The night before my wedding, my fiancé’s female bestie posted online, looking for a sugar daddy. “Not into dating, definitely not into marriage,” she wrote. “That piece of paper is just a cage. It turns you into a man’s property—laundry, cooking, popping out kids, and breastfeeding for the rest of your life! But being the other woman? Totally different. You don’t even have to shower first.” The comments section exploded with people calling her shameless. My fiancé, Alex, just printed out a sponsorship agreement and dropped it on the table. “Cara,” he announced, “Jenna’s parents are driving her crazy about getting married. They’re pushing her to the breaking point. I have to help her.” “Don’t worry,” he added quickly, “it’s just an act to get her parents off her back. It won’t affect our wedding.” I glanced at the agreement—five thousand dollars a month—and asked him if he was actually going to pay her. He stared at me like I was an idiot. “Of course, it’s real. It’s for her reputational damages.” A slow, knowing smile spread across my face. I picked up my wedding dress from its hanger and shoved it into his arms. “In that case, why don’t you be a real hero and just marry her instead?” 1 Alex clutched the gown, a confused frown creasing his forehead. “Cara, what are you talking about?” “I’m just doing a friend a favor. Why are you getting so upset?” A favor? We had been together for five years. Five years leading to this moment, and on the night before our wedding, he was brazenly telling me he was going to become his best friend’s sugar daddy. He knew better than anyone that this was no act. We’d met each other’s parents a year into our relationship and had been planning our wedding ever since. But every time we set a date, Jenna would find a way to sabotage it. A sudden car accident. A drunken night out that required Alex to rescue her. Each time, she’d guilt him into postponing, claiming that if he got married, her parents would ramp up the pressure on her. If we had a child, she’d wail, they’d probably marry her off to the first old man they could find. And Alex, her loyal shield against parental pressure, had made me compromise, again and again. If I hadn’t finally given him an ultimatum—get married this year or we’re through—he would have kept dragging his feet. I thought this time, finally, our wedding would actually happen. I never expected Jenna to pull a stunt like this. My silence must have made Alex realize this wasn’t just a passing mood. “Are you serious?” he asked, his voice uncertain. “If I do this for Jenna, you’re really not going to marry me?” “Nothing is going to happen between us! We’ll just take a few pictures to fool her parents, that’s it. I swear I’ll be completely faithful to you.” I rolled my eyes. “Are you even listening to yourself?” “I’m not even your wife yet, and you’ve already lined up your mistress. What kind of pathetic doormat do you think I am?” Alex rubbed his temples and gestured toward the house next door, where a shouting match was in full swing. “Cara, just listen to them. Her parents yell at her like that every single day because she’s single. Don’t you feel bad for her?” “No, I don’t.” A flicker of relief crossed his face, thinking he’d won me over. He moved to pull me into a hug, but I sidestepped him. “That’s why I’m letting you go,” I said, my voice cold. “From now on, you can be her husband. Then maybe her parents will finally leave her alone.” The smile vanished from Alex’s face, replaced by a dark glower. “Cara! You’re a woman! Your parents have been pushing you to get married for years. You of all people should understand what she’s going through! Why can’t you just help her out?” I stared at the man I had loved for five years and suddenly had nothing left to say. So, he knew. He knew how much pressure my parents were putting on me. And he had still made me wait, time and time again, all for Jenna. He was so focused on being her hero that he never once considered my own struggle. He had no idea that his constant delays had made my parents despise him. I had fought tooth and nail for him, defending his character every time they urged me to leave him, assuring them—and myself—that he loved me. I convinced myself that a man so loyal to his friend would surely be a devoted husband. But the sponsorship agreement on the table was a slap in the face. “Alex, let me ask you this. As long as Jenna is single, you’re just going to keep running to her rescue?” “Of course! She’s my best friend. When your friend is in trouble, you drop everything to help.” That was all I needed to hear. I turned and started packing my