After investigating the marriage the Church found that her husband was a brute and was intending to beat her AFTER the wedding since he THOUGHT that divorce was verboten to Catholics.
The Church said: Husband was dead wrong. The marriage vows were broken with the beatings and future of continual beatings. THAT was NO marriage. No "love" and "honor" there, past, present and future.
She got an annulment; the children were NOT bastards and she was free to wed again. She married again to a really nice guy and she is happy again.
Not often I get to see a happy ending. My old school mate deserved the happy ending.
That is true; a marriage that is entered into on a wrongful basis is not a marriage, and that’s the reason for annulments.