Right after our wedding, we just crashed on the bed, totally exhausted. It was our first night as a married couple, and he was hinting at being intimate. He brushed my hair back from my face, his eyes soft. I loved that look. I was just too tired though. My head was spinning from the day, the people, the sheer overwhelming joy and chaos. I mumbled something about just wanting to sleep, and he seemed okay with it. He kissed my forehead, turned over, and within minutes, I could hear his steady breathing. I lay there, the adrenaline slowly draining, feeling the profound peace of finally being married to the man I loved. My eyelids were heavy. I was drifting, not quite asleep, but almost there. That’s when I felt the slight shift in the mattress. He was getting up. Probably for water, I thought, barely registering it. I kept my eyes closed, enjoying the quiet.
Then, I heard it. A faint, muffled whisper. He hadn’t gone to the bathroom. He was by the window, his back to me, the curtains swaying slightly in the night breeze. He had his phone to his ear, his voice barely audible. A cold prickle started at the back of my neck. Who would he be calling now? My exhaustion battled with a growing unease. I strained to listen, my breath catching in my throat.
“…it’s done. The wedding went off without a hitch.” His voice was low, devoid of the soft intimacy he’d shown me just minutes before. It was almost… businesslike. My heart began to thud.
“Yeah, she’s… perfect for the role. Everything you said.” The words hung in the air, sharp and disorienting. Perfect for the role? What role? My entire body went rigid. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t open my eyes, terrified he’d know I was awake. A wave of ice washed over me. This wasn’t a call to a friend about the wedding. This was something else. SOMETHING TERRIBLE.
“No, I can’t back out now. You know the consequences. It had to happen.” He paused, listening. “Don’t worry. She’s… good. She’ll make a great… addition.” He sighed, a sound that wasn’t relief, but resignation. Then, he whispered something else, so faint I almost missed it, but it cut through me like a knife. He ended the call quickly, slipping his phone back into his pocket. He turned, walked back to the bed, and slid under the covers.
I lay there, stiff as a board, pretending to be deeply asleep. He settled beside me. I could feel his warmth, the rise and fall of his chest. My mind was racing, trying to make sense of the fragments. Consequences? Perfect for the role? An addition? My eyes were still closed, but tears were silently streaming down my temples into my hair. I felt a crushing weight of dread. This wasn’t the man I thought I married.
And then, just before he drifted off again, I felt him shift slightly closer to me. He whispered, so soft I barely caught it, a final heartbreaking confirmation to himself, or to the person he’d just spoken to, the truth of my entire world. “She’ll be good for him. A stable home. Just for a little while. For the boy.”
My breath hitched. My entire marriage. It was a lie. I was just a means to an end. A mother to a child I didn’t even know existed.
