Chapter 1: The Passenger in the Back Seat
I worked nights to pay for our wedding, and when I picked up my last passenger, I saw my fiancé step into the car holding a pregnant woman close.
"Please drive slowly, I'm expecting a baby," she told me.
I didn't make a scene.
I just looked at my ring after five years together.
But before the ride was over, I discovered that the woman wasn't his mistress…
she was his wife.
—Ma'am, could you drive slowly?
I'm pregnant.
I felt my hands freeze on the steering wheel.
The young woman who had just gotten into my car smiled from the back seat.
Beside her, with his arm around her waist, was Brandon, my fiancé of almost a year.
We had been together for five years.
I drove at night, secretly taking extra shifts after leaving my job at an insurance agency in Columbus, to pay for our wedding.
An hour earlier, he had texted me: "Love, I have to stay late tonight.
Go to sleep.
We'll have breakfast together tomorrow."
Brandon looked up and recognized me.
The color drained from his face.
I glanced at the destination shown on the app: an elegant hotel near downtown Cincinnati.
I started driving.
—Honey —the young woman asked, touching his arm—, do you two know each other?
—No —I answered before he could.
Brandon exhaled, as if he had just escaped something.
The young woman's name was Hannah.
I found that out when she received a call from her mother.
She looked about twenty-five and spoke with the calm confidence of someone who believed her life was going exactly as planned.
She pulled out her phone.
—Look, love.
It shows better here.
The doctor said the baby's heart is perfectly healthy.
Brandon barely whispered:
—Yeah, that's good.
Five years of anniversaries, Sundays with his family, plans, sacrifices, and promises suddenly came down to those two words: "That's good."
I don't know why I asked:
—How long have you two been married?
Hannah smiled.
—A month.
It was a small ceremony, just family.
I live in Indianapolis and he works here, so we're doing long-distance for now.
I came for a few days because he finally got some time off.
My stomach tightened.
For the past few months, Brandon had been traveling frequently because he supposedly needed to "help his parents." I had been covering more of the rent and utilities because, according to him, he was spending a lot of money fixing up his mother's house.
Hannah looked at my hand.
—That's a beautiful ring.
It looks so much like mine.
I looked down.
I was still wearing the engagement ring Brandon had given me.
—And when are you getting married?
I looked at him through the rearview mirror.
His head was lowered.
—I'm not getting married anymore.
Hannah's expression changed.
—Oh, I'm sorry.
—Don't be.
I just forgot to take the ring off.
When we reached the hotel, she got out with Brandon supporting her.
He didn't even glance back.
I waited until they disappeared inside, then opened our chat.
I typed a dozen things.
I deleted every one of them.
Finally, I sent: "It's over.
Don't come back to the apartment."
I took off my ring and left it on the dashboard.
Brandon is typing…
Then it disappeared.
A moment later, it appeared again.
Nothing.
I started the engine.
Then I saw him running out of the hotel entrance.
He banged on my window and managed to open the passenger door before I could lock it.
—Rachel, wait!
Let me explain!
—Explain how a misunderstanding married you and is now expecting your child.
He covered his face.
—It was an accident.
I had been drinking.
Her uncle helped my father when he was sick.
When she got pregnant, my family pressured me.
—And while all that was happening, I was driving until two in the morning to pay for our wedding?
—I was going to fix everything after the baby was born.
I threw the ring at his chest.
—Get out.
The next morning, I changed the locks and checked the account where I had been keeping our wedding money.
Then I discovered something even worse.
Brandon hadn't deposited a single dollar in seven months.
And when I reviewed the complete transaction history, I found three transfers I had never authorized.
I couldn't believe what I was about to discover.
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What did Brandon do with Rachel's wedding money?
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Comment **"TAXI"** if you want Part 2 — it's in the comments.
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