My Fiancé's Ticking Time Bomb

I didn't write back.

Instead, I clicked on the account she had tagged and started to scroll.

Liam hated posting on social media, so his profile was nearly empty.

Except every single post was about me.

He’d documented everything: our dates, our parents meeting about the wedding, our trip to Napa Valley to pick the venue and do a walkthrough.

Under every post, he used the same tags: "#bittersweet" or "#secondchance."

His regret, I realized, was that I wasn't her.

A bitter taste flooded my mouth.

I stared at the photos, at the radiant smile on my face as I gazed up at him. A single hot tear escaped and landed on the back of my cold hand. The contrast burned.

Before today, I’d truly believed that if I just ignored his past—ignored the other woman he had once been so madly in love with—I could fool myself. I could walk down that aisle and spend my life with him, just like I'd always dreamed.

But I was learning you can't outrun the truth.

I stopped scrolling, pushing their drama out of my mind.

Until the next day, when I got a call from the Vera Wang boutique.

"Hi, Miss Ava, this is the Vera Wang boutique calling. We just had a friend of Liam's pick up your custom gown, and we wanted to confirm you authorized this."

My wedding dress had been custom-designed for me by someone Liam had commissioned.

I had only ever seen photos of it on my phone.

For Liam to send someone to pick up the dress... it had to be for her.

I hummed softly. "Oh, yes, that's right. Sorry, I should have called ahead."

A little while later, the jeweler called.

It was the same story.

The Evans family heirloom ring had been picked up by someone on Liam's behalf.

They were just calling to confirm I was aware.

I had tried on the engagement ring Liam had for me. It didn’t fit. It was too small, a tight, suffocating band around my finger.

It was a constant, uncomfortable reminder: what isn't yours will never truly fit, no matter how hard you try to make it.

I gave them the same answer as before.

Before the Napa Valley venue could call to ask about our new date, I called them first and canceled everything.

I never expected his call to come through the very next second.

"I said we were postponing the wedding, not canceling it! Ava, are you throwing a tantrum?"