and called a taxi, determined to leave the city\u2014maybe even the country. I hadn\u2019t planned where I\u2019d go, but anywhere was better than the life I was trapped in.\n\n\n\n
When the taxi pulled up, I climbed into the backseat, barely glancing at the driver. As I settled into the seat, a voice cut through my fog.\n\n\n\n
\u201cFasten your seatbelt, please,\u201d the driver said.\n\n\n\n
I froze. That voice. It was Damian\u2019s.\n\n\n\n
My heart pounded as I turned to look at the rearview mirror. There he was\u2014alive. His hazel eyes met mine, filled with guilt and something else I couldn\u2019t place.\n\n\n\n
\u201cDamian?\u201d I whispered, my voice trembling. \u201cHow is this possible? You\u2019re dead.\u201d\n\n\n\n
Damian didn\u2019t answer immediately. Instead, he pulled the car over to a quiet street, gripping the steering wheel tightly. Then, he turned to face me, his expression a mix of regret and resolve.\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Paige,\u201d he said softly. \u201cI\u2019ll explain everything. Please, just hear me out.\u201d\n\n\n\n
What he told me next shattered everything I thought I knew about him\u2014and us.\n\n\n\n
Damian revealed that his adoptive parents were more than just controlling; they were deeply involved in illegal activities. He had been the brains behind their shady empire, building it up as a teenager in exchange for their approval. But when he tried to break away and start a legitimate business, they turned on him.\n\n\n\n
When Damian met me, his family\u2019s threats escalated. They warned him they would ruin both of us if he didn\u2019t hand over control of his business. To protect me, Damian devised a desperate plan: he faked his death.\n\n\n\n
With the help of a fixer, Damian staged his collapse at our wedding, using a drug to mimic cardiac arrest. He bribed hospital staff and funeral directors to pull off the deception, ensuring his family believed he was gone for good.\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey would\u2019ve destroyed you to get to me,\u201d he said, his voice cracking. \u201cI couldn\u2019t let that happen.\u201d\n\n\n\n
I stared at him, struggling to process everything. My husband had faked his death\u2014our wedding, my grief, the funeral\u2014it had all been a lie. But his hazel eyes, filled with tears, told me he had done it all out of love.\n\n\n\n
For hours, we sat in the parked taxi, talking and crying. I yelled. He apologized. I cried more. By the time the sun began to set, I asked him the only question that mattered.\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat happens now?\u201d\n\n\n\n
Damian explained that all of his legitimate assets had been transferred to me after his \u201cdeath,\u201d ensuring his family couldn\u2019t touch them. He planned to leave the country for good and start over somewhere far away. Then, he asked the impossible.\n\n\n\n
\u201cPaige, I know I\u2019ve hurt you, but I love you. Would you come with me?\u201d\n\n\n\n
I didn\u2019t answer right away. My heart was torn between love and betrayal. Finally, I shook my head. \u201cI can\u2019t just pick up where we left off. You broke my trust, Damian. I need time to heal.\u201d\n\n\n\n
He nodded, accepting my decision. Before he left, he gave me his contact information and promised to wait for me.\n\n\n\n
In the weeks that followed, I sold Damian\u2019s business and finalized everything he\u2019d left me. His family tried to contest the assets, but they had no legal claim. For the first time, I saw Damian\u2019s actions for what they were\u2014a reckless, selfless attempt to protect me.\n\n\n\n
One night, as I sat in my quiet apartment, I realized something: I still loved him. Despite everything, my heart hadn\u2019t let go. I picked up my phone and called him.\n\n\n\n
\u201cPaige?\u201d His voice was hesitant, hopeful.\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d I asked. \u201cI\u2019m coming to you\u2014but promise me, no more lies.\u201d\n\n\n\n
Now, I\u2019m in a foreign country where the beach is thirty minutes away, and Damian and I are building a life together. We had another wedding, this time with no secrets or interruptions. His family will never find us, and we\u2019re finally living the life we dreamed of\u2014free, happy, and together.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I thought I was living a fairy tale when I married Damian. But my dream turned into a nightmare before the reception even ended. Three […]\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6650"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6650"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6653,"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6650\/revisions\/6653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}