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My Fiancée’s Bridesmaid Sent Me a Photo the Night Before the Wedding—By Morning, the Ceremony Was Off

The night before the wedding, everything felt perfect—tux ready, rings polished, nerves humming with anticipation. Then, at 10:43 p.m., he got a text from Julia, his fiancée’s longtime bridesmaid. They were never particularly close, which made the message all the more unexpected. No caption. No explanation. Just a single photo. And the moment he opened it, something inside him shifted. His stomach dropped. His hands went cold. Because in that one image…

The tux was steamed. The rings were in the box. And the wedding playlist—two months of back-and-forth with the DJ—was finally perfect.

Everything was ready.

After four years of dating, I was less than 24 hours away from marrying Ashley, the woman I thought I’d grow old with. We’d survived long-distance, job layoffs, her mother’s cancer. We were battle-tested. Soulmates, I thought.

Then my phone buzzed at 10:43 p.m. the night before the wedding.