My Fiancé Left the Phone Line Open One Day Before Our Wedding, and I Heard Him Tell His Mother He Planned to Take My House, My Savings, and Then Get Rid of Me. So I Changed a Few Details About the Ceremony—and When the Final Wedding Gift Appeared on the Screen, Nathan Learned He Had Never Been the One Running the Con.

The woman who told me, with tears in her eyes, that she had always prayed Nathan would find “a good woman.”

His wife.

I whispered, “Are they still married?”

“I’m checking.”

Five minutes later, Marcus confirmed there was no divorce record.

Rebecca looked at me.

“If that holds, Nathan cannot legally marry you tomorrow.”

I stared at her.

“He never intended to?”

“Oh, I think he intended to perform the ceremony,” Rebecca said. “Whether he planned to file the license is another question.”

Ben’s face hardened.

“He wanted Mom to believe they were married.”

Rebecca nodded slowly.

“And if she signed those financial documents voluntarily afterward…”

“He wouldn’t need a legal marriage,” I finished.

Exactly.

The wedding had never been the goal.

The wedding was theater designed to make me lower my guard.

At 3:48 a.m., Marcus called again.

This time his voice was different.

“Sharon.”

“Yes?”