On My Last Birthday, My Fiancée Called the Police on Me

One week before the wedding, the doctor who ran my tests told me I didn't have long left.

The news hit me like a bolt from a clear sky, and I nearly fell apart.

My voice shook when I asked him. How long do I have?

About a month.

The thought that the wedding was only a week away drove my nails into my palms without my meaning to.

As it happened, my birthday was three days later.

I went to my lawyer and left everything I owned to my fiance.

I planned to surprise her on the day.

Call it my way of making up for what I owed her.

Everything was ready.

The night of my birthday.

I called all my friends and laid out a full table.

But the sky went dark and my fiance never came.

She called me.

"I'm swamped. I won't make it to your birthday."

I assumed something had come up and she couldn't get away.

Then I turned around and saw her wheeling a man in a wheelchair into the private room next door.

I stood outside the door while laughter drifted out from inside.

I eased the door open and looked through the gap.

My fiance was smiling, kissing that man on the forehead.

...

A high, ringing sound.

I froze where I stood, my mind blank, staring in disbelief at the scene in front of me.

Hailey Winfield had told me on the phone she was swamped.

No time to celebrate my birthday.

And this was what "swamped" turned out to mean.

Keeping another man company.

And the way they touched, the way they looked at each other, was intimate to the point of leaving nothing to guess.

My body was already failing.

Right then a warm surge shot straight up my throat.

The next second.

A wet, choking sound.

Rage twisting up inside me, and a mouthful of blood came straight out.

The sound of me coughing up blood caught their attention.

The two of them looked over together.

When they saw me.

The man didn't seem surprised at all.

Hailey Winfield, though, went still for a moment.

A faint flicker of panic crossed the bottom of her eyes, then she quickly composed herself.

"Why are you here?"

Hailey Winfield came toward me.

She saw the blood on the floor.

Her brow knitted tight. "Are you run-down? Coughing up this much blood?"

I lifted a hand and wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth.

Pale-faced, I shook my head.

"Aren't you... busy?"

My voice came out hoarse and ugly when I asked.

Like there was thick phlegm caught in my throat.

"I am."

"Jack wanted the seafood chowder here, so I came with him for it."

Seeing that something was off in my expression.

She lowered her voice. "Don't be jealous. The doctor said Jack's health keeps getting worse."

"He might not make it through this winter."

"As his childhood sweetheart."

"I couldn't bring myself to turn down what he asked."

"Can't you understand that?"

At those words.

My heart felt like a needle had driven hard into it.

The pain left me trembling faintly all over.

"But today... is my birthday."

Hailey Winfield sounded a little impatient. "You get a birthday every year. Why hold it against a man who's dying?"

"But this is my last birthday..."

"Because I'm about to... too..."

I was just about to tell her.

Maybe...

There was a good chance I'd go even sooner than Jack Simmons.

But before I could get the words out.

She cut me off, more impatient now. "Enough."

"You get a birthday every year."

"A man shouldn't nitpick over every little thing."

At that, it felt like something had lodged in my throat.

I stood there with my mouth open, unable to speak for a long moment.

Only that my heart hurt more and more.

Maybe because she saw something was off with me.

Hailey Winfield hesitated, then asked, "You're having your birthday here?"

"Then we might as well do it together."

"You have your birthday, he has his seafood chowder."

"But don't get ahead of yourself."

"I have to ask Jack first."

"It only works if he agrees."

Before I could say a word, Hailey turned and walked back to Jack.

She lifted her hands like a doting wife, tucking the blanket over his legs first, and only then asked his opinion in that soft voice of hers.

Jack heard her out and answered without a moment's hesitation, smiling. "Hailey, I do like a lively crowd."

"As long as James doesn't mind."

"Of course I don't mind either."

Hailey didn't even bother asking me. She just decided it herself.

"Fine. It's settled."

She pushed Jack's wheelchair over to me.

"You're in the room next door?"

I nodded.

A moment later, Hailey wheeled Jack into the room where my birthday was being held.

My friends all knew she was my fiance, so they greeted her, one after another, calling her James's fiance.

Hailey kept her face cold and only nodded in acknowledgment.

The next second, she pushed Jack right up to the seat of honor and parked him there.

Everyone looked at me, stunned.

It was my birthday. I was the one this was for.

And yet my own fiance had put another man in the place of honor.

One of my friends couldn't hold back. "Hailey, that's James's seat."

"My friend prefers to sit by the window."

She said it with her eyes locked on me. It wasn't a suggestion.

It was a warning.

Don't start anything.

I smiled. "Doesn't matter who sits where."

"Thank you," Jack said to me.

Soon the dishes started arriving. Someone suggested we sing me a birthday song.

Then all eyes shifted to Hailey, waiting for her to start it off.

But Hailey was busy ladling seafood chowder into a bowl for Jack.

"You all go ahead and sing," she said. "I have to look after Jack."

My friends exchanged glances.

I felt a little awkward. "It's fine, everyone's hungry. Let's just eat."

One friend couldn't stomach it. "Hailey, James is your fianc."

"If you're going to take care of anyone, shouldn't it be him?"

Hailey's brow furrowed. "He's perfectly healthy. Why would I take care of him?"

That turned my friends' faces dark.

