“No, this can’t be happening!” My husband’s anticipation for our wedding night turned to horror when I took off my wedding dress. I’d been keeping the secret of what lay beneath my dress all day, but it was finally time to expose a shocking revelation.
I had a perfect fairytale wedding. Greg stood at the end of the aisle, beaming like he’d just won the lottery. See, Greg thought this was the start of our perfect life together, but I knew the truth.
A bride with a cunning smile | Source: Midjourney
That perfect bubble we were living in was about to burst. But not yet, not until I was ready to pop it.
The reception went on like a dream — champagne glasses clinking, laughter echoing across the perfectly manicured lawns, and Greg’s parents playing the role of doting in-laws. After all, their perfect little boy deserved the perfect little day, didn’t he?
And me? I played my part. I smiled at the right moments and laughed when someone told us a joke. I even danced with Greg like everything was just fine.
A couple on their wedding day | Source: Midjourney
Greg thought he knew me. He thought he had me all figured out, but he was wrong.
As the night wore on, Greg’s anticipation for our wedding night became almost unbearable. He couldn’t hide it, not that he was trying to.
His touches lingered too long, and his smile was too wide. I felt like a performer on stage, playing a part that had been written for me long before I even agreed to put on the dress. But I had my own script.
A bride | Source: Midjourney
We finally said our goodbyes to the guests, thanking them for coming and accepting their compliments about how beautiful everything had been. Greg’s parents stayed downstairs in the guest rooms, giving us privacy, and Greg couldn’t wait to get me upstairs.
His hand tightened around mine as he led me to the master suite, the same one his parents had graciously let us use for our first night together as husband and wife. How poetic.
He was practically giddy as he closed the door behind us.
A man closing a door | Source: Midjourney
The atmosphere in the room shifted, the excitement in the air becoming almost tangible. I could see it in his eyes as he came toward me, his hands already reaching for the zipper of my wedding dress.
“I’ve been waiting all night for this,” he murmured against my neck, his breath hot and full of promise.
I smiled, a small, secret smile that he couldn’t see. “Me too.”
A smiling woman | Source: Midjourney
He carefully unzipped my dress. I stood perfectly still, my heart racing. He was so eager, so confident in what was coming next. He didn’t have a clue.
When the dress finally fell to the floor, I turned around slowly. I’ll never forget the look on his face when he saw what was underneath. He looked like a man standing on the edge of a cliff, teetering, trying to keep his balance.
“No…” His voice cracked, barely above a whisper. “No, no, no! This can’t be happening!”
A shocked man | Source: Midjourney
The tattoo of Greg’s ex, Sarah, stretched across my torso, down to my waist. The words he’d said to her the night before our wedding were perfectly inscribed beneath her face: “One last taste of freedom before I’m bound to the same body forever.”
It was temporary, sure. But Greg didn’t know that. It was authentic enough to make his knees buckle beneath him.
“How did you know?” He sobbed, his gaze fixed on the tattoo.
A man on his knees | Source: Midjourney
“Sarah was only too eager to rub your betrayal in my face,” I spat.
“I didn’t mean it,” he sobbed, his voice thick with regret. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it!”
That’s when we heard the footsteps. Marianne and James burst through the door, their faces full of concern.
“What’s going on?” Marianne’s voice trembled as her eyes darted between her sobbing son and me. Then, her gaze fell on the tattoo. Her face went white.
A shocked woman | Source: Midjourney
“It’s simple,” I replied. “Greg cheated on me.”
Marianne’s gasp filled the room, sharp and full of disbelief. James, Greg’s father, stood frozen in the doorway. He was always the stoic one, the quiet type who let Marianne handle the dramatics. But this? This was something even he couldn’t swallow.
He wasn’t a man of many words, but the tension in his clenched fists, the way his jaw tightened — he didn’t need to say anything. It was all right there in his expression.
An angry man | Source: Midjourney
For a moment, silence stretched between us. The weight of the truth hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. Greg was still on the floor, hands gripping his hair as if that would somehow keep him from falling apart completely.
Marianne’s gaze flicked back to Greg, her lips quivering. “Greg? Is this true?”
She took a shaky step toward him, her voice fragile, like she was begging him to tell her that what she was seeing wasn’t real, that her son couldn’t have done something so unforgivable.
An emotional woman | Source: Midjourney
Greg didn’t answer. He couldn’t. His whole body was trembling, his shoulders shaking as sobs wracked his chest.
“Tell me!” Marianne’s voice cracked, breaking under the pressure of her disbelief. “Tell me it’s not true!”
