My Fiancé's Ticking Time Bomb

Ten years with his first love, Chloe, had trained him well.

Usually, a single look from me was all it took for him to read my mind.

He handled everything perfectly.

He knew my stomach got sensitive when work was stressful, so he’d wake up early to make me warm oatmeal.

When I was in a foul mood and shut down, he never got angry.

He’d just sit beside me quietly, waiting for me to cool down before trying to talk me around.

Just like now. I hadn't said a word, but he’d already figured it out.

"Ava, I promise I'll sort this out and hurry back to make it up to you. We will absolutely have our wedding this year. Don't overthink things..."

"Liam, baby, don't I look beautiful in this wedding dress?"

Before he could finish, a woman's playful voice cooed from his end of the line.

Faintly, I heard Liam's deep response. "It's beautiful. It suits you perfectly."

My tablet screen was still open to Chloe's social media page.

As his words registered, the word "Live" began to flash over her profile picture.

On some morbid impulse, I tapped into her live stream.

The next moment, a hand wearing that heirloom ring filled the screen.

That ring, the one that wouldn't fit me, glittered under the lights.

It now sat perfectly on her finger.

Chloe's voice was brimming with joy.

She smiled at her viewers. "This is the wedding ring he had made for me a long time ago. Isn't it gorgeous?"

The comment section flooded with blessings.

But someone asked, "Didn't you say he was getting married? Now that he's back, what about his fiancée?"

Chloe saw the comment.

The brilliant smile on her face faltered.

Her gaze flickered away as she dodged the question.

"My boyfriend is calling me. I have to go take pictures. He promised he'd take wedding photos with me today to make up for all our past regrets."

As she spoke, she pulled a laminated black-and-white ultrasound picture from her bag.

A shadow of bitterness crossed her face, and she smiled sadly. "And while we're at it, we can finally take a family portrait of the three of us."