The way they looked at Jack now carried open, heavy resentment.

Someone wanted to make up for me and pointedly raised a glass to toast Jack.

Except Hailey blocked it.

"Jack's health won't allow him to drink."

"What's a grown man having one drink?"

"He can't drink."

"Come on, one's fine."

In the shoving, the whiskey sloshed out of the glass, and a few drops splashed onto Hailey's dress.

Her face went cold. "Whoever's toasting Jack, don't make me lose my temper."

"James Henson, keep your friends in line."

"Jack, I'm going to the restroom."

Hailey walked off with a face like a storm.

The room fell into dead silence.

Then Jack snorted out a laugh.

The corner of his mouth curled up, a hint of smugness in his expression.

"James Henson, in Hailey's heart"

"I'm the one who matters most."

"Sorry about that."

"Making a fianc like you lose face in front of his friends."

I frowned and said nothing.

But the friend sitting next to Jack cursed. "You son of a bitch!"

The words had barely left his mouth.

His fist slammed into Jack's face.

There was a loud thud.

Jack tipped straight out of the wheelchair and hit the floor.

He didn't let out a single groan of pain.

Instead, he burst out laughing.

My friends traded looks.

They were probably wondering if this guy was some kind of idiot.

Who gets punched and laughs about it?

But what Jack said next.

Cleared up the confusion for them.

"James."

"You're finished!"

"When Hailey comes back and sees I got hit."

"She'll never let it go."

"Don't believe me? Just wait and see."

I didn't want my last birthday to end on a sour note.

So I got up and walked over to him.

I bent down to help him up.

And he shoved me off.

He looked at me with the eyes of a man who'd already won. "Don't touch me."

I frowned. "It's my birthday. Do me the favor."

"Ha."

"Of course I know it's your birthday."

"That's exactly why."

"That's exactly why I'm going to give you a birthday you'll never forget for the rest of your life."

One of my friends snapped, "James, why are you even talking to a shameless piece of trash like him?"

"He knows full well you're Hailey's fianc."

"And he still won't stop chasing after her."

"A man like that deserves to get hit!"

My friends were fired up, all of them furious with a lowlife like Jack.

Watching them crack their knuckles.

I swallowed my anger and got ready to just haul him up off the floor.

And that was when Hailey came back.

"Ah, don't hit me."

"I'm sorry."

Jack reacted fastest of anyone.

He heard the door open, and without even looking he'd already guessed it had to be Hailey coming back.

So he immediately started wailing, faking agony.

Hailey heard it and came running.

She saw Jack lying on the floor.

Her face went white, and she demanded, "Jack, who pushed you down?"

"Move!"

Hailey rushed over and shoved me hard out of the way.

Then she lifted Jack up off the floor.

"Hailey, I... I'm fine."

"I just fell on my own by accident."

"It's got nothing to do with James."

"He didn't hit me."

The moment she heard those two loaded words, 'hit me.'

Hailey's eyes finally landed on the blood at the corner of Jack's mouth.

And his right cheek, swollen up.

In an instant she was glaring at me like she wanted to tear me apart.

"James!"

"Is there something wrong with your head?"

"Why the hell did you hit Jack?"

Faced with Hailey's furious demand for an answer.

One of my friends started to step forward and take the blame.

But I stopped him.

I told her, "I didn't hit him."

"You didn't hit him?"

"I walked in and saw you pinning him to the floor."

"Then how did the marks on his face get there?"

"Don't tell me he did that to himself."

Before I could say a word.

Hailey's eyes went cold as ice.

As if something she loved had been destroyed.

And it wasn't only cold.

There was endless anger in it too.

"How many times have I told you?"

"Jack isn't well."

"Are you doing this just to spite me?"

I said nothing.

My friend couldn't stand it, and spoke up for me. "Hailey, whether or not James hit him, you shouldn't be screaming at James like this. He's your fianc. You two are the couple here, and you're defending some other man."

"Doesn't that seem wrong to you?"

Hailey was too far gone in the moment.

How could she hear any explanation now?

She even turned and snapped at my friend on the spot.

"What does this have to do with you?"

"Who asked for your nonsense?"

My friend took it hard.

Then, in no time.

Hailey glared straight at me.

"Apologize!"

I froze, and asked, "Apologize for what?"

"Apologize to Jack."

"Hailey, my patience has a limit too."

"I'm your fianc."

"You're taking his side, and now you want me to apologize to him?"

"Hitting someone is wrong."

"If it's wrong, you apologize."

"And if I don't?"

"Then I call the police."

Hearing my own fiance threaten to call the police to defend another man.

I was stunned.

And to think I'd gone to a lawyer to arrange for my entire fortune to go to her.

I couldn't spend the rest of her life with her.

But all I'd wanted was to make it up to her.

And her?

For another man, she was pressing in on me in public, with no thought for my face or my dignity.

Seeing that I stayed silent.

Hailey said coldly, "You think I'm joking?"

The next second.

She really did pull out her phone and call the police.

"Hello, yes, I need to report something."

"My friend's been assaulted."

I stared at her, dazed.

My friends were all frozen in shock.

Twenty minutes later.

Several officers came into the room.

Hailey pointed at me and told the officer in charge, "He assaulted my friend. Arrest him!"