I Waited To Settle Our Wedding Date, Only To Find Him Acting As Her Fake Partner Chapter 03

I Waited To Settle Our Wedding Date, Only To Find Him Acting As Her Fake Partner Chapter 03

Boarding announcements looped over the station speakers.

I sat in the waiting area and opened my banking app.

I pulled up the joint account Ethan and I shared.

The one he liked to call our wedding fund.

The balance was $45,500. My finger didn’t hesitate before I transferred every cent out.

Seconds later, the money was safely in my personal account.

Then I froze the card linked to the account.

Ethan called less than five minutes later.

The moment I answered, his anxious voice filled my ear.

“Claire, why is our joint account practically empty? Is there some kind of bank glitch?”

I watched train times scroll across the departure board.

“There’s no glitch. I moved the money.”

Silence held for a second on the other end.

Then Ethan exhaled softly.

“Claire, is this because I didn’t go home with you today?”

“I know you’re upset, but the venue still has to be paid, and Maddie’s grandma is in the hospital waiting to see the wedding video.”

“Can you just be understanding and put the money back for now? I’ll make it up to you when I get home, okay?”

My grip tightened around the phone until my knuckles went white.

For the past three years, Ethan had spent most of his paychecks, always saying it was necessary for his social life and appearances.

Every dollar in that $45,000 wedding-and-house fund had come from nights I’d worked until I made myself sick, saving little by little for the down payment on our future home.

And now he had the nerve to use my hard-earned money to bankroll another woman’s fake wedding and play the big spender.

Maddie’s tearful voice suddenly drifted through the phone.

“Ethan, what happened? Is Claire mad? I told you not to spend that much on the drone show… Explain it to her. Tell her I’ll pay you guys back.”

“Claire, please don’t be mad at Ethan. This was all for my grandma…”

A second later, I heard Ethan cover the phone as he comforted her.

“It’s okay, Maddie. Claire isn’t petty like that. She’s just upset. I’ll talk her down.”

Ethan paused. When he spoke again, his voice had gone harder.

“Claire, we’re about to get married. Why are you suddenly keeping score over what’s yours and what’s mine?”

“Maddie is your best friend. The only reason I’ve spent all this time helping her sell this story is because of you, and because her grandma wanted this.”

“Do you really have to pull the money now and leave both of us hanging?”

I asked evenly,

“Ethan, does a fake wedding really need forty-five thousand dollars just to settle the bill?”

Maddie cut in anxiously from the other end.

“Claire, don’t get the wrong idea. Yeah, today got a little over the top, but it was still just for show. Nothing happened between us, I swear.”

“Don’t yank the money just because you’re jealous. You’re making this impossible for Ethan…”

Ethan’s voice cooled another degree.

“We were trying to make the act believable. Do you really have to get jealous now and wreck everything for everyone?”

I gave a short, humorless laugh.

“You two really have spent too much time together. Even your egos sound the same.”

“Jealous? I don’t care about either of you. I care about my money.”

“If you want the full fake-wedding experience, take out your own high-interest loan. Don’t use my hard-earned money to pay for something that was never real.”

“Claire Bennett, what happened to you…”

I hung up before he could finish.

Then I blocked every number and account either of them could use to contact me.