My Fiancé Let His Girl Friend Predict My Remarriage, Then Regretted

During the ring exchange, Matthew Floyd's childhood friend Roberta Fox suddenly jumped up onto the stage and winked at me.

The bride is a fickle woman fated for a second marriage. As a fortune-teller, I'm going to break the curse for them.

A wave of jeers rolled through the guest tables.

Without a moment's hesitation, Matthew pushed me aside and slid the wedding ring I'd paid three hundred thousand for onto Roberta's finger.

I stood there, frozen, humiliated.

Then Matthew turned back and cupped my face in his hands.

"Of course I believe you wouldn't cheat on me, not after five years together."

"But when it comes to fate, better safe than sorry. Letting Roberta hold the ring is for your own good."

At the toast to the in-laws, Roberta laughed again and called for a stop.

"Serve the tea, sure, but skip the new titles. After the wedding, you'll still call them uncle and aunt."

Matthew looked at her and nodded, approving.

"Roberta says this can break your second-marriage curse too."

I closed my eyes, past the point of enduring.

Ever since Roberta took up fortune-telling, everything was whatever Roberta said.

She said my water fate clashed with his fire fate, so he obediently shared a bed with me only once a month.

She said her earth fate was the best match for Matthew, so he invited her to move into our marital home and live with us.

She said my mother carried a lone-star curse, so he quietly hinted that my mother shouldn't attend the wedding.

Seeing me stand there without moving, Matthew shoved my shoulder, displeased.

"Baby, be reasonable. Don't hold up the ceremony."

"Roberta and I have been friends for twenty years. You can't go wrong listening to her."

I suddenly laughed and set the tea back on the tray.

I'd held it in this long, and I was truly done holding it in.

Fine. If that was how they wanted it, I'd play along with their show and make the second-marriage prophecy come true.

...

I brushed off my skirt and stood up.

Matthew's face went cold.

Roberta clapped a dramatic hand over her mouth.

"Come on, honey! Even a bad temper needs the right time and place. Matthew always gives in to you, and that should be enough."

"Acting like this now, aren't you trying to ruin the wedding?"

I gripped the hem of my wedding gown and let out a scoff.

"Announcing to everyone that I'm fated for a second marriage, wearing my wedding ring, refusing to let me take the new titles."

"Isn't it you who's ruining this wedding?"

Phyllis Floyd shot to her feet and planted herself in front of Roberta.

"Roberta's just trying to help you, and now that's a crime? Raised by a widow, no wonder you don't know how to behave in public!"

The color drained from my face in an instant.

Leon Floyd was still in his chair, but his brow had already furrowed.

"On your wedding day, Faith Swanson, carrying on like this really is out of line."

The groomsmen joined in, egging it on.

"A woman fated for a second marriage really is fierce. Matthew, you think you can handle her?"

I looked at Matthew with the last of my hope.

He hesitated for a second, then still lifted the tea and held it out to me.

Not to speak up for me. To press me into backing down.

"Serve the tea. Don't leave everyone with nowhere to go."

I was the one called fated for a second marriage. I was the one humiliated. And I was still the one being blamed.

The last string in my heart snapped clean through.

The room hung in a standoff.

Then Roberta laughed, looped an arm around Matthew's neck, and took the cup of tea.

"Since our girl here is throwing a tantrum and won't cooperate, then as his friend I'll serve this tea for you."

"When it counts, it's your friend you can rely on, right!"

Cheers went up in the crowd, and the groomsmen kept egging her on.

"Tea's been served, so now you've got to call them Mom and Dad."

Roberta wasn't the least bit shy. She pulled Matthew down to kneel beside her.

"Matthew and I ran around bare-butt as kids, so today I'll take the liberty and call you Mom and Dad."

Leon and Phyllis both laughed and agreed at once.

Phyllis threw me a sideways glance, took the tea, and sipped it.

"Roberta's the one who knows how to behave. From now on, call me Mom."

She patted Roberta's hand and handed her the red envelope for the new title.

I stared at Matthew.

Just one bit of pushback. Just one word for me.

But there was nothing.

My heart went cold all the way through, and I turned to leave.

Matthew grabbed my arm, hard.

"There's a limit to how spoiled you can be!"

"Can't you see everyone's cleaning up your mess?"

Roberta slapped his hand off my arm and laughed to smooth it over.

"What did I teach you? Don't be so harsh with a girl!"

