My fiancé, Jensen Hettler, vanished just as the wedding was about to begin. At the same time, my mother posted a video in our family group chat.
In the video, Jensen was down on one knee, proposing to my cousin.
The room full of relatives cheered and clapped, and my father stood beside them, grinning from ear to ear. I took off my veil, ready to go demand an explanation, when my mother suddenly tagged me in the chat.
[Mina is your cousin, and she grew up letting you have your way with everything. It’s your turn to give in to her.]
With trembling hands, I called her to demand why everyone had kept me in the dark.
“It’s only because you’ve always been so petty,” my mother said, acting as if it were completely justified.
“If we had told you earlier, how could the two of them have ended up together?”
“Listen to me. You have a lot going for you, so you can just find someone else later.”
“We’re a family. Don’t make such an ugly scene over a man.”
I opened my mouth, but not a single word came out. It turned out that not only was my relationship a lie, but my own family was, too.
I stumbled back to the dressing room and texted Jensen to call off the wedding.
He called me back instantly.
“Everlee, haven’t you had enough of this tantrum? Mina slit her wrists. Are you really going to fuss over a mere formality right now?”
I looked at myself in the mirror, wearing the wedding dress.
I realized my past seven years had been a complete joke.
