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I married a blind man because I believed he would never have to see the parts of me the world had spent years staring at. Then, on our wedding night, he traced the burn scars on my skin, called me beautiful, and confessed something that shattered every piece of safety I thought I had finally found.
The morning of my wedding, my sister cried before I did.
My dress was ivory with long sleeves and a high neckline, chosen as much for concealment as elegance, though Lorie kept insisting it was gorgeous until I finally allowed the word to exist in the room without arguing against it.
“You look beautiful, Merry,” she whispered, tears sliding down her cheeks.
An officer told me a neighbor must have mishandled gas. That was what caused the explosion. He said I was “lucky” to survive.
Lucky meant waking up alive inside a body I no longer recognized. It meant children whispering at school and adults staring at me with soft pity that somehow hurt even worse.
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