"Sure, our girl's fierce and dramatic and fated for a second marriage, but I can still patch it all up for you two."

Matthew's tight face eased a little.

He caught her hand and gripped it firmly.

"You really do know how to handle things!"

"See now what a good friend is worth!"

With her other hand, the one wearing the ring, Roberta patted his cheek.

"Honestly, this ring suits me pretty well. I've got good taste."

My nails dug into my palm, and a sharp sting shot through my fingertips.

No wonder Matthew, who never knew the first thing about women's jewelry, had suddenly picked out this exact ring style six months ago and called it beautiful.

And how funny, I'd felt sweet inside, thinking it meant he cared about the wedding, cared about me.

So I'd gritted my teeth and poured coffee down my throat, staying up night after night finishing illustrations until dawn.

When I'd finally saved enough for the diamond ring, I bought it and handed it to him, thrilled, waiting for him to slide it onto my finger on our wedding day.

But it turned out the ring's design was another woman's taste, and in the end it went onto another woman's hand too.

I was the one who worked to buy the ring, and I was the fool who did it.

I lifted my chin and refused to let the tears fall.

"Matthew, I'm not marrying you."

Matthew's face shifted a little, and he moved to come coax me.

Roberta pressed a finger to his chest and pushed him back.

"She's using not getting married as a threat, Matthew. She just wants to force you to cave!"

"Think about it. If you lose face here today, you'll never get the upper hand again, not for the rest of your life."

Matthew stayed quiet for a moment, then remembered what his mother had told him before the wedding.

"You have to lay down the rules at the wedding. A woman who earns too much starts thinking she can run wild. Don't go soft on her, or you're the one who'll suffer down the road."

Fine, he thought. Faith's temper had gotten too wild. It needed reining in. As long as she behaved and got through the ceremony, he could apologize and make it up to her in private.

So he took a step back, pressed his lips together, and said nothing.

The warmth drained out of my eyes, inch by inch.

The boy who had once promised to protect me forever was standing on the other side now.

Leon picked up his teacup and rapped it hard against the table.

"You think marriage is some child's game? Faith Swanson, the Floyd family doesn't run that way!"

A glance from him, and someone moved to drag me off.

"Emcee, move on to the next part of the program."

The groomsmen shoved me down off the stage.

I looked at Matthew, numb, and didn't fight it anymore.

He avoided my eyes, took Roberta's arm, and walked down with her.

I sat below the stage and watched the ceremony carry on.

Leon went up to give a speech as the representative of the groom's family.

"...not exactly a match, but my son truly cares for her, so what can parents do but give their blessing."

I listened, blank, while our past kept replaying in my head against my will.

Both of Matthew's parents were senior executives at a major corporation, and after graduation he'd been placed straight into one himself.

I came from a single-parent home. My mom raised me on what she made selling fruit at a market stall.

I only got into college on my talent for drawing, and after graduating I'd been lucky enough to become a comic blogger, which in their eyes was no real job at all.

The first time I went to his house I brought expensive gifts. Phyllis threw every one of them out the door and said, with open contempt, that she didn't approve. Leon backed her up with his silence.

When I felt so worthless I wanted to give up, it was Matthew who took my hand.

Over and over, firmly, he told everyone that all he wanted was to be with me.

I believed him, and I held on and stumbled all the way here at his side.

I just don't know when it happened, that time had turned the man I loved into someone else.

I came back to myself in time to hear the emcee announce the representative of the bride's family coming up to speak.

My stomach dropped.

My father had died young in a car accident, and early that morning my mom had suddenly called to say she wouldn't attend the wedding, no matter what.

So who was going up to speak?

While I sat there stunned, Roberta's mother had already stepped onto the stage in a red gown to give the speech.

Roberta's laughing voice reached my ear.

"I even lent you my own mom to play your mother-in-law. See? That's what a loyal buddy I am!"

I stared at Matthew, unable to believe it.

He was looking at her tenderly, nodding, doting on her.

Then Roberta suddenly turned to me and smiled.

"Oh, your back tie's come loose. Let me fix it for you."

She came over and pretended to straighten it, leaning in close to my ear.

"Are you wondering why that old widow suddenly decided not to come?"

"All I did was mention she carries a lone-star curse. Leon dropped a hint or two, and she went red in the face all on her own, bowed her head, and said she wouldn't come. She practically got down on her knees promising not to be any trouble, terrified of making the Floyds look down on you."

