I always thought my wedding day would be unforgettable for all the right reasons. Instead, it became unforgettable for a reason I never would have imagined. It all started when my sister brought a lie detector to the wedding.
I’m Harlene, a 28-year-old teacher, and until recently I thought I had the perfect life. My fiancé, Mark, and I had spent five wonderful years together, planning a future full of love and laughter. That future vanished the moment my sister, Melissa, turned my wedding into a nightmare.
Let me explain.
Mark and I met through a mutual friend five years ago, and from the moment we connected, it felt like we had known each other all our lives.
He was very kind and sensitive to the feelings of everyone around him. What I liked most about him was that he respected everyone equally and never shied away from helping others.
It didn’t take long for us to become inseparable. We spent our weekends exploring new restaurants, watching TV series and dreaming about the future.
“Har,“ he’d say with a teasing smile, ‘if you weren’t such a good cook, I’d probably starve to death.’
“Good thing I love feeding you,” I’d reply, laughing as he wolfed down another plate of lasagne.
Mark worked as a software developer, a job that sometimes kept him at his desk until late at night. But I never minded. I understood his dedication and appreciated the effort he put into his career.
As for me, I was living my dream as a teacher. My students were my little rays of sunshine, and I loved every chaotic and beautiful moment of my job.
When we decided to get married, we both agreed that our wedding should be a celebration of love and fun. We wanted everyone to feel as happy as we did.
“Let’s make it the kind of wedding people will talk about for years to come,“ Mark said one night as we exchanged ideas.
“Absolutely,” I replied. “How about games? Some fun ones that everyone can take part in?”
“Perfect,“ he said, his eyes lighting up. ‘We can do a trivia game, charades or something like that. Maybe even a karaoke battle.’
We even asked my sister Melissa for some ideas. At the time, she didn’t seem very interested.
“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug. “You guys are the creative ones. Tell me what to do and I’ll help you.”
With Melissa’s lackluster contribution, Mark and I continued to plan the wedding of our dreams. Every detail mattered to us, from the playlist to the seating arrangements.
Mark was on top of everything, from how the napkins matched the centerpieces to making sure the cake was perfect.
“It’s going to be the best day of our lives,” I told him as we finalized the guest list.
“It will be,” he said, squeezing my hand. ”I can’t wait to see you walk down the aisle.”
And I believed him. I believed in us. We were the perfect team and nothing could go wrong.
Little did I know that the wedding we had planned so lovingly would become a moment I wished I could forget.
The wedding day had finally arrived, and I was filled with excitement.
When I stood in front of the mirror, I couldn’t stop smiling. The moment had arrived. It was the day I had dreamed of for so long.
When I entered the venue, the energy was electric. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, laughing, chatting and soaking up the atmosphere that we had worked so hard to create.
Mark greeted me at the entrance with a kiss on the cheek.
“You look beautiful, Har,“ he said, his voice full of admiration.
“And you look elegant too,” I replied with a smile, looking at his impeccable suit and the sparkle in his eyes.
Everything seemed magical until Melissa picked up the microphone.
“All right, everyone!” she shouted, her voice breaking. ”I have a little surprise for the happy couple. I’ve been planning it for weeks and I promise you it’s going to be a lot of fun.
I looked at her with wide eyes. I hadn’t heard anything about a surprise game.
“Melissa, what is it?“ I asked, moving closer to her.
“You’ll see!” she said with a mischievous smile. She signaled to a man in the corner who was carrying a small machine with cables and sensors.
“What on earth is that?“ I asked, curiosity piqued.
“It’s a lie detector,” Melissa exclaimed, beaming. “I saw it on the internet and thought it would be a hilarious wedding game. You and Mark will answer a few fun questions while connected to it. Trust me, everyone is going to love it.”
I looked at Mark, who gave me a skeptical look, but shrugged.
“Why not?” he said. ‘Let’s give them a show.”
“That’s the spirit!’ Melissa exclaimed, clapping her hands. ”Come on, let’s get started.”
The technician connected us to the machine, and Melissa started with light-hearted questions.
“Mark,“ she said with a teasing smile, ‘have you ever eaten the last slice of pizza and blamed it on Harlene?”
He laughed. ’Yes,” he admitted, to a chorus of laughter from the guests.
Then it was my turn.
“Harlene,” Melissa asked, ”have you ever binged on TV secretly without Mark?”
“Guilty as charged,” I said, smiling as the detector beeped to confirm that I was telling the truth.
The questions continued, each one sillier than the last. The guests took turns asking their own, such as, ‘Have you ever lied about whether you like your partner’s food?’ or ”Have you ever fallen in love with a celebrity while you were dating them?”
