The day of the twentieth-year offering. The winter air was so cold it made my lungs ache. The snow in the garden glittered under the sunlight. Did this reflect a bright future for me, or was it merely a cruel irony?

I arrived in a horse-drawn carriage with my father, stopping before a massive gate. From today, this is the home I am marrying into.

Standing before the gate was a tall, handsome man. My father stepped out of the carriage first and shook the man's hand.