When a stranger took my hand and warned me not to go through with my wedding, I ignored her. But when I found out she was a hired actress, I had to ask myself: who would go this far to stop me from marrying the man I loved?
I was never superstitious. My name is Penelope, and I’m just a regular woman juggling work, wedding plans, and spending time with my best friend, Esther. Lately, life had been a whirlwind of emotions. Cameron, my fiancé, was everything I could ask for—attentive, funny, and understanding.
With only a couple of months left before our wedding, Esther, as always, was by my side through the chaos, helping me pick out floral arrangements, dresses, and every last detail.
It was a typical Saturday afternoon when the strange encounter happened. Esther and I had just left our favorite boutique after spending hours browsing dresses and debating which honeymoon destinations were overrated.
She was trying to convince me that Fiji wasn’t as amazing as people claimed while we wandered through the grocery store, picking up supplies for the week.
We were in the cereal aisle when I suddenly felt someone standing too close to me.
Turning around, I found myself face-to-face with an elderly woman—her dark hair was messy, her piercing eyes locked onto mine. Before I could react, she grabbed my hand with a firm, almost desperate grip.
“I see four scars,” she said in a rough, low voice. “All on your legs. An animal… a wolf?”
I froze, my heart nearly stopping. She was right. I did have those scars—deep, jagged ones from when a wolf attacked me on a family camping trip when I was five. It wasn’t something I had told many people. How could she possibly know?
Esther, distracted by her phone, looked up just in time to see the woman holding my hand.
“Hey! Let her go!” she snapped, stepping closer, ready to intervene.
But the woman ignored her. Her eyes remained locked onto mine.
“I see you’re getting married,” she murmured, tightening her grip. “Don’t do it. Trouble awaits you.”
I held my breath. I felt rooted to the floor, unable to move. How did she know about my wedding? What kind of “trouble” was she talking about?
Before I could ask, Esther yanked me away with a sharp pull.
“Are you crazy?” she hissed at the woman. “Get lost, witch!”
The woman blinked, as if waking from a trance, and slipped away without another word. I stood there, staring after her, my heart pounding.
“Penelope, are you okay?” Esther asked, her voice softer now that the stranger was gone. “She was probably just some lunatic. Don’t let it get to you.”
I forced a laugh.
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” I said, but deep down, I wasn’t so sure.
For the next two weeks, her words haunted me. “Don’t do it. Trouble awaits you.” They played in my mind like a broken record. No matter how many times I told myself it was nonsense, I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.
Then yesterday, while having lunch with my mom at a small café, I saw her again—or at least, I thought I did.
Across the street, a woman was hurrying into a shop. But this time, she had blonde hair and light eyes. Her appearance was completely different, yet something about her felt familiar.
Without thinking, I jumped from my seat and ran after her.
“Hey, you!” I called, reaching her just as she was about to enter.
The woman turned, startled.
“Let me go!” she shrieked when I grabbed her wrist.
“Who are you?” I demanded.
“I’m an actress,” she blurted. “I was paid to scare you into canceling your wedding.”
My heart stopped.
“You… were paid? By who?”
She hesitated, then reluctantly pulled out her phone. When she showed me the screen, a cold shiver ran down my spine.
It was Cameron.
My fiancé. The man I trusted, the man I loved, the man I thought I’d spend my life with.
“He… he paid you?” My voice cracked as I asked, still struggling to process the betrayal.
The woman looked away, nervous.
“Look, I don’t want any trouble. I was just doing my job. Please let me go.”
A lump formed in my throat.
“Why? Why did he do this?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “He just said he couldn’t go through with the wedding but didn’t know how to tell you.”
A burning fury rose within me. But I wasn’t the type to scream. My anger was cold. Calculated.
He couldn’t call off the wedding himself, so he hired someone to manipulate me instead? The sheer cowardice was almost laughable. Almost.
I walked around the city in a daze, my mind spinning with thoughts of Cameron, the wedding, everything.
By the time I got home, I had made my decision.
That night, I set the table for dinner as if nothing had happened. I cooked his favorite meal—roast chicken with rosemary potatoes—and made sure everything was perfect.
When Cameron walked in, I noticed he seemed a little off. Maybe the guilt was eating him alive.
“Hey, babe!” he greeted me with a kiss on the cheek, oblivious to what was coming. “Something smells amazing.”
“Just how you like it,” I said with a smile, placing the plates on the table. “I thought we could have a nice evening together.”
He sat down, and for a moment, we ate in silence.
I waited. I watched him between bites.
And when the moment was perfect, I started the conversation.
“You won’t believe what happened to me today.”
Cameron looked up.
“Oh yeah? What happened?”
“I was at the grocery store with Esther,” I said casually, “and this woman came up to me. Out of nowhere, she grabbed my hand.”
I saw his posture stiffen.
“What? What did she want?”
I shrugged.
“She started talking about some scars I have on my legs. It was weird—she knew about them even though I’d never seen her before.”
Cameron swallowed hard.
“That’s… strange.”
“She also mentioned our wedding,” I continued. “She had some interesting things to say about it.”
His hand tightened around his fork.
“Oh? What… what exactly did she say?”
I smiled sweetly.
“That you’d be a successful man and that we’d have a very happy marriage.”
That’s when he choked. Right on cue.
He coughed, gasping, as I leaned back, watching him with quiet amusement. His face paled, his eyes widened in panic as he struggled to recover.
“Babe, are you okay?” I asked, pretending to be concerned while savoring every second of his discomfort.
“Y-yeah,” he stammered, wiping his mouth. “Just… unexpected.”
I leaned in slightly, my playful tone vanishing.
“Unexpected? What’s unexpected, Cam? The part about our happy marriage? Or the fact that you were such a coward that you hired someone to break up with me?”
His face went white.
“What? What are you talking about, Pen?”
I didn’t let him escape.
“I ran into your actress today. The one you hired to scare me away.”
For a moment, Cameron just sat there, stunned, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. He had no words—no explanations, no excuses. He was caught, and we both knew it.
“You thought I wouldn’t find out?” I said quietly.
His hands trembled.
“Pen, I…”
“Don’t,” I cut him off, standing up slowly. “I’ll be the one canceling the wedding.”
I turned and walked out, leaving him speechless.
The game is over, Cameron. The game is over.