My girlfriend, Judy, and I had a deal: if she went from 175 pounds down to 99, we’d get married. Today was the day she made good on her promise. At the gym, the numbers on the digital scale finally ticked over from 99.1 to 99.0. Her personal trainer, Barry, was even more ecstatic than she was. He let out a whoop and swept her up into his arms. “Judy! You did it! You’re amazing!” The way they looked at each other, the air between them thick with a syrupy sweetness, it was as if the rest of the world had melted away, leaving only the two of them. Our friends were cheering, whooping, and hollering. I was the only one who felt like a ghost at the party. Calmly, I unlocked my phone. With the image of them celebrating, his lips pressing against her forehead, as my backdrop, I deleted the wedding planning checklist. Then, I raised my phone and announced, my voice cutting through the noise like ice, "Judy, the wedding is off." 1 The cheering died instantly. The air went still. The ecstatic joy on Judy's face froze. She signaled for Barry to put her down, her eyes wide with disbelief as she stared at me. “Bob? What did you just say?” Beside her, a flicker of triumph crossed Barry’s handsome, chiseled face. He took Judy’s arm, his tone a perfect blend of innocence and concern. “Bob, man, don’t be mad. Judy… she’s just really, really happy.” He said her name, Judy, with an easy, practiced intimacy that made my stomach turn. I let out a short, bitter laugh, my gaze fixed on her. “Me, mad?” “Should I be happy? Should I be thrilled that my fiancée lost all this weight for another man?” The color drained from Judy's face, as if I’d struck a nerve. She lunged at me. “Bob! What the hell is wrong with you?!” she shrieked, grabbing my arm. “Do you have any idea what I’ve been through for you these last three years? I went from one hundred and seventy-five pounds to ninety-nine! I lost seventy-six pounds! And now that I’ve done it, you’re calling it off? How dare you back out now!” “For me?” I didn’t resist, letting her grip dig into my skin. I raised my other hand and pointed to her phone. “Why don’t you show everyone your lock screen?” She froze. Her grip on my wrist loosened just a fraction. Our friends exchanged confused glances. Barry’s smile was gone, replaced by a tense line. Judy’s eyes darted away, unable to meet mine, before a fresh wave of fury washed over her face. “You went through my phone? Bob, have you no shame? You’re disgusting!” She spat the word disgusting like it was poison. Her best friend, Jessica—our maid of honor—immediately jumped to her defense. “Bob, that’s completely out of line! How can you even suspect Judy?” “Yeah, seriously, snooping through her phone is so low.” “Dude, have some confidence. Don’t be so insecure.” A wall of people formed around Judy, shielding her as if I were some kind of monster. They barraged me with accusations, condemning my mistrust, my jealousy. Not a single one of them asked me why. I watched the absurd scene unfold, watching them protect Judy like she was a precious queen. And suddenly, I just felt tired. So incredibly tired. I shook her hand off and turned to leave. Jessica’s voice, laced with a strange, triumphant tone, followed me. “Bob, if you walk out that door today, you’ll never get to see the ‘surprise’ Judy had waiting for you.” 2 I went back to the apartment Judy and I had shared for three years. I couldn’t care less about her so-called “surprise.” All I wanted was to pack my things and get out of this suffocating place. I pulled out my largest suitcase and began to pack with a numb efficiency. I opened my desk drawer to get my diploma and other important documents. Lying right on top was a large manila envelope. The words stamped on the front in gold foil made my blood run cold. “The Veridian Condominiums - Purchase Agreement” My heart plummeted. We had been planning to buy a place after the wedding, and The Veridian was our top choice. Could this be the “surprise” Jessica was talking about? Had she actually bought the condo behind my back? A complicated sliver of hope rose in my chest. With trembling hands, I opened the envelope. I flipped through the contract to the buyer information page. My eyes locked on the space next to “Buyer.” It wasn’t my name. It wasn’t Judy’s name, either. It was Barry’s. My mind went blank, a roar filling my ears. I forced my eyes to keep reading. Payment Method: Paid in full. Total Price: $283,000. Tucked into the last page of the contract was a bank receipt. The funds had been transferred from a joint account. Account Holders: Bob Sterling, Judy Hayes. The account balance, which had been over $285,000, was now just over two thousand. That money… that was every penny I had saved over seven years of working, of pinching pennies, of skipping lunches. It was the money for our wedding, for our home, for our future. And now, it was a condo in Barry’s name. The papers trembled in my hand. So, she hadn't just cheated on me. She had stolen every last cent I had to buy a home for her lover. Click. The front door opened. Judy walked in. She saw the contract in my hand and didn’t even flinch. “You saw it.” My voice was a dry rasp. Every word was an effort. “Where is our wedding money?” Judy scoffed. “Your money? Bob, can you stop being so petty?” She crossed her arms, looking down at me. “It was our joint property. I used it for an investment. What’s the problem?” “An investment?” I repeated the word. “Buying a condo for your trainer is an ‘investment’?” “What else would it be?” she shot back. “Barry helped me lose the weight. I was grateful. I bought him a condo as a thank you. Is that so wrong? Besides, the location is great; it’s bound to go up in value. We can sell it later and the money will be ours. Can you stop being so small-minded for once?” I was too furious to speak. I just stared at her, my gaze burning. She grew impatient under my scrutiny and pulled another document from her purse, tossing it in my face. “Oh, right. You can sign this while you’re at it.” The paper fluttered to the floor. I looked down. A prenuptial agreement. 