On our wedding night, I hid under the bed to tease my new husband— but

As I clutched the phone to my ear, the initial shock of betrayal slowly gave way to a steely resolve. Each heartbeat seemed to echo with newfound clarity and purpose. I couldn’t help but think about the layers of deception that had been peeled back in mere moments, revealing the ugly truth beneath what I had believed to be a fairytale romance.

“Sweetheart, what’s going on?” My father’s voice, warm and steady, brought an immediate sense of comfort amidst the chaos swirling in my mind.“Dad,” I began, my voice quivering slightly before I steadied it with a firm resolve. “We need to talk about Marcus, his mother, and their little plan to exploit me.”