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.

They simply stop bleeding.

Eventually Ben asked, “Do you ever think about what would’ve happened if he’d ended the call?”

The question stayed with me.

If Nathan had pressed one button.

If the screen had gone silent.

If he had returned thirty seconds earlier.

I might have married him.

I might have signed those papers.

He might have reached the trust.

He might have separated me from my children slowly enough that I blamed myself.

He might have found Melissa’s drive.

And if he had discovered that I knew too much…

I no longer allowed myself to imagine the rest.

I looked around at my children.

“Sometimes.”

Grace shivered.

“That’s terrifying.”

“Yes.”

Lily said, “It’s also kind of hilarious.”

We stared at her.

“What?”

She shrugged.

“The man built his entire life around manipulating people.”

Ben smiled.

“And forgot to hang up.”

For the first time, I laughed without pain.