The ceremony had just ended, and the whole family on both sides showered us with blessings. I—Alejandro—still felt intoxicated by tequila and the happiness of my wedding. The woman I had just married, Marisol, was a sweet, modest young woman; Everyone said I was lucky to have found her.

The wedding night was supposed to be the most sacred and sweet moment of our lives. However, Marisol behaved strangely. From the moment we entered the room, he sat quietly on the edge of the bed, his hands clasped and trembling. I thought maybe it was shyness, so I tried to tease her softly to reassure her. But the closer I got, the more he avoided me, flatly refusing to let me get close.

Time passed and my patience began to wear thin. A feeling of discomfort, even anger, came over me. A disturbing question resounded in my mind:
“Is Marisol hiding something from me?”

The night was advancing and in the room only the faint yellowish light of the lamp remained. She was still huddled under the covers, trembling. I walked over, put my hand on his shoulder, and asked him gently,
“What’s wrong with you?” We’re already husbands, don’t you trust me?

Marisol pursed her lips, her eyes flooding with tears. He didn’t say a word, he just pulled the blanket to cover himself even more. That silence of his made my heart flutter harder.

In a moment of anger mixed with curiosity, I decided to lift the blanket. And the moment I did… What appeared before my eyes froze my blood and broke my soul.

On Marisol’s body there were old scars, long and short, marked on her back, arms and legs. I stood motionless, my heart poised as if someone were strangling him. I looked up at my wife’s face: her eyes were closed and tears rolled down her cheeks, as if she were waiting for an impending trial.

I immediately let go of the blanket and knelt in front of it, my voice breaking:
“Marisol… forgive me! I was wrong… Please forgive me!

She opened her eyes, surprised. Maybe he didn’t expect that reaction. With trembling hands, I took hers and whispered,
“What do these scars mean? What happened to you? Why did you never tell me?

After a long silence, Marisol began to recount between sobs. Before she met me, she had had a childhood marked by pain. Her parents died when she was a child and she was sent to live with distant relatives. But instead of receiving affection, she was treated like a burden, forced to work tirelessly, and cruelly mistreated. Every scar on her body was the imprint of that dark past.

Growing up, Marisol tried to escape that nightmare and lead a normal life. However, the memories were engraved in the depths of her heart, filling her with fear, shame and doubt that anyone could truly love her. When she agreed to marry me, she was happy, but also terrified. And that wedding night, the ghosts of his past returned, preventing him from surrendering.

Listening to her, I hugged her with all my strength. My tears fell on his shoulder. I whispered in his ear,
“That past doesn’t define who you are today. To me, you are the most valuable woman in the world. Your scars do not take away your beauty; on the contrary, they make him love and respect you even more.

Marisol burst into tears in my arms, clinging to my shirt as if she could finally let go of the weight she had carried for so long. That wedding night, instead of being one of pleasure as in other marriages, became a night of understanding and deep union.

Since then, I learned to value Marisol even more. I understood that true love does not mean perfection, but accepting and protecting the wounds of the other as well. I didn’t care about his past; all he wanted was to build a future with her in which those scars would become just a distant memory.

Years later, when she remembered that night, Marisol still blushed. I was just smiling, because I understood that the instant I lifted the blanket not only revealed a hidden truth to me, but also taught me what true love means.

The wedding night—the beginning of a life together—was not marked by flowers or wine, but by shared tears and an eternal promise: no matter how painful the past, the future would always find us holding hands until the end of our days.