A bolt of lightning tore through my chest.

So it turned out my mother, who was strong her whole life and never bowed her head to anyone, who wore herself down raising me, had ground herself into the dust for my sake behind my back, swallowing every humiliation.

But she was never the one who should have bowed.

My heart was bleeding, and I couldn't hold back anymore. I shoved Roberta away.

"You bitch!"

Roberta let herself fall back with the push, landing neatly in Matthew's arms.

Matthew steadied her by the waist until she was on her feet.

When he looked at me again, his face was full of anger.

"Shoving people in front of everyone, you've gone too far!"

He strode over and shoved me hard.

The difference in our strength was too great. I went down hard and sat sprawled on the floor.

My elbow slammed into a chair, and pain shot straight through me.

I had no time to tend to it. I looked up at him, frantic, and asked.

"You let her bully my mom? You're the one who kept my mom from coming to the wedding?"

He saw the desolate, helpless look in my eyes, and his throat bobbed twice.

He reached out to pull me up, then drew his hand back.

"That's because your mom's just not fit to be seen in public!"

Every word landed like a blow against my heart.

They smashed five years of feeling to pieces, and left my heart in bloody shreds.

The first time I brought him home to meet my mother, he'd said it sincerely: Thank you for everything you've done, ma'am. From now on, let me be the one to take care of Faith.

And now he stood there sneering that the mother who'd struggled to raise me wasn't fit to be seen in public.

"If anyone here isn't fit to be seen, I'd say it's you!"

My maid of honor and best friend, Marjorie Sanchez, finally broke through the wall of groomsmen, eyes red, and rushed over to help me up.

"Hitting your bride at your own wedding, what kind of man does that make you?"

Roberta stood with her arms crossed, her face all challenge, though her voice still carried that little smile.

"Get your facts straight. Your friend shoved me first. Matthew just can't stand to see his buddy pushed around!"

My groom. Couldn't stand to see her pushed around, so he shoved me to the floor.

It turns out that when a heart goes cold to the very bottom, you really don't want to waste a single word.

I stopped looking at Matthew and pulled myself up on Marjorie's hand.

Phyllis came trotting over in small quick steps and wrapped her arms around Roberta.

"Roberta, sweetheart, did she frighten you? This is all that savage girl's fault, raised by a widow, what else could you expect."

Roberta hugged her back, easy and careless.

"Mom! I'm fine! Heh, Matthew's a good guy, he protected me."

Leon shot Phyllis a look.

"That's enough out of you too. Look where we are. Someone doesn't know how to behave. Do you not know either?"

Then he settled the commotion and sent us all to the dressing room backstage.

The emcee was pressing the bride and groom to get ready for the toasts.

Matthew came to stand in front of me and spoke like he was doing me a favor.

"You've made a real mess of things. First you go apologize to my parents and to Roberta, then we go do the toasts."

"No."

Anger flooded his face.

"No? Haven't we had enough chaos today? Stop being so difficult!"

Phyllis walked over, pulling Roberta along by the hand.

"Fine, then don't. It works just the same if Roberta comes and does the toasts instead."

"And it just so happens this can break that second-marriage fate too, isn't that right, Roberta?"

Roberta's little face flushed. She held down her excitement and nodded.

"Mom, Matthew and I have been friends all these years. I'm happy to help."

"This way we can break the second-marriage fate too."

Matthew stared at me, waiting for me to beg. He was braced and ready, so that the instant I said one word, he could jump in and turn it aside for me.

But I said nothing, as if none of it had anything to do with me.

The silence stretched out, awkward and heavy.

Matthew, shamed into fury, snapped, "Fine. Suit yourself!"

He turned and left with Roberta on his arm.

Marjorie gave my shoulder a comforting squeeze, then sent me a video.

"So many people recorded the ring exchange and the toast just now."

"Someone forwarded this one to me. Here, it's yours."

I opened it. So that was how I'd looked from the outside just now, that pathetic.

Roberta came out in the toasting gown I'd paid a fortune to have custom made.

She sauntered past me like she owned the place.

The very gown Matthew had told me needed alterations, the one I supposedly couldn't wear yet.

Turns out he'd sent it off ahead of time to be taken in to her measurements.

Matthew came out in his changed clothes and shot me a glance.

Seeing that I still wouldn't speak.

