“How much?” she asked.
Her voice trembled. “So… you’re selling me?”
Her father’s silence was the only answer she needed.
Nine days later, Matilda walked down the aisle in a lace dress Arthur had paid for, her steps slow and heavy, her eyes lowered to the floor. Her first kiss — brief and stiff — came at the altar. Her wedding night felt less like a beginning and more like a sentence she couldn’t escape.
A Truth That Changed Everything
When Arthur closed the door to their room that night, Matilda braced herself for what she had been taught to fear. But instead of claiming what had been purchased, Arthur sat down across from her, his face pale, his hands shaking.
“Matilda,” he began, his voice soft, “I know this wasn’t your choice. But I didn’t bring you here to hurt you.”
He explained, haltingly, that he was unable to live as a husband in the traditional sense. He could never father children. He had lived alone for years because of it, watching friends marry and build families while he stayed apart, lonely but resigned.
“I only wanted a companion,” he said. “Someone to talk with, to walk beside. You are free to have your own room. I won’t ask for anything you don’t want to give.”
