The Wedding Scammer

I was scrolling through reddit when I came across a post seeking advice. The poster said he had HIV but was hiding it from his fiancée. The post had tens of thousands of likes. Intrigued, I clicked to read more. As I went through the details, I realized—why did his description of the fiancée sound so much like me?

.......

”I fell for my girlfriend the moment I saw her. She's gorgeous, a senior accountant, and comes from a well-off family in town. The only catch? She refuses to do it until marriage."

"I'm a guy, you know? How am I supposed to be around the woman I love every day and not touch her? But since she wouldn't budge, I had to find someone else. Who knew some random hookup would give me HIV?"

"I really do love my girlfriend. Just last week, we met each other's parents, and we're about to get engaged. But if she finds out about this, she'll dump me for sure. So, should I come clean or not?"

The post left me speechless. By some crazy coincidence, I'm also a senior accountant. Just two days ago, my boyfriend Jake Allen took me to meet his folks over the weekend.

"Look, you can't totally blame me. If she hadn't been so frigid, this wouldn't have happened. Just my rotten luck, I guess!"

The comments section was a dumpster fire of disgust. After all, HIV is a serious, highly infectious disease with a grim prognosis. If this poor girl married him, her life would be over.

Some people called BS, figuring it was just clickbait. The poster had no other activity or likes, like it was a brand-new account.

The guy didn't respond to any comments, except to pin one with thousands of likes: "Keep your mouth shut. Tell her, and it's over. Just rush the wedding, let her pop out a few kids. By the time she figures it out, she'll be stuck."

That comment made my skin crawl. Just as I was about to fire off an angry reply, my phone buzzed.

It was Jake, asking if I wanted to catch a movie later. It was just after 3 PM, and I had some free time, so I said sure. I pushed the post out of my mind and rushed to get ready. Fifteen minutes later, I was out the door.

Jake picked me up in his car.

Sitting in the passenger seat, I stole a glance at my handsome, put-together boyfriend. We met through my mom's hairdresser. I'd heard his family ran a small business and had some money. He was always so sweet and attentive; we hit it off right away.

I even felt lucky to have snagged someone so great. Surely, he couldn't be one of those scumbags, right?

"What's on your mind?" Jake asked, noticing my distant look.

I snapped back to reality, shaking off the crazy idea. "It's nothing, let's go."

That post was probably just trolling anyway. My boyfriend wasn't like that.

We saw a rom-com—his pick. Afterward, we grabbed a bite and chatted about the movie.

Out of the blue, Jake said, "Laura, you know, we're not getting any younger, just like that couple in the film. You met my parents last week, and they adore you. Why don't we tie the knot soon?"

I was floored. I hadn't expected him to bring up marriage out of nowhere. Sure, after meeting his parents, I knew we were heading that way, but right now? It caught me off guard.

That Reddit post flashed through my mind again.

After a moment, I said, "Marriage isn't something you rush into. We should have our families meet, and maybe get some health screening tests done first."

Jake froze. "What kind of health screening tests?"

"Just a standard premarital check-up," I replied. "I haven't been feeling great lately, so it's a good chance to get checked out."

It was a simple suggestion, and I didn't see any issue with it. But suddenly, Jake's face changed.

"Is that really necessary?" he said, sounding antsy. "If we're getting married, why bother with all that?"