The entire village couldn’t stop talking when one of their own came home with a wife nobody expected to see. What they didn’t know yet was the heartbreaking truth waiting to surface.
He’d been gone for years, working somewhere in the city. His parents barely heard from him—just the occasional envelope with a little money and a few scribbled lines. That was it.
Then one afternoon, without warning, he showed up at their door. And he wasn’t alone.
His parents were thrilled. Their only son had finally settled down and gotten married. They couldn’t wait to welcome their new daughter-in-law into the family.
Until they actually saw her.
She stood beside him, silent and still. Her face was completely wrapped in thick white bandages. Only her eyes showed through the layers of cloth.
His mother gasped and pressed a hand to her heart.
“Son… what happened to her?”
He looked down before answering.
“Please don’t ask, Mom. Just accept her. She’s my wife.”
After that, the house went quiet. The new bride hardly ever left her room. She didn’t talk to anyone except her husband, and even then, only when they were behind closed doors.
Of course, the neighbors had plenty to say. Some whispered she must be a fugitive. Others swore she was cursed.
Even his parents couldn’t shake the unease. Night after night, they’d hear her soft crying through the bedroom door, and their son’s low voice trying to comfort her.
One evening, they couldn’t take it anymore. Curiosity—and worry—got the best of them. They crept up to the bedroom door, which was always locked after eleven.
Through a crack in the doorframe, they saw her sitting at the mirror. Slowly, carefully, she began unwrapping the bandages.
And then they saw what she’d been hiding all along.
Her face was covered in burns—deep, jagged scars that twisted across her skin.
His mother let out a sharp cry before she could stop herself.
Their son bolted upright. The moment he saw them standing there, he knew.
“Now you know,” he said quietly.
He told them everything. Years ago, when he was still living in the city, a fire tore through his building in the middle of the night. Flames everywhere. No way out.
This woman—his wife—had dragged him from the wreckage. She saved his life. But in doing so, she lost everything. Her face. Her future. Nearly her life.
“I couldn’t just walk away from her,” he said, meeting his parents’ eyes. “I didn’t fall in love with her face. I fell in love with who she is.”
His mother started to cry. She walked over to the young woman and, for the first time, wrapped her arms around her—gently, like she was holding something precious and fragile.
The next day, the neighbors were still talking.
But this time, it was different. This time, they spoke with respect.