Handing My Cheating Groom to His Mistress

Halfway through my wedding, a woman in a wedding dress barged in. She shouted that she was supposed to be the bride today. I looked at her, feeling a surge of satisfaction deep down. She was my fiancé's mistress. I had known about her for a month, but I hadn't cried, made a scene, or confronted him. Instead, I told her everything and deliberately invited her here. Today, I was going to make sure everyone saw what kind of garbage was standing at the altar. I slipped off my diamond ring, grabbed her hand, and pressed it into her palm. "Today, you’re the bride." Tyler whipped his head around to glare at me. "What the hell do you mean?" I smiled right at him. "Don’t you know her better than I do?" "You kept promising you’d marry her. Well, I'm giving my blessing." "So take this wedding. It’s all yours." He lowered his voice, hissing through gritted teeth: "Chloe, what the hell are you doing? Everyone is watching!" I snatched my hand back from his grip and took a step back. "That’s the whole point. I want everyone to watch." Dead silence fell over the hall. The officiant froze in the corner, clutching his microphone, completely at a loss for words. I glanced up at the giant screen behind the altar. Photos from our pre-wedding photoshoot were still playing on a loop. The woman in the wedding dress stood three steps behind me. Her dress was wrinkled, the hem smeared with mud, and her hair was a tangled mess—looking like she had rushed across the country just to get here. She stared at Tyler, her eyes rimmed with red, her lower lip trembling violently. She took a shaky step forward and reached out for Tyler’s sleeve. "Tyler, you promised. You swore you were going to marry me." Tyler recoiled as if she were carrying the plague. He shook his head, wearing an expression of pure, innocent confusion. "Who the hell are you? I don’t even know you." I burst out laughing. I pointed at the girl and looked Tyler dead in the eye. "You don’t know her? Tyler, say that again. Tell everyone you don't know who she is." Tyler’s Adam’s apple bobbed. "Chloe, whatever this is, we can—" "Her name is Maya." I cut him off coldly. "She’s been sleeping with you for three years." The room instantly erupted. A wave of frantic whispers swept through the venue like a swarm of bees. Tyler’s mother, sitting in the front row with her elegant makeup, froze into a pale, rigid mask. She stood up, her lips parting, but not a single sound came out. Tyler’s face drained of color. He kept his voice low and vicious. "Chloe, stop making up lies." "Lies?" I pulled out my phone, unlocked my photo gallery, and shoved the screen in his face. It was filled with endless screenshots of their chat logs. Dating back three whole years, all the way to last week. I swiped, bringing up a photo. Maya was leaning against Tyler’s shoulder, both of them grinning at the camera. The background was a luxury resort suite in Miami. I remembered that suite. Last month, Tyler told me he was going on an exhausting corporate retreat and asked me to pack his suitcase. I folded every single piece of his clothes with my own hands. "Clear enough for you?" I turned my phone around and displayed it toward the rows of guests. "Take a good look, everyone. See what kind of pathetic scumbag the groom really is." "That’s enough!" Tyler lunged and snatched my phone. He yanked so hard that I stumbled backward. Maya rushed forward and caught my arm. Her hands were ice-cold and shaking, but her grip was firm and steady. She looked up at Tyler, tears finally spilling down her cheeks. "Tyler, you’re saying you don’t know me? I cut ties with my parents for you. And now you’re standing there pretending I’m a stranger?" Her voice cracked, rising until it echoed through the entire cathedral. "Three years! You told me you were single! You promised we’d get married!" "I believed every word you said. I quit my job, I broke my family's hearts, and I gave up everything for you!"Her voice broke completely. She sucked in a ragged breath, her gaze boring into Tyler. "Tyler, I have nothing left." Tyler’s face was as white as a sheet. He took a step back, then another, until his back hit the edge of the altar. There was nowhere left to run. He looked at me, panic flashing in his eyes before he quickly buried it behind a scowl. "Chloe, you set this whole thing up, didn't you? Where did you even hire this woman?" "Still playing dumb?" My voice rose, sharp and clear. My eyes burned and my nose stung, but I refused to cry. I wouldn't shed a single tear in front of this trash. "Tyler, I’ve been with you for five years. Five whole years. From college graduation until now, I lived in cheap walk-ups with you, ate instant ramen with you, and stayed up until three in the morning helping you with your startup." "The seed money for your company came from a loan my parents took out. You swore you’d marry me. You promised to give me a real home. And I trusted you." I enunciated every single syllable. "And what did you