James stepped forward. His face was like stone, but I could see the fury simmering beneath the surface. He towered over Greg, his hands balled into fists, his whole body radiating a barely contained rage.
“Gregory,” he growled, his voice low and dangerous. “Is this true?”
An angry man | Source: Midjourney
Still, Greg couldn’t bring himself to respond. His sobs had quieted, but he remained a crumpled mess on the floor, unable to face the reality of what he had done. I decided to step in.
“He slept with her the night before our wedding,” I said, my voice cutting through the tension like a knife. “He told her he needed ‘one last taste of freedom before he was bound to the same body forever.’”
Marianne let out a strangled sob, collapsing onto the edge of the bed as her world came crashing down around her.
A woman sitting on a bed | Source: Midjourney
James’s face darkened. His nostrils flared as he glared down at his son. Disgust and disappointment warring in his expression.
“You’ve disgraced this family,” he spat, his voice tight with fury. “How dare you? How could you betray Lilith like this?”
Greg’s head snapped up, his eyes wild with panic. “I’m sorry,” he choked out, his voice barely audible. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I-I made a mistake.”
“A mistake?” I echoed, my voice rising with incredulity.
A furious woman | Source: Midjourney
“You call sleeping with your ex the night before our wedding a mistake?” I stepped closer to him, the rage I’d been holding back finally bubbling to the surface. “No, you made a choice, Greg. A deliberate, calculated choice to betray me. And now you’re paying for it.”
Greg turned his tear-streaked face toward me, his eyes wide with desperation. “Please, Lilith… please, I love you. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I’ll do anything! Just please, don’t leave me.”
I laughed then, a cold, hollow sound that echoed through the room.
A grimacing woman | Source: Midjourney
“Love me? You love me?” I shook my head in disbelief. “Greg, you don’t know the first thing about love. If you did, you wouldn’t have done what you did. You wouldn’t have betrayed me like that.”
He reached for me, his hands trembling, his eyes pleading. “Please… I’m begging you.”
I stepped back, letting him fall short, my eyes hard and unfeeling. “I’m done, Greg. This is over. You destroyed us the moment you decided to crawl back to Sarah.”
His father, James, stepped forward then, his voice a low growl.
A furious man | Source: Midjourney
“Get up,” he ordered Greg, his patience finally wearing thin. “Get up and face what you’ve done.”
Greg hesitated for a moment, then slowly pushed himself to his feet, his knees still wobbling beneath him. He looked so pathetic, standing there in his wrinkled wedding suit, his face streaked with tears, his whole world crumbling around him.
I turned to Marianne and James, who were still trying to process the fallout. Marianne’s face was red and swollen from crying, while James’s expression was a storm of disappointment and fury.
A serious woman | Source: Midjourney
“I’m leaving,” I announced, my voice steady and calm, the decision final. “You can deal with him now.”
“Lilith, please,” Greg begged one last time, his voice breaking. “Please don’t go.”
But I was already done. I turned away from him, from the mess of our ruined wedding night, and reached for my robe. I slipped it over my shoulders, covering the tattoo, and made my way toward the door.
“Lilith,” Greg called after me, his voice full of desperation. “I’ll change! I’ll make it right!”
A pleading man | Source: Midjourney
But I didn’t even bother to respond. There was nothing left to say.
As I stepped out of the room, I heard James’s voice, low and furious, booming through the silence. “This is what you’ve done, Greg. You’ve ruined everything.”
And then, Greg’s pitiful sobs. His cries echoed through the house, but they didn’t touch me. I walked down the stairs, feeling lighter with every step. I was free. Free from him, free from the lies, free from the betrayal.
A woman on a staircase | Source: Midjourney
Here’s another story: When Kate’s idea to prank her husband during a late-night drive instead causes him to panic, the joke takes a dark turn. As minutes tick by and Greg goes missing, Kate’s harmless prank spirals into a tense search, leaving her wondering if she’s gone too far.
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
My Stepmother ‘Gifted’ Me an Old, Smelly Couch — When She Saw What I Did With It, She Demanded $2,500 From Me
When Nicole’s stepmother calls her saying that she has a gift for her, Nicole goes over excitedly. But when she discovers what the gift is, Nicole is torn between keeping her father happy or retaliating. Finally, she accepts it and plans to transform it into something completely different. In the end Nicole is ready to claim the rewards of her hard work.
