I thought I was living my dream when I married Damian, but it all turned into a nightmare before the reception.

I ended up burying my husband three days after our wedding, only to come face-to-face with him behind the wheel of a taxi.

This isn’t something I can tell the people around me, so I have to use the anonymity of the internet for it. You can call me Paige. I’m 28, and just a few months ago, I was the picture-perfect bride.

But my soulmate, whom you may call Damian, died after we said I do.

They say life flashes before your eyes when you’re going to die, but our entire relationship flashed before mine as I saw him drop to the ground.

Damian and I met at a small café where I used to work part-time.

He was one of those quiet, polite customers who always tipped well and read a book while drinking coffee.

I’d had a crush on him since I first saw him.

But when he asked me out, I was shocked. He was gorgeous with his sharp cheekbones, warm hazel eyes, and quiet confidence.

I was just an average girl from a lower middle-class family, so I couldn’t believe he was interested in me.

But he was, and from our first date walking on a local pier, it felt like we were meant to be.

Just a year later, we were standing at the altar in front of our closest friends. It was the happiest day of my life.

Damian couldn’t stop smiling at me as I cried while reading my vows.

We were about to start the next amazing chapter of our lives together.

But that dream ended abruptly. Before the reception, while taking some pictures with friends, Damian suddenly collapsed. At first, I thought he was joking.

But when he didn’t get up, I froze.

People surrounded him, and someone called 911.

The paramedics worked on him right there on the dance floor, but nothing they did worked.

They rushed him to the hospital, and I followed them in a daze. A doctor came out hours later, his face grim, and told me Damian didn’t make it.

They said it was a heart attack. He was only 32 years old.

How does a healthy man just die like that?

I could barely hold myself together the following days.

It was all a blur until the funeral when his family showed up. I’d only met them once before, and that one meeting was enough.

Damian had warned me about them but hadn’t told me everything. His adoptive parents were snobbish and controlling.