He tossed out a "You'll regret this,"

then turned, gave a little gentleman's bow, and held out his hand to Roberta.

Roberta put her hand in his, giggling.

"Honestly, Matthew, if it weren't for you I'd never wear something this girly."

"Don't be silly, you look gorgeous in it!"

The two of them walked hand in hand toward the guest tables, the picture of a perfect couple.

And I stopped hesitating.

I looked down, forwarded the video to my top pinned contact, and typed four words to send with it.

"Need a rescue."

The reply came in a second.

"What's going on?"

Two minutes later, another one.

"Watched it, and I'm furious! Give me half an hour. I'm bringing my grandfather too. Anyone who dares mess with me has gotten sick of living!"

""

I sat in the dressing room without moving.

Marjorie went to check on the banquet hall and came clattering back a few minutes later.

Her small face was flushed red with anger.

"This is beyond insane! Matthew's mother keeps introducing Roberta as her daughter-in-law!"

She held out her phone and played the video.

Matthew had Roberta on his arm, going table to table, toasting the guests with a bright smile.

Roberta wore the bride's corsage.

Phyllis told everyone she met that this was her daughter-in-law, and Matthew smiled and let it stand.

When someone tried to push a drink on Roberta, he stepped in and took it for her.

The groomsmen played along, calling her the bride, and Roberta answered them, crisp and sweet.

I covered my face, sick with it.

When my mom learned the family I was marrying into all held stable jobs at a major corporation, and that they still firmly chose me, she cried tears of pure happiness.

Terrified of being a drag on me, she carried the freshest dozens of pounds of fruit from her stall to them every single day, just hoping they'd treat me a little better.

She told me not to fight back, to swallow more, to keep in mind how good Matthew had been to me.

When the marriage talks started, so afraid of shortchanging Matthew, she insisted I ask for no bride-gift money, and quietly took out the retirement savings she'd built up selling fruit from dawn to dark to buy Matthew a Mercedes E300, so he could show his face with dignity at work.

What all that heart bought us was every bit of it trampled. I was called a woman fated for a second marriage, and she was called a lone-star curse.

I understood things early. In our hardest days, my mom saved our only pack of instant noodles for me to eat and drank cold water to fill her own stomach.

From then on I swore I would never let my mom grieve.

So I listened to her, held on to the goodness Matthew once had, gave way step after step, until now there was nothing left to give.

Smeared as a woman fated for a second marriage. My ring taken. My groom taken. Everything that belonged to the bride, taken.

If that was how it was, then I'm sorry, Mom. A man like this had already left me no reason to keep giving way.

My phone rang mid-thought, and I pulled myself together and answered.

My mom, always so careful about how she looked, appeared on the screen.

A few strands of her graying hair had fallen loose across her forehead, and her eyes were red-rimmed.

"Sweetheart, someone sent me the wedding video."

"This is my fault. I only taught you to give, taught you to hold your tongue. I never taught you that some animals don't deserve a scrap of our giving or our patience!"

"Wait for me. I'm coming to take my baby girl home right now!"

The call ended, and I finally broke and cried until I couldn't stop.

Baby girl was the pet name my mom gave me when I was small.

"Don't cry, baby, Mama's here." That one line had carried me through countless bitter and happy days since I was a child.

Her shoulders were thin and slight, yet she had always held up the whole sky for me without wavering.

Matthew finished his round of toasts and came back with Roberta tucked against him, flushed with triumph.

Seeing me sobbing, he assumed I'd finally learned to be afraid.

He came over and gently wiped away my tears.

"Stop crying. As long as you know you were wrong, go apologize, and Mom and Dad will forgive you."

"Someone should be apologizing." I threw his hand off. "And I really have had enough."

My phone buzzed with a message. "I'm here, at the door."

I didn't hesitate any longer. I gathered up the skirt of my wedding dress and strode toward the banquet hall.

The great doors of the hall swung slowly open, and a group of people appeared in the doorway.

The noisy hall went silent in an instant.

The crowd quickly, of its own accord, parted to make a path.

The coworkers from the major corporation who'd come to Leon and Phyllis's celebration turned envious eyes on them.

Seeing who had arrived, Leon and Phyllis were startled at first.

Then, as if they'd tasted some magic fruit, they perked up and hurried forward, faces bright with delight.

And in the few minutes that followed, the color drained fast from their faces...