A Saint I Cannot Keep

The night before our wedding, my fiancee, Winona Yale, sleeps with her first love. He tells her he has cancer and wants to lose his virginity before he dies, and she agrees to fulfill his dying wish.

Later that night, I, Liam Parker, receive photos of them together in bed.

I laugh coldly and text back, "If she's that much of a saint, she's all yours."

The next morning, I cancel the wedding and announce a party to celebrate staying single.

Winona panics, showing up in her white dress with red-rimmed eyes. Her voice shakes as she sobs.

"You don't want to marry me anymore?"

The day before our wedding, I was eagerly going through the final checklist with my fiancee, Winona Yale.

We'd been together for five years. Tomorrow we were finally getting married, so naturally I wanted to give her a wedding she'd never forget.

But she seemed distracted. I asked her several questions, but she didn't respond to any of them, which started to worry me.

"Winnie, what's wrong? Are you having second thoughts about marrying me?"

She snapped back to attention and waved her hands.

"Of course not, Liam. I'm just as excited for tomorrow as you are."

Relief washed over me, and I tried to lighten the mood.

"I guess you're having pre-wedding jitters. Don't worry. I promise you'll be the most beautiful bride tomorrow."

Winona blushed and leaned shyly against my shoulder. I could tell she wanted to say something, but kept stopping herself.

"Whatever it is, just tell me. We're getting married tomorrow, and couples don't hide things from each other," I said.

She avoided my gaze, as if trying to summon the courage to say something.

"Julian told me today he has cancer. I want to visit him at the hospital."

The name stopped me cold.

Julian Stone was Winona's first love, and she'd never really gotten over him. Years ago, he dumped her out of nowhere when he decided to move abroad. I was the one who stayed by her side through the heartbreak, and eventually we became a couple.

After that, Julian disappeared from our lives for five years. It was so long that I had nearly forgotten he existed. Still, I never expected him to return.

Even if he had cancer, why was he texting Winona? And he specifically chose to tell her the day before our wedding. What was his motive?

I suppressed my anger and tried to dissuade her.

"Winnie, Julian has nothing to do with you anymore. We're getting married tomorrow, and there's still so much left to do today."

The soft blush on her cheeks vanished, replaced by anger, and she shoved me away.

She retorted, "Liam, can't you show a little compassion? He's my friend, and he has cancer. Am I not allowed to visit him?

"We're not even married yet, and you're already trying to control me. What's next? Are you going to lock me in the house every day and not let me out?"

I stared at the enraged Winona in disbelief. I couldn't believe these completely unreasonable words were coming out of her mouth.

Any man would feel uncomfortable letting his wife meet her ex, yet somehow she made it sound like I was trying to control her. Thinking about the wedding tomorrow, I decided it was better to avoid any conflict and give in.

"Then I'll go with you to the hospital. Julian and I went to college together. If he's sick, I should visit him too," I said.

I thought she'd be satisfied with my response. Instead, she shot to her feet and lashed out at me.

"What's that supposed to mean? You don't trust me, and now you want to monitor me? How can you be this petty?"