An unhappy bride wonders if she made the right decision…

Liz was beautiful. Everyone said so. And she was – with her startling green eyes and her willowy figure, everyone who saw her turned to get a second look. Today, her beauty reached another degree because she was in her gorgeous wedding dress. 

However, despite her radiance, her face was full of a deep, desperate sadness that filled her being. She twisted her white glove in her hand as she gazed out of the window. 

In an hour I will be wed… 

The thought made her heart race – but not with the joy that was expected of a bride, but with a sick sort of desperation. 

For the millionth time today she questioned herself, 

Am I really going to marry Richard? 

Richard was the man that her parents picked out for her. The ‘suitable’ match was what they called him. He was rich and well-connected, and her parents saw him as an opportunity to vastly improve their own lives with him as a son in law. And so, they tried everything to make them stay together – even guilt tripping Liz. 

‘He’s a handsome man, stop acting like this is the end of the world!’ 

‘Think about us – we have done everything for you!’ 

She bites her lip hard. He was handsome. Dark hair that curled at his temples, a toned, muscular body and a playboy smile that should – by all rights make Liz swoon – but – it did not.

Nothing Richard did ever excited her or made her long for him. Buying her Gucci and Chanel did not make her happy. She did not need or want those things… they were just… material things to try and force her to be happy. 

The way Richard looked at her made her feel desired by him – but loved? 

She faces herself in the mirror, her green eyes burning, “You should be happy! Your parents are right – you will live in the lap of luxury with a beautiful man who will give you anything you could ever want!” 

She watches her tears running down her cheeks. 

Oh Damon… 

…

Was it a crime to love a different man on your wedding day? 

Damon was the complete opposite of Richard. He was skinny, he stammered when he spoke, and he was so shy and quiet that people barely noticed his presence sometimes…  

“He’s so…good…” whimpers Liz, covering her face. 

Damon wasn’t rich – he had a small house and no connections whatsoever. 

When Liz told her parents about her feelings for him, they had threatened to cut Liz out of their lives completely if she ever went near Damon again. Then they upped the wedding day to today… 

Her heart is tearing itself apart. 

She stares at her tear-stained face, “I will never love…Richard…will I?” 

Her heart screamed ‘Never!’ – there was only one person she loved and only one person who loved her and the fact that her parents were condemning her to a life of unhappiness for their own gain, just confirmed that they did not love her. 

Liz could picture Damon’s shy smile and his big blue eyes as they gazed at her with nothing but the deepest love…

She knew Damon’s heart was breaking when she told him that she could never see him again – but he didn’t yell or try to hurt her – which just broke her own heart more. He seemed to understand that it was out of her hands – but… was it? 

Liz throws open the balcony doors. It was only a short climb down…then she could go to who her heart yearned for… 

Damon…I’m coming… 

Penned By: Rtr. Eshini Hasithri Meegaskumbura

Edited, translated and published by: RACSLIIT Editorial Team 2021-22