The wedding was just weeks away, and instead of feeling excited, I felt exhausted.
Not the Oh my God, I can’t wait! kind of exhausted, but the I’m running on fumes and one bad moment away from collapsing kind.
Planning a wedding was supposed to be a team effort, but Daniel—my fiancé—was barely present. He was always on business trips, always busy, always leaving me to handle everything on my own. The caterers, the guest list, the flowers—all of it.
I tried to ignore the nagging feeling in my gut, the one whispering that something felt off.
We’d only been together nine months before getting engaged, and I kept telling myself that when you know, you know. But lately, I was starting to wonder… Had I been too quick to say yes?
That night, I invited my best friend Sophie over for dinner.
Sophie had been my rock since high school, the kind of friend who knew exactly when I needed emergency cupcakes and a reality check. She walked into my house carrying both.
“You look like you need sugar and alcohol,” she announced, setting down a box of cupcakes and a bottle of wine.
I laughed, grateful for her. “You have no idea.”
As we ate, we reminisced about high school, flipping through old pictures on her phone.
“Oh my God, remember this?” Sophie snorted, showing me a picture of us at prom. I was wearing a puffy, baby blue dress that looked like it had been stolen from a Disney princess.
I groaned. “Why did we think those dresses were a good idea?”
“Because we were 16 and idiots,” she said, grinning. “Wait, don’t you have more of these? Let’s check your laptop.”
I went to grab it from the living room, flipping it open as I sat back down.
That’s when I saw it.
Daniel’s email was still open.
That was strange. Daniel was meticulous about logging out—almost paranoid about it. I hesitated for a second, my fingers hovering over the trackpad.
“What’s up?” Sophie asked, noticing my hesitation.
“Nothing,” I mumbled, about to close the tab—until something caught Sophie’s eye.
“Wait.” She pointed at the screen, her face scrunching in confusion. “What’s that email? The one that starts with ‘My love, we’ll be together soon’?”
My stomach lurched.
The subject line was in French, just like all the other emails I’d seen before. Daniel had told me they were from distant relatives in France.
I never questioned it. I never asked him to translate.
“What does it mean?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Sophie’s expression darkened. “It says, ‘My love, we’ll be together soon.’” She turned to me, her tone hesitant. “Emma… do you want me to translate the rest?”
I wanted to say no. I wanted to slam the laptop shut and pretend I had never seen it.
But something inside me whispered, You already know the truth, don’t you?
“Please,” I whispered.
Sophie’s face drained of color as she read. She clapped a hand over her mouth.
“Emma… this isn’t from a relative,” she said slowly. “It’s from another woman.”
The words hit me like a freight train. No. That’s not possible. Daniel wouldn’t… he couldn’t…
My hands started to shake. “What does it say?”
Sophie hesitated, then exhaled sharply.
“My love, we’ll be together soon. Once the wedding is over and I have access to her father’s money, I’ll leave her. I promise. I just need to gain his trust so he won’t suspect a thing when I start scamming him.”
I couldn’t breathe.
The words swam in front of me, but I couldn’t look away.
Daniel wasn’t marrying me because he loved me.
He was marrying me for my dad’s money.
I don’t remember much of what happened next.
I remember crying. I remember Sophie holding me, telling me it would be okay, but it wasn’t.
Everything—the rushed engagement, the business trips, the way he brushed off romance—all of it made sense now.
“I have to call my parents,” I choked out.
Sophie nodded. “I’m staying with you.”
I barely remember the phone call. My mom’s sharp inhale. My dad’s immediate, “We’re coming over.”
Nothing felt real. My world had just shattered around me.
And then, the sound of tires crunching on gravel made my stomach drop.
Daniel was home.
Sophie and my parents stood beside me as I stepped onto the porch, my body trembling with adrenaline.
Daniel reversed his truck onto the lawn and hopped out—grinning.
Before I could speak, he threw open the truck doors.
And my breath caught.
A cascade of roses spilled out, hundreds of them. The entire back of the truck was filled with flowers, flooding onto the lawn.
Daniel turned to me, pulled a ring from his pocket, and got down on one knee.
“Emma,” he said, “I know our first proposal wasn’t as romantic as you wanted. So I’m doing it again. Will you marry me?”
Silence.
Sophie let out a sound—was that a laugh?
I turned to her, confused. “What’s going on?”
“It was a prank,” Daniel said, standing up. “Sophie and I planned it together. I knew my lack of romance disappointed you, so we set this up to surprise you.”
I blinked at him. Then at Sophie, who was grinning.
“The emails?” I asked.
“Fake,” Daniel said. “I sent them to myself from a burner account. I wanted to throw you off so the proposal would be a real surprise.”
I stared at him.
Then at the sea of roses.
Then at Sophie—who was laughing.
And despite myself, I started laughing too.
A prank. A stupid, over-the-top prank to make up for his lack of romance.
“So… you’re not scamming my dad?” I asked, still dazed.
Daniel chuckled. “Of course not! What kind of person do you think I am?”
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
I should’ve been mad. I should’ve smacked him for putting me through that emotional rollercoaster. But looking at the ridiculous amount of roses—at the way Sophie and Daniel were barely holding back laughter—I realized…
This was so him.
“You’re insane,” I muttered.
“Is that a yes?” he teased, waving the ring.
I shook my head, still laughing.
“Yes, Daniel. I’ll marry you.”
The coffee shop proposal I had once dreamed of? It had nothing on this.
Love isn’t always about grand gestures.
Sometimes, it’s about ridiculous ones.
And in that moment, I realized—Daniel had just given me the surprise of a lifetime.