3 The next day, I dragged myself to work, exhausted. I hadn't slept, my mind replaying the humiliating terms of the prenup. It stated, in no uncertain terms, that all of the groom’s pre-marital assets would become joint property upon marriage. However, all of the bride’s assets, including the “invested” condo in Barry’s name, would remain her sole property. If we divorced, I would walk away with nothing. Just then, the receptionist called my office. “Mr. Sterling, there’s a woman at the front desk claiming to be your mother-in-law. She says it’s urgent.” A vein throbbed in my temple. “Tell her to wait. I’ll be down in a bit,” I said. I hung up and sent Judy a text. Get your mom out of my office building. Now. Crickets. Half an hour later, my office door flew open. My assistant rushed in, frantic. “Mr. Sterling, you need to come downstairs! Your mother-in-law… she’s making a huge scene in the lobby!” My stomach dropped. I bolted out of my office. The ground floor lobby was already a circus. Judy’s mother, Brenda, was sitting on the floor, slapping her thighs and wailing at the top of her lungs. She was flanked by a group of relatives I’d never seen before. They were holding a white banner with huge, dripping red letters. “BOB STERLING, THE HEARTLESS CHEAT! USED MY DAUGHTER AND THREW HER AWAY!” Every eye in the lobby was on me. Pity, contempt, morbid curiosity. I could feel the blood rushing to my head. “Brenda! What are you doing here?!” I moved to pull her up. She slapped my hand away and cried even louder. “Don’t you call me that! I don’t have a snake like you for a son-in-law!” She pointed a finger at my nose and sobbed to the crowd of my colleagues. “Everyone, come and judge for yourselves! This man… he shamed my daughter for being overweight, forced her to go on a diet!” “For him, my baby girl starved herself for three years! She lost over seventy pounds, she nearly wasted away to nothing!” “And now that she’s beautiful and skinny, he wants to kick her to the curb and find some younger girl! He used her and threw her away! He’s a monster!” She twisted the truth, fabricating a narrative that painted me as the ultimate villain. Whispers rippled through the crowd. “Wow, I never would have guessed he was that kind of person.” “I know, right? I saw his girlfriend once. She was bigger, but she looks amazing now.” “Ugh, men. What do you expect?” My face was pale with fury, but I was speechless. Two security guards tried to intervene, but the relatives swarmed them. “They’re hitting us! The company is assaulting us!” “Big corporation bullying ordinary people!” The scene devolved into chaos. It ended, predictably, with me being summoned to the CEO’s office. “Bob,” the CEO said, his face grim. “This company has an image to maintain. I don’t care what you do in your private life, but this has become a serious problem for our reputation.” “I’m placing you on temporary leave. Don’t come back until you’ve cleaned up this mess.” I walked out of his office feeling like my world had collapsed. I returned home in a daze. The moment I opened the door, I froze. The apartment was destroyed. My collection of rare, first-edition books was torn to shreds, pages scattered like confetti. My prized collectible models were smashed to pieces. My favorite guitar, the one I’d had since college, had its strings snapped, a gaping hole punched through its body. And sitting on the sofa, with his feet kicked up on the coffee table, was Barry. He was casually toying with a shard of one of my broken models. Judy stood beside him, a golf club resting in her hand. 4 “Just cleaning out some trash,” Judy said when she saw me, not a hint of remorse on her face. Her chin was tilted in defiance, her tone dripping with contempt. “This junk should have been thrown out years ago.” Barry stood up and walked over to me. “Mr. Sterling, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Judy did this for your own good. This stuff is beneath the man you’re going to be.” I looked at him, then at Judy standing behind him. “Get. Out.” I squeezed the words through my teeth. “What did you say?” Barry’s smile vanished, his eyes turning cold. “I said, both of you, get out of my apartment.” “Your apartment?” Judy laughed, a loud, theatrical sound. “Bob, are you still dreaming? I rent this place. It has nothing to do with you.” She pulled out her phone and showed me a digital rental agreement. “Look closely. The lessee is Judy Hayes. You’re just a guest who’s overstayed his welcome. Now, I’m telling you to get out. Understand?” I stared at the contract. I remembered now. Three years ago, we’d rented this place because it was closer to her job. I thought it didn’t matter who signed the lease. I never imagined she would use it as a weapon against me. “Fine,” I nodded. “I’ll leave.” “Wait,” Barry called out. He pulled a small black object from his pocket and dangled it in front of me. It was a pinhole camera. “Mr. Sterling, you’re a smart man,” he said slowly. “Judy has a soft heart; she doesn’t want to make things ugly. Just give us the copy of that purchase agreement, post a statement online saying you two broke up amicably for personal reasons, and we can all move on.” I said nothing. I just looked at him. Judy stepped forward, her voice impatient. “Bob, don’t make this harder than it has to be. I’m holding all the cards here.” She opened her phone. On the screen was a live feed of my parents’ living room. My mother was busy in the kitchen; my father was on the sofa, watching TV. “You…” Judy’s smile was triumphant. “Your parents are getting older. Their memories aren’t what they used to be. What if they forgot to turn off the gas one day? Or what if one of them slipped in the shower…” She let the threat hang in the air. I stared at her, my body trembling with a rage so profound it felt like it would tear me apart. Just then, my phone rang. My mother’s name flashed on the screen. I answered, my hand shaking so badly I could barely hold the phone. “Mom…” Her voice on the other end was panicked, choked with tears. “Bob! Come home! Quick!” “It’s your father… he… he fell down the stairs!”
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