On my wedding night, I hid under the bed to surprise my husband. Instead, my mother-in-law walked in, put him on speaker, and asked, “She still has no idea?” Seconds later, I learned the shocking reason he had married me.

I switched on my phone camera.

Then I lowered myself onto the floor and squeezed beneath the bed.

My veil caught against the wooden frame.

I nearly laughed out loud trying to free it.

Then the door opened.

I immediately knew the footsteps weren’t Rodrigo’s.

High heels crossed the room.

A pair of burgundy shoes stopped inches from where I was hiding.

I recognized them.

My mother-in-law.

Patricia Luján.

She sat on the edge of the mattress directly above me.

My smile disappeared.

Patricia pulled out her phone.

A moment later, I heard Rodrigo’s voice through the speaker.

“Where are you?”

“In the service elevator,” he answered. “Mariana is probably still with her friends.”

Patricia laughed softly.

“She still doesn’t suspect anything?”

My chest tightened.

“No.”

There was a pause.

Then my new husband said something that changed everything.

“She still thinks the apartment was my wedding gift.”

I stopped breathing.

Three months before the wedding, we had purchased an apartment in Santa Fe for 6.4 million pesos.

The deed was entirely in my name.