do? You’ve been keeping her on the side for three years. Three years of cheating." "Do you know what you are? You're a con artist playing both sides. You played me, and you played her." Tyler’s expression completely shifted. He dropped the innocent act. His eyes turned cold, his mouth set in a hard, cruel line. "Chloe, are you done throwing your tantrum?" "A tantrum?" I pointed back at Maya. "She heard you were getting married today and took a six-hour bus ride from her hometown just to get here." "She called me from that bus, crying, saying she just wanted to see it with her own eyes." Maya dropped her head, her tears hitting the floorboards with soft thuds. I continued, "I told her, 'Come. Don’t just come—put on a wedding dress and walk down that aisle.'" "Because I wanted every single person in this room to see what kind of monster was standing up here." "You..." Tyler pointed a shaking finger at me. "You’re out of your damn mind." "Am I?" I let out a cold laugh. "A month ago, when I found out, I didn't scream, I didn't cry, and I didn't confront you. Do you know why?" He didn't answer. "Because I was waiting for today. I was waiting for this exact moment." The room completely exploded. Relatives were muttering furiously, friends were whispering, and the officiant finally snapped out of his trance, quietly muted his mic, and slipped out through the side exit. I wasn't going through with this wedding. And I didn't care about keeping up appearances anymore. Right then, someone hurried onto the stage from the front row. It was Tyler’s mother. She walked over and stood right between Tyler and me. Her name was Helen, a retired government director who had spent her entire life obsessed with dignity and class. She looked at me, her face a storm of conflicting emotions. She took my hand. My instinct was to pull away, but she gripped me tightly. Her palm was warm and dry—nothing like Tyler’s, which were always clammy and cold. She pressed something into my hands. I looked down. It was the heirloom gold jewelry set. A necklace, a bracelet, and earrings, all neatly wrapped in a velvet cloth. She had personally put them on me during the morning tea ceremony. "Chloe," she whispered, her voice cracking with strain. "Whatever happened, let's talk about it at home. Please, can we just go home and talk?" Desperation leaked from her eyes. A dull ache hit my chest. In the entire month since uncovering Tyler's secret, I hadn't shed a single tear. Yet seeing Helen's face, the deep wrinkles around her eyes, my throat tightened. Over the past five years, Helen had always treated me like family. She bought me clothes on holidays, scolded Tyler whenever he stayed late at work instead of coming home to me, and cooked my favorite dishes every time I visited. She had genuinely loved me like a daughter. I held the velvet pouch tightly, lowered my head, and said softly, "Helen, this has nothing to do with you or Arthur. But what Tyler did... is unforgivable."I couldn't bring myself to say more. Helen stood frozen. She looked at Maya, then at Tyler, her lips trembling. "Is what she said true?" Tyler stayed silent. His throat moved, his gaze fixed bitterly on me. "Tyler!" Helen's voice raised sharply. "Answer me!" Still, Tyler said nothing. Maya sniffled. She reached into her purse and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Unfolding it, she held it out in front of Helen. It was an abortion clinic discharge summary. Stamped and dated two years ago. Helen took it, her hands trembling violently. She stared at the paper as if the words made no sense, reading it over and over. Maya’s voice was eerily calm now. "Mrs. Vance, that was two years ago. I had an abortion for him." "He got on his knees and begged me. He said his company wasn't stable yet, that we couldn't afford a baby, and told me to wait. He promised he’d marry me the second his business took off." She paused, swallowing hard. "I believed him. I believed every single lie." She reached back into her bag, pulling out a debit card and a crumpled wad of cash. "This is everything I have left to my name. I cut off my family for him, moved out to live with him, quit my job, and spent every penny I scraped together from side gigs on him." Maya choked on a sob. "It wasn't until last month, when Chloe reached out to me, that I found out he had a girlfriend. That they had been together for five years. That I was the pathetic mistress." Tears streamed down her cheeks again. She looked at Tyler, the last spark of light in her eyes dying out. "I came here today because I literally have nowhere else to go." The medical paper slipped from Helen’s fingers, drifting to the floor. Her entire body swayed. "What a sin..." Before she could finish the sentence, her knees buckled. "Mom!" Tyler lunged, but he was too late. Helen collapsed heavily onto the floor, her forehead hitting the hard wood with a sickening thud. Chaos broke loose. People screamed, relatives rushed the stage, and someone yelled for someone to call 