Chapter 1 — Fourteen Hours

It is a strange and terrifying thing to watch the person you love peel off their mask.

It doesn’t happen with a dramatic flourish.

It happens on an ordinary morning, over the smell of stale coffee and cold bacon grease.

Exactly fourteen hours after I promised him my forever in a white gown, my new husband threw a filthy, grease-soaked dish towel directly into my face.

The impact didn’t hurt.

The humiliation was total.

A sour mix of old dishwater and rancid oil trickled down my skin and stung my eyes.

“From now on, the laundry and the cooking are your job,” Casper announced, planting his hands on his hips.

“Don’t think you’re going to freeload in my house.

Make yourself useful.”

Chapter 2 — No Teasing Glint

I stood frozen. This is a sick joke, my brain scrambled. Any second he’ll laugh.

But as I peeled the vile rag from my face and my eyes met his, there was no teasing glint.