I fell in love with the one man my family was never supposed to forgive.

He was the son of my father’s greatest enemy—the kind of enemy whose name was spoken in our house like a curse. Loving him was dangerous. Telling my father was even more dangerous.

So I lied.

For months, we met in secret. In his arms, I found the happiness I had never known. He became my escape, my comfort, my reason to smile. But while I was protecting our love, my father was making plans of his own.

One day, he asked if there was someone in my life.

I said no.

Then he told me he had already chosen my husband.

I swallowed my truth and obeyed.

On my wedding night, the man I married destroyed whatever innocence I had left.

And as the nightmare continued, one thought haunted me:

I should have told my father everything.

Chapter 26 - tick