911. It was total pandemonium. Tyler dropped to his knees, cradling his mother's head, and roared at me, "Chloe! Are you happy now?! Are you finally satisfied?!" I stood my ground, staring down at him. "Tyler, this isn't on me. Your mom didn't collapse because of me. She collapsed because of you. It was your filthy secrets that broke her. Don't you dare pin this on my head." "If you actually cared about your mother, you wouldn't have pulled this sick stunt in the first place." Tyler's lips were pale, unable to spit out a word. Maya stood nearby, wanting to help but not daring to step closer, her hands wringing her ruined gown, her mascara running down her face. "Tyler." I looked down at Helen, then back up at him. "Before they take your mother to the hospital, let me make one thing clear. We split the down payment on the condo fifty-fifty." "I don't care about your half, but you owe me mine. Pay me back, and we're done."Tyler looked at me like I was insane. A bitter, ugly smirk twisted his face. "Chloe, you’re bringing this up right now? My mother is unconscious, and all you care about is money?" "An ambulance is on its way for your mother. But if we don't settle the money right now, you'll pretend it never happened later." My tone was flat and cold. "I know you’re broke. You dumped every dime into your company, and you lost over three hundred grand last year. You can barely make payroll." "When you proposed, you said the company was finally turning a profit and we'd be swimming in cash by the end of the year. That was another lie. You lied about that, too." A muscle in Tyler's jaw twitched. "How do you know that?" "I spent the last month digging into every single corner of your life. I know your finances better than you do." I glared at him, every word dripping with ice. "If you don't have the cash, go get a loan. But you're paying back every single cent of my down payment." Maya spoke up suddenly. Looking at Tyler, her voice was raspy. "Tyler, you told me you were single. You told me you and Chloe broke up years ago. Every time you flew out to see me, you claimed it was for a business trip." "You made me quit my job, promising you'd take care of me. You made me cut ties with my parents, telling me we’d build our own life in the city and never need them." She took a deep, shuddering breath. "I didn't come here today to take your hand. I never wanted to steal this wedding." "I just... I just thought it was unfair that you got to walk away clean. After everything disgusting you did, why did you deserve a picture-perfect wedding and a respectable life?" She pointed at Tyler, her hand trembling, but her voice grew steadier by the second. "I came to ruin you. I wanted everyone to know exactly what kind of monster you are." With that, she turned to face me. Then, she bowed deeply. A full ninety-degree bow. "Chloe, thank you." I reached out and caught her shoulders. Her hands were freezing, so thin I could feel the bones beneath her skin. The paramedics arrived fast. Uniformed responders loaded Helen onto a stretcher, and Tyler scrambled into the back of the ambulance after them. I took Maya by the arm and walked her out of the venue. The afternoon sun was blinding. Pedestrians were walking past on the sidewalk, completely oblivious to the wreckage we had just walked away from. A line of decorated wedding cars was parked along the curb, pink ribbons fluttering from their side mirrors. I glanced at them once and looked away. Maya stood beside me, wearing a jacket I had grabbed for her from the dressing room over her wrinkled wedding dress. She kept her head down, completely silent. "Come on, let's go to the hospital," I said. She looked up, surprised. "You're going too?" "His mom was good to me. She passed out, so the least I can do is make sure she's alive. As for anything else..." I hailed a cab. "It's none of my business anymore." When we reached the hospital, Helen had already been wheeled into the emergency room. Tyler was sitting on a plastic bench in the hallway, his head resting in his hands, staring blankly at the floor. Hearing our footsteps, he looked up. Seeing me, his eyes flickered. He stood up, about to speak, when the ER doors swung open. A doctor stepped out and pulled down his surgical mask. "Family for Helen Vance?" Tyler rushed over immediately. "I'm her son. How is she?" "She's stable. It was a temporary vasovagal syncope brought on by extreme emotional stress. Her blood pressure is a bit elevated, but with rest, she'll recover. We're moving her to a regular room for overnight observation. She can go home tomorrow." Tyler let out a massive sigh of relief. So did I. Once the doctor left, only the three of us remained in the sterile hallway. Tyler leaned against the wall, staring at me, his voice thick and hoarse. "Chloe, what more do you want?" "I told you. Give me my money back, and we're even." "All you care about is money." He let out a bitter, mocking laugh. "Five years together, and money is literally all that matters to you?"