It turned out that the soldier Serena had once loved had been badly injured in battle and was now paralyzed.
Serena cried endlessly, saying, “I can’t marry a disabled man. My whole life would be ruined!”
The marriage eventually fell on me. I could have refused, but I agreed with it when I remembered the memory of that tall, straight man. He looked so steady and proud. That year, I was 18 years old. In fact, I was about to take the university entrance exam.
Initially, I wanted to wait until after the test to get married, but my parents didn’t allow it. They even canceled my exam registration. So, at an age when I should have been studying, I became the wife of Fabio, a twenty-three-year-old man who had earned first-class honors from the police academy.
When I first went to see Fabio, he flew into a rage, smashed a vase at my feet and shouted for Serena. Meanwhile, Serena was already happily preparing for university due to our father’s arrangement even though her grades barely met the minimum score.
On our wedding day, my mother cried endlessly. She was talking about the hardships of our family, Serena’s sadness and my father’s gray hair. I stood there quietly.
None of that had anything to do with me. I agreed to the marriage only because of Fabio. I didn’t know if I truly loved him, but at least being with him would give me a kind of freedom.
I had read in the newspaper how Fabio fought bravely against the mafia who tried to revolt close to our borders and how he caught drug traffickers with his bare hands. The papers praised his courage and sense of justice.
I had always admired brave and selfless people, especially those police officers who gave their lives for the country. To marry such a man felt like an honor, not a shame.
On our wedding day, Fabio sat in his wheelchair and stayed silent the whole time. I was nervous, my hands shaking and I kept wiping away sweat. I almost tripped while walking down the aisle. People around us burst out laughing.
I vaguely heard someone mention Serena’s name. Fabio’s face grew darker. In that moment, I understood. Fabio surely still loved Serena. Otherwise, why would he hate me so much? For the first time, I regretted both the marriage and my hidden feelings for him.