Ever have one of those moments where you should’ve just trusted your gut? Yep, that was me, standing in my stepmother’s basement, staring at the ugliest, smelliest couch I’d ever seen.
A close up of a young woman | Source: Midjourney
My stepmother, Susan, called me earlier that morning with a grand gesture for my birthday. She insisted that she had a “priceless” gift that was too big for her to move alone.
“You’re going to love it, Nicole!” she said. “It’s absolutely priceless! Come over later today, and we’ll show it to you.”
Now, this is the point when I tell you that Susan and I had never been close. In fact, if I’m being honest, she barely tolerated my existence. So, imagine my absolute surprise when she offered me a gift.
A smiling woman | Source: Midjourney
“Curiosity killed the cat, Nic,” I said to myself as I got into the car.
I just wanted to see what it was, and I hoped that, for once, she might actually be genuine.
So, I get to my dad’s house, and he tells me that Susan’s busy.
“She’s sorting out the basement, honey,” he said. “Susan is finally cleaning out her clutter. It’s about time, to be honest. Come, have a cup of tea.”
A smiling older man | Source: Midjourney
“No, let me check out the gift first, Dad,” I said. “I’m so curious!”
He chuckled, oblivious to my nerves. Susan had a knack for random gifts. Last year, she gave me water bottles and socks for my birthday. I wondered if this year would be any different.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll get Susan, and then we can have some tea and a slice of cake. Susan made lemon cake this morning.”
A slice of lemon cake | Source: Midjourney
I paced in the foyer while my dad went down to the basement. Moments later, I heard them on the stairs.
Then I saw it.
My dad and Susan were making their way out of the basement with the monstrosity of a couch. The fabric was stained and ripped, with a stench that could probably knock out an adult horse! It looked like it had been neglected for decades!
A stained yellow couch | Source: Midjourney
“Happy Birthday!” Susan beamed, as if she were handing me the keys to a new car.
My dad looked at me expectantly, hoping I’d be happy with the gift. But it was horrendous! Rejecting it would hurt him, and Susan knew it. I could see it on her face.
A close up of a man | Source: Midjourney
I swallowed my frustration and called my boyfriend to bring his van over.
“I’ll be there in about ten minutes, babe,” Derek said.
“Thank you!” I replied. “I think they want the couch out today, so I need to take it home.”
A woman talking on the phone | Source: Midjourney
“Not a problem, Nic,” he said. “I’m just gaming online. But I’ll be done soon.”
I knew that Susan was using me as a free dump and delivery service. That couch wasn’t fit to be in any home. But again, I was determined to keep the peace for my father.
Derek showed up as I was drinking my cup of tea, and we loaded the couch and left for my home. He was going to follow me home, and we planned on having dinner together.
A young man in a driving | Source: Midjourney
“This couch is rough,” he said. “Looks like it’s been through a storm or two.”
My initial plan was to dump it at the curb and let someone else take it, but then something shifted inside me. I wasn’t going to let Susan win.
I decided to restore the couch and give it a second life. And so began a project I ne ver thought would lead to surprising results.
A young woman with yellow rubber gloves | Source: Midjourney
First, I tackled the smell.
The couch reeked of a stench that it seemed to have a life of its own. And the odor only got stronger as the day went on.
Luckily, I found a recipe for a DIY deodorizing solution online: white vinegar, water, and a few drops of lavender essential oil. I mixed it up and sprayed it generously over the couch, letting it sit for a few hours.
Glass bottles on a counter | Source: Midjourney
The vinegar smell was overpowering, but it faded, taking most of the nasty odor with it.
Next, I had to deal with the stains.
The years of spills and neglect had left their mark, so I whipped up a cleaning concoction of baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and a small amount of dish soap. With a soft brush in hand, I carefully scrubbed the stained areas, working the mixture into the fabric.
Different cleaning supplies on a counter | Source: Midjourney
I let it sit for about fifteen minutes before wiping it off with a damp cloth. The transformation was already noticeable. The stains were fading, and I felt optimistic about my restoration project.
But then I had to deal with the rips and tears. A simple needle and thread weren’t going to fix this.
A woman scrubbing a couch | Source: Midjourney
“Nic, you need material,” Derek said while marinating chicken in the kitchen. “There’s no other way than to do a funky patch job.”
“I agree,” I said. “Will you be fine here while I do a quick dash into town?”
Derek nodded.
“But why are you rushing?” Derek asked.
A young man in the kitchen | Source: Midjourney
“Because if I don’t, it’ll end up as another sidelined project.”
“Go,” he laughed. “I’ll finish dinner in the meantime.”
