Los Angeles, Mia

The car ride to Sebastian’s house was shrouded in a heavy silence, as if the weight of our impromptu marriage hung in the air. I had entered his parents’ home as an unmarried woman, and now I was leaving as a wife. It was a surreal transformation that neither of us had anticipated.

Sebastian and I sat in the car, lost in our own thoughts. How could this have happened? The circumstances that had led us to this impulsive decision were far from ideal, and the reality of it all was slowly sinking in.

Sebastian had explained to me that if we didn’t go through with the...