One week before our wedding, I was drowning in stress. Between work, last-minute details, and planning, I barely had time to think. Patrick and I were staying at my parents’ house to save money before the big day.
That afternoon, I left work early, feeling nauseous and off. I pulled into the driveway, entered quietly through the side door, and immediately froze.

Sobbing. From the living room.

I crept closer, heart pounding. Peeking around the corner, my stomach dropped.

Patrick—on his knees. Begging.

My mom stood over him, her face unreadable. Then, in a cold, steady voice, she said, “Okay, I won;t. But only under ONE condition.”

Patrick’s voice choked with tears. “Please, Diane. Don’t do this to me.”
That was it. My heart sank, my brain screamed. What was this secret? What was he begging for?

I couldn’t hold back anymore. “Do what?” I burst in, needing answers.

Both of them snapped their heads toward me.

“He’s begging because I told him that I’d tell you everything. He thinks that his pleading and begging will prevent me from telling you the truth, Amanda.”

“Tell me what?” I asked simply. There was no time for niceties. I needed to know what was going on.

Patrick got to his feet and grabbed my hands.

“Amanda, please, babe, just let me explain.”

Explain what?

I yanked my hands away from him.

“Your fiancé has been lying to you, Amanda,” my mother said.

“Lying? About what?” I asked. My voice barely sounded like my own.

“About who he really is,” my mother said.

Patrick shook his head furiously.

“No, no! That’s not… She’s twisting it! Stop it, Diane!”

“Shut up!” My voice was sharper than it had ever been.

He looked wounded and betrayed.

“Mom, tell me what you know,” I said.

“He was engaged before, Amanda. And he did something so horrible to her. Something that he confessed he was going to do to you!”

“No, Diane! Amanda, it’s not like that!” Patrick shouted.

“He left her at the altar, darling. He ran off the morning of their wedding with every dollar she had saved for their future, including their down payment for the house they were going to move into. How sickening. Despicable.”

I felt like I was going to be violently ill.

“Is that true?” I whispered.

Patrick’s mouth opened. And then he sighed.

His silence was my answer. And suddenly, the last three years snapped into focus.

“Finances stress me out, babe. Let’s just focus on us. Yeah?”

Or what about that time he convinced me to put the wedding deposits on my card?

“I’ll pay you back, I swear, babe. You have better credit than me and all that stuff.”

And what about how weirdly quiet he got when I mentioned wanting to open a joint account after the wedding?

“We can cross that bridge when we get there,” he had said. “Let’s make it to our honeymoon first.”

There were also the few times I caught him watching me, almost like he was studying me.

I had called it love. I had called it adoration. I had told myself that Patrick was just a live in the moment kind of guy. That he wasn’t avoiding the future, just that he loved and trusted me enough to handle it.

But now?

My goodness. Now, I knew the truth.

This man had never planned a future with me at all.

“You scammed her? You scammed a woman that you claimed to love? Did you help plan an entire wedding just to steal her money?”

Tears streaked down Patrick’s face. He just looked like a loser.

“Amanda, I panicked. I was young! I was stupid and reckless, and I thought that a meaningful life meant having a lot of money.”

My mother cut him off with a wave of her hand.

“And guess who tracked him down? Noelle.”

She reached into her handbag on the coffee table and pulled out a letter.

“Patrick’s ex-fiancée contacted me three months ago,” she said. “She thought that the truth rather come from me than a stranger on the internet. She found me on Facebook. This is a copy of our conversation.”

“Three months ago, Mom? And you didn’t tell me?! You just helped me pick out my wedding dress and sort out the menu? And the entire time, you didn’t tell me?”

My mother looked guilty. But she regained her composure quickly and took command of the room again.

“I needed proof first, Amanda,” she said. “I wasn’t going to blow up your life without it. Obviously.”

Patrick looked at me, frantic.

“Amanda, I love you! I would never! Noelle just told your mother lies! She told her what Diane wanted to hear. Your mother has never liked me. You know that!”

“What was the one condition you mentioned, Mom?” I asked.

She smirked.

“That he leaves. Tonight. No wedding, no explanations, just a groom who vanished into thin air.”

Patrick looked at me again.

“If you’ve ever believed in me, Amanda, don’t do this. We can fix this!”

“Get out now!” I shouted.

And for the first time, Patrick listened.

Three days after I called off the wedding, I stood in my bedroom, staring at the ivory lace gown hanging on the closet door.

I stepped closer, running my fingers over the fabric. And then I noticed it.

I hadn’t noticed the tag before because the bridal shop had told me everything had been paid in full. Patrick had insisted on covering it.

“It’s my gift to you, babe.”

But the tag told another story.

Payment Outstanding: $3,200.

He never paid for it. Not fully. He never intended to.

Patrick had let me believe that the wedding was ours, when really, it was just another one of his investments. A scam. A setup.

If I hadn’t found out, I would have woken up on my wedding day believing in forever with him, while Patrick had already planned his escape.

Two weeks later, I sat across from Noelle. Patrick’s ex-fiancée.

“Did he tell you that he wanted three kids?” I asked.

“Of course, he did! And that he wanted to name the oldest one after his dad.”

“He told me that his dad died when he was six.”

She shook her head.

“Nope. Fred is alive and well. I went searching for his parents after he took all my savings.”

We both went quiet.

“You know, I used to think I was stupid for falling for it. But the entire act was just so… believable.”

“Me too,” I said quietly.

“But you know what?”

“We’re not stupid, Amanda. We are just good people who believed in love. And Patrick used that against us.”

“To us. And to making sure that he never does this again.”

I lifted my glass, and she clinked hers against mine again.

“And to karma,” she smirked.