So, I went to the local thrift store and found some reasonably matching fabric, random buttons, frills, and even two throw cushions.
A young woman in a thrift shop | Source: Midjourney
I used fabric glue to patch the larger holes and an iron-on fabric mender for the smaller tears. Finally, to give the whole couch a more cohesive look, I added some decorative buttons and tufting in key areas, making it look almost intentional.
A young woman sitting on a couch and looking through buttons | Source: Midjourney
“Alright, give it a rest, Nic,” Derek said as he took the last flatbread out of the pan. “You can finish it off in the morning.”
My arms were exhausted from all the scrubbing, so I was ready to listen to Derek and just sit down and eat everything he prepared.
Flatbread on a board | Source: Midjourney
But the next morning, I was back at it. I used my steam cleaner and thoroughly steamed the couch. I spent hours going over every inch of it, bringing the fabric back to life while I imagined every germ evaporating into oblivion.
By the time I was done, the couch looked like something out of a high-end furniture store.
“Damn, Nic!” I said to myself. “Well done, girl.”
A woman steam cleaning a couch | Source: Midjourney
Feeling pretty proud of my work, I decided to post the couch on a social media marketplace for $5,000. It was almost a joke because I just wanted to see if anyone would go for it.
I loved the restoration of the couch, but I also just wanted to see if I could make some money from my DIY project.
“What on earth?!” I exclaimed when my phone buzzed with a notification. Someone named Maggie was ready to purchase my couch!
A woman holding a phone | Source: Midjourney
To my shock, within a day, I got an offer from someone in the ritzy part of town. I couldn’t believe my luck, but I accepted the offer anyway.
“This is just wonderful,” Maggie said.
The moment I agreed to the sale, she came flying over to my place to test out the couch.
“This couch is going to be perfect for my art studio! Why would you ever want to get rid of it?” she asked.
“I’m just redecorating,” I said sheepishly. “But look, it’s yours to love and enjoy.”
A smiling woman | Source: Midjourney
A few days later, Susan showed up at my doorstep, furious. She had seen the post and the fact that the couch had been purchased for $5,000.
“You ungrateful little brat! How dare you sell my gift?” she screamed.
“Susan, you gave me a piece of junk. Actual junk. I put in the time and effort to restore it. The only reason it was worth anything now is simply because of my work.”
But she didn’t back down.
A close up of an angry woman | Source: Midjourney
“It was my couch! I expect half the money since you sold it. That’s $2,500!”
I couldn’t believe her nerve.
“No, Susan. If you wanted to sell the couch, you should’ve done it yourself. The transformation and profit are all mine.”
“You’ll regret this!” she shouted, storming off.
She hasn’t come back, so I don’t know what she’s planning. But I know I’ll be getting a call from my dad soon.
A smiling young woman | Source: Midjourney
What would you have done?
If you enjoyed this story, here’s another one for you |
In-Laws Kicked Us Out of the House They Gifted After We Paid for Renovations — Then It Got Even Worse
When Mike’s parents offer him and his family a home, they are over the moon. Mike and Maria have a growing family, and they need the extra space. So, they venture into renovations, making the house a home. But one day, Mike’s parents called, wanting their home back.
When my in-laws offered us a house, we thought it was a dream come true. With three kids and a tight budget, any help came as a blessing.
A close-up of a house | Source: Midjourney
But, let me be honest with you: the house was far from ideal.
“It’s in the middle of nowhere, Mike,” I told my husband when we were sitting on the couch talking about the possibility of moving into the house.
“It’s miles away from the kids’ school and our jobs! We’ll have to leave a lot earlier just to make it on time,” I said, sighing.
A couple sitting on a couch and talking | Source: Midjourney
“I know, Maria,” my husband said. “It irritates me that the nearest grocery store is twenty minutes away. But I don’t want to seem ungrateful.”
I understood. Their gift came at the perfect time. Our little two-bedroom house was cluttered, and our three kids had to share one bedroom.
A cluttered bedroom | Source: Midjourney
“We’ll do it for the kids,” I said, taking his hand. “Whatever happens, we’ll make it work for them.”
“Think of it as a fresh start, kids,” Mike’s mom said when we went over to their home for dinner. “You’ll love the peace and quiet, and the kids will have a lot of space to run about in. This is going to be good for you.”
“Yes, Mom,” Mike said. “We agree with you. We’re looking forward to this new start and just going on a journey together as a family.”
A family sitting at a table | Source: Midjourney
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
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