suitcase. Alex, convinced I was just throwing a tantrum, grabbed the agreement and headed next door. “Cara, the invitations are out,” he called over his shoulder. “Tomorrow is the wedding you’ve always dreamed of. Don’t you dare ruin it.” 2 I didn’t stop packing. Since I was giving my wedding to Jenna, I figured I should clean up. I took down all of our engagement photos and dumped them in the trash. As I was leaving with my suitcase, the fight next door had reached a fever pitch. Jenna’s father was screaming. “Sponsorship? Alex, you bastard, who do you think you are, offering to be my daughter’s sugar daddy?” “You either marry her, or you get the hell out of my house! Stop making things worse!” Jenna’s mother spotted me and rushed over, forcing a smile. “Cara, you’re just in time! Come help us talk some sense into Alex! He’s supposed to be marrying you tomorrow, and now he’s talking about sponsoring Jenna. Isn’t that ridiculous?” She had to know her daughter was in love with Alex. I was done playing her game. “He’s going to marry her tomorrow,” I said flatly. “I wish them a long and happy life together.” My directness caught her off guard. The smile had already faltered when she saw my suitcase, and now it collapsed into a mask of contrived sadness. “Cara, what are you talking about? Isn’t Alex marrying you?” she stammered. “I mean, yes, Jenna has followed him around since they were kids, and they always played house together. We all thought they’d end up married, but… well, now Alex is getting married and Jenna’s still single. Her father and I are just worried sick…” It was always the same routine. Every time my parents came over to discuss wedding details, Jenna’s parents would start a loud, dramatic fight. Jenna would then run off, orchestrating some new crisis. And her mother would show up at our door, begging for Alex’s help, effectively derailing our plans. Once or twice might have been a coincidence. But every single time? I wasn’t an idiot. I was tired of my parents being disrespected. I had decided to break up with him before, but Alex had shown up at my parents’ house with extravagant gifts, literally kneeling and begging for my hand in marriage. He had sworn he would never let me down again. That was less than two months ago. I stared at Jenna’s mother, my voice sharp. “Aren’t you all tired of this act? Your daughter is getting married tomorrow. You should go home and decorate.” Her eyes met mine, and for a moment, she was speechless. But as I turned to leave, she suddenly collapsed onto the ground, crying out in pain. “Oh, my back! It hurts so much!” The shouting next door stopped instantly, as if on cue. The three of them rushed out and surrounded her. Alex’s face was a mask of panic, and I remembered how calm he had been when my own mother was in the hospital after a real car accident. He loved them like his own. He clearly cared more about Jenna’s mother than mine. I had no interest in their soap opera. I kept walking. But then, Jenna’s mother pointed a trembling finger at me. “Alex, go get your fiancée! I was just wishing her well, and I don’t know what I said, but she got so angry she pushed me over… Oh, I think my back is broken!” A family of world-class manipulators. Every last one of them. And Alex fell for it every time. He lunged at me, his fingers digging into my arm. “Cara, have you not caused enough trouble?” 3 The pain in my arm was nothing compared to the ache in my heart. I wrenched my arm free and slapped him, hard. “Who’s the one causing trouble?” I seethed. “Are you blind? Can’t you see this is all a performance to force you to marry her?” “I’ve already given you what you want. Why won’t you just leave me alone?” The three of them exchanged a look, then put on their masks of innocence. “Cara, you must have misunderstood,” Jenna’s mother said, her voice trembling. “We were just worried about Jenna. We’re so happy for you and Alex!” Jenna’s father adopted a stern tone. “You owe us an apology for these wild accusations.” Jenna just stood there, biting her lip, silent tears streaming down her face. Alex touched his reddening cheek, his eyes blazing with anger. “Look what you’ve done, Cara.” “I told you I was still going to marry you! The agreement was just to calm her parents down. Why do you have to turn everything into some twisted conspiracy?” “Take your anger out on me, not her mother!” “If you want our wedding to happen tomorrow, you will apologize to her mother. And then you will apologize to Jenna and her whole family.” The rage I had been suppressing erupted. Jenna’s father, seeing my fury, stepped in. “That’s right! You will