Stan stood before me, but he looked completely different. He was no longer the scruffy, unkempt man I had met on the streets. He was dressed in an expensive suit, his hair neatly styled, and his entire presence exuded confidence and power. My heart pounded as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing. Then he spoke, his voice calm yet filled with something I couldn’t quite place. “I’m sorry I kept all this from you for so long,” he said. “I never meant to deceive you, but I needed to be sure of something first.”

I was frozen in place, my mind racing. He took a deep breath and continued. “The truth is, I’m not homeless. I come from a wealthy family, but after a falling out with them, I chose to live on the streets to understand life differently. I wanted to see who truly cared about people, beyond money and status.” He looked at me, his eyes filled with sincerity. “When you offered to marry me, I was shocked. But I saw something in you—someone willing to take a risk, someone who didn’t judge based on appearances. I went along with it, not for your money, but because I needed to see if you were different from the rest.”

Tears welled up in my eyes as I processed everything. I had married Stan to spite my parents, yet here he was, a man who had tested me in ways I never imagined. “So… everything was a lie?” I whispered. He shook his head. “No. The way I feel about you is real.” My anger mixed with confusion, but beneath it all, I couldn’t ignore the strange, unexpected truth—I had fallen for him.