Ten minutes before our wedding, I heard my fiancé tell his sister, “Don’t worry about daycare anymore. Natalie will take care of all three kids starting Monday.”

Before bed, I opened my calendar.

Monday’s entry still read:

First day of married life.

I deleted it.

Then I created another reminder for the following week.

Office manager training — 9:00 AM.

I set down my phone.

For the first time since Saturday, I felt a little hopeful about what came next.

Seth hadn’t simply forgotten to ask for my consent.

He’d deliberately counted on marrying me before I had the chance to refuse.