apologize. And if you don’t, I will have no problem letting Alex sponsor my daughter!” “And that five thousand a month? You can pay it. As a token of your sincerity.” I was stunned. Then, I burst out laughing. In that moment, I had never been more grateful that I hadn’t legally married Alex yet. My parents had insisted we wait until after the ceremony, convinced Jenna’s family would pull something. They were right. If we had signed the papers, I’d be stuck, forced to go through a divorce to escape this nightmare. I pointed to the security camera on the corner of the street. “First of all,” I said to Alex, “I’m not apologizing for something I didn’t do.” “Second, you and I are over. You can marry whoever you want tomorrow.” My ride arrived just then. I got in without a second glance. In the rearview mirror, I saw Alex run after the car for a short distance. The driver kindly rolled down my window. “Should I stop, miss?” I shook my head. I could just make out Alex’s furious shouts. “Cara, come back here! Her mother is an old woman! Why would she lie about a little girl like you?” “Come back and apologize, and we can still have our wedding tomorrow!” “Speed up,” I told the driver. Alex’s voice rose to a desperate roar. “Cara! Fine! You want to be stubborn? I’ll marry Jenna tomorrow, just like you wanted! And you’ll be sorry!” Sorry? The only thing I was sorry about was not listening to my parents and breaking up with him sooner. When my parents saw me walk in with my suitcase, they didn’t ask any questions. They just wrapped me in a hug. Then they started calling our relatives, one by one, to tell them the wedding was off. They handled every awkward question with grace, simply saying we weren’t a good match, never once attacking Alex’s character. I hid in my room, curled up in a ball, and let the tears come. Tears for loving the wrong person. Tears for the shame I’d brought on my family. Tears for five wasted years. Before I could even process my grief, my phone started buzzing relentlessly. It was a flood of notifications, all of them filled with vile, hateful messages. So that’s why she posted about being a sugar baby! She was calling YOU out as the real homewrecker! You bitch, give him back to her! Crawl back into your hole and never come out! How dare you drive a good woman to beg for a sugar daddy online? Why don’t you just die? It clicked. The messages were connected to Jenna’s post. I ignored them and went back to her social media page. Her “sugar baby” post now had over a million likes. The initial negative comments were gone. Pinned at the very top was a new comment. From Alex. 4 “I’m so sorry. I was fooled by that woman. I’m going to marry you, and I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you.” It was obvious who “that woman” was. To make matters worse, Jenna had tagged me in her reply to him. @Cara, there are plenty of fish in the sea. Please stop clinging to my fiancé. But if you truly love him so much you can’t live without him, I’m willing to step aside. My DMs were exploding. Just then, a text from Alex came through. Cara, don’t pay any attention to that comment. The internet is just toxic. They were about to dox Jenna and ruin her life. If she gets labeled a homewrecker, she’s finished. Once things calm down, she’ll delete the post. No one will ever know it was about you. By the way, I bought a gift. Come over tonight and we’ll go apologize to her mom together. Then this will all be over, and our wedding will be back on for tomorrow. His tone was so condescending, so certain that I would crawl back to him, just like I always had. It never even occurred to him that if the internet could find Jenna’s personal information, they could just as easily find mine. Did he think they hated only his mistress? In that moment, the difference between love and not-love was starkly clear. He probably didn't even realize that his concern for Jenna had long since crossed the line from friendship into something else. I didn’t reply. Instead, I contacted the hotel manager and the wedding planner. I got copies of all the photos of the venue, the script for the ceremony, and then I posted everything online. The wedding invitation. The sponsorship agreement. And five years of our private relationship history, which I had always kept locked. I also included screenshots of the hate mail I was receiving, along with Alex’s arrogant text message. Let the internet decide who the real homewrecker was. I didn’t care what happened next. But I would not let them turn a mob of strangers against me and my family.
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