The air was filled with laughter, and I thought it might be one of the most memorable moments of the day.
Then Uncle Sam stood up. His usually jovial face was deadly serious as he approached the microphone.
“Now it’s my turn,” he said, in a deep, slow voice. ”Mark, did you ever cheat on my niece?”
Wait, what? I thought. Where did that come from?
I stared at him in silence as murmurs filled the air.
Mark let out a nervous chuckle and looked around at the astonished faces.
“It’s a ridiculous question, Uncle Sam. I don’t think I have to dignify it with an answer,” he said, trying to hide it.
But Uncle Sam wasn’t smiling.
“I think you should do it, Mark,” he said firmly. ‘If you have nothing to hide, what’s wrong with answering?”
I felt my heart pounding in my chest.
“Mark,’ I said, trying to ease the tension, ”it’s just a game. Let’s not spoil the atmosphere, okay?”
Mark turned to me, his jaw tense. “Exactly. It’s just a game, and this question is out of place.”
But his gaze made me think. There was no humor, no easy confidence. He seemed… defensive.
I tried to calm down. It was Mark, my Mark. The man I had trusted and loved for five years. There was no way he could have cheated on me. Right?
But Uncle Sam wasn’t backing down. “Why don’t you answer, then? If it’s absurd, prove it.”
Mark clenched his fists and his face hardened. ”Because it’s insulting, that’s why. I don’t owe anyone an answer to something so ridiculous.”
I glanced around the room, noticing the growing unease among the guests. The whispers, the exchanged glances. My pulse quickened. Why was Mark reacting like this?
“Mark,” I said softly, taking his hand. ‘Answer so we can move on.”
But he shook his head. ’No, Harlene. I’m not going to dignify this with an answer.”
His answer told me that something was not right.
“Mark,” I said, my voice trembling, ‘if you don’t answer, I’m not sure I can go through with this wedding. I need to know that there is nothing to hide.”
He looked around and sighed.
“All right,’ he said, looking at Uncle Sam. ”No, I haven’t cheated on Harlene.”
Uncle Sam looked at the technician. “He’s lying, isn’t he?”
The technician quickly analyzed the results and nodded. ‘It seems incredible.”
The muffled cry from the crowd was deafening.
“What?’ I whispered. ‘How is it possible?”
Uncle Sam smiled.
“Is there anyone in this room with whom you committed the deception?’ he asked.
Mark looked cornered. “No,” he said flatly.
“Another lie,“ the technician said quickly.
I couldn’t believe it.
“Who, Mark?” I asked him. “Who did you cheat on me with?”
He didn’t answer.
It was then that I noticed Melissa, my sister, moving uneasily. A horrible thought crept into my mind.
“Was it her?” I asked, pointing at Melissa. ‘Did you cheat on me with my sister?”
Mark froze. He looked at Melissa before his gaze fixed on mine.
“Tell me, Mark!’ I insisted. ‘Was it her? Melissa?”
Mark looked at the floor and said what I didn’t want to hear.
“Yes,’ he said.
The machine didn’t need to confirm it, but it did. The truth.
The silence in the room was deafening, broken only by my labored breathing. My mind raced as I stared at Mark and then at Melissa, who seemed to want to disappear into the floor.
Before I could formulate a question, Uncle Sam cleared his throat.
“I wasn’t going to say anything today,” he began, his gaze fixed on Mark. ”But I saw you together a few weeks ago. I was at the mall, having lunch, when I saw you, Mark, holding Melissa’s hand. I thought maybe I was imagining it until I saw how you leaned towards her. The way you touched her cheek.”
He paused, shaking his head in disgust. “This is not how a future brother-in-law behaves with his fiancée’s sister. I was hoping I was wrong, but something told me I wasn’t. So, when Melissa showed up today looking nervous and restless, I decided it was time to find out the truth.”
Her words were like knives, cutting through any illusion I might have been clinging to. I looked at Melissa, her face streaked with tears. “Why?” I whispered, barely able to speak. “You’re my sister. How could you?”
“Harlene, I…” she began, but her voice broke and she couldn’t finish.
Then I turned to Mark. “You didn’t just betray me. You betrayed everything we built together. How could you do that? Why?”
Mark looked away, unable to meet my eyes. “I made a mistake,” he muttered, as if that would erase the pain he had caused.
My chest tightened and tears blurred my vision. I couldn’t forgive Mark. I knew that cheating on him wasn’t just a mistake. It was a choice I could never accept.
Without saying another word, I ripped the wires from the lie detector and left, leaving behind the man I thought I knew, the sister I thought I could trust and the wedding that would never be.
Some betrayals leave scars too deep to heal, and this was one I couldn’t ignore.