Reddit Stories - Close COMPANION recently agreed to marry, however during the CELEBRATION for their ENGAGEMENT

Episode Date: November 15, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #relationships #marriage #engagement #celebration #companionSummary: Close companion recently agreed to marry, however during the celebration for their engagement, a disagreement arose over wedding plans causing tension and uncertainty in their relationship.Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, relationships, marriage, engagement, celebration, companion, disagreement, wedding, tension, uncertainty, relationship, love, commitment, vows, family, friendsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. Close Companion recently agreed to marry, however during the celebration for their engagement I noticed a message from a different gentleman on their mobile device and when I questioned them, they confessed to engaging in a relationship with someone else. An affair, but beg me not to tell her fiancé. I, 26F, have a best friend, Kimmy, 26F, who just got engaged to Tom, 26M. Kimmy and I have been inseparable for over a decade, and I was thrilled when she and Tom announced their engagement. Tom is a great guy by all accounts, the kind who treats her like a queen.

I've gotten to know him well over the three years they've been together, and I was almost as excited about their wedding as she was. When she first started dating Tom, I genuinely thought they made a great match. He absolutely adores her. For context, Kimmy and I have been best friends since high school. Her family practically helped raise me, and my family treated her like one of our own. We were the share-one-brain-cell type of friends, inside jokes, finishing each other's sentences, total goofballs together. We went through all of life's ups and down side-by-side, we even went to senior prom together when neither of us had a boyfriend. I truly considered her a sister. That's why what happened at the engagement party has me so furious. I never would have

expected this from her. Kimmy and Tom had their engagement party last weekend. It was a classy event at a local banquet hall. I was basically the maid of honor, she hasn't officially asked, but it was a given, so I spent most of the day running around making sure things were perfect. The party itself was great at first, free champagne, cheesy speeches, dancing. I was genuinely happy for my best friend. At one point I was sitting at a table taking a breather. Kimmy had left her phone near her purse on the table while she went to mingle and dance. Her phone buzzed a couple times. Normally I wouldn't snoop, but the screen lit up and I glanced over out of reflex.

A text notification caught my eye. It was a message from someone saved as Jay. Then a photo thumbnail popped up with a message. It was a shirtless mirror selfie of a guy, face not visible, but definitely not Tom's body. The text under it said something like, Miss You Already. Can't wait until Monday. Jay, I literally did a double take. I thought I must be misunderstanding. Maybe Jay was a girlfriend joking around?

But the shirtless photo and flirty text were hard to misinterpret. I felt a rush of anger and disbelief. This was her engagement party, for God's sake, and some dude is sending her thirst traps. I grabbed Kimmy's phone and went to find her. I spotted her across the room chatting with relatives. and I practically dragged her away, muttering that we needed to talk now. Trying not to make a scene, I pulled her into the lady's bathroom down the hall, locked the door, and immediately showed her the phone.

I said, What the hell is this? Who the fuck is Jay and why is he sending you that? Kimmy went pale. Then she snatched the phone and tried to play it off. It's nothing, he's just a friend. I wasn't buying it. I said, cut the crows. crap, Kimmy. Friends don't send pictures like that. Are you cheating on Tom? She kept saying,

it's not what you think. Eventually, after a lot of back and forth, me not letting her dodge the question, Kimmy broke down sobbing and admitted it. She confessed that she's been having an affair for the past six months with a co-worker from her job, a guy named Jacqueline, Jay, obviously. I was stunned but also weirdly not. Part of me had already put two and and two together as soon as I saw those messages, but hearing her say it out loud was unreal. She kept blubbering, I love Tom, I do, I love him so much. I don't want to lose him. This thing with Jacqueline just happened, she said she never planned for it to go so far, but she and this Jacqueline guy clicked at work and it turned into an emotional affair and then

a physical one. According to her, it's been a mistake that she can't seem to end because she claims to have feelings for him too. But then she would immediately insist, but I love Tom, I swear I love Tom. I can't lose Tom. It was a lot of word vomit from her while I just stood there in absolute disbelief. I was furious and probably harsher with her than I've ever been. I told her she was being unbelievably selfish and cruel. Tom does everything for her, he practically worships the ground she walks on, and this is how she repays him. We had a hissed, heated argument in that bathroom. I asked her how she'd feel if Tom was the one cheating on her. She just cried and said, I'd die, but that's why he can never find out. She kept

begging me to promise not to tell anyone, especially not Tom. At this point, I felt sick about the whole situation. I couldn't believe I was even considering it, but this is my best friend of over a decade basically pleading for her life here, and it put me in a really shitty spot. I didn't want to be the one to destroy their relationship, but I also felt like Tom has a right to know what he's signing up for before he marries her. And I was, and still am, absolutely disgusted by her actions. I told her straight up, if you don't tell Tom about this, then I will. I'm not going to lie for you. He deserves to know the truth. Kimmy absolutely lost it at that. She went from crying to full-on panic. She grabbed my hands, begging, her nails were

digging into my skin. No, no, you can't. Not tonight, please. We just got engaged, this will ruin everything. She was literally on the bathroom floor in her cocktail dress, mascara running everywhere. It was pathetic and heartbreaking and infuriating all at once. She kept pleading, and asked for two weeks. Against my better judgment, I eventually sighed and said, fine. You have two weeks. But if you haven't ended it and told him by then, I will. I'm serious, Kimmy. I made it very clear I wasn't bluffing. The vibe was tense from the second she walked in. We sat down in my living room and I straight up asked her, did you end it with Jacqueline? Kimmy looked away and mumbled something like, I'm handling it. That was not the yes I was looking for.

I pressed her, that's not an answer. Have you told him it's over, yes or no? She got defensive, snapping that it's complicated. At this point I was done tiptoeing. I told her the two weeks were up and she hadn't done what she promised. I'd kept my mouth shut like I said I would, and she did basically nothing. Kimmy then dropped a bombshell that left me utterly floored. She admitted that, actually, she had no intention of really ending things with Jacqueline.

not entirely she had the nerve to say and i remember her words exactly because they are burned into my brain look tom is safe and i love him i do he's good for me and for my future but what jack lon and i have is different it's passionate and real in its own way marriage is just a piece of paper it doesn't have to change what jack lawn and i have i think my jaw literally hung open i was speechless for a moment I asked her, are you seriously planning to keep seeing this guy after you marry Tom? She shrugged like it was no big deal and said something like, lots of people have side pieces, they just don't talk about it. It's not like Tom will ever find out.

I can make him happy and still have my own happiness on the side. It's balanced. I was horrified. I told her that was the most messed up, selfish rationalization I'd ever heard. She actually rolled her eyes at me and said I wouldn't understand because I'm not in a relationship and I don't know what it's like to be in love with two people. Cue me nearly gagging, that conversation devolved into probably the worst fight we've ever had. I yelled at her that she was delusional if she thought this could work, and that she clearly

didn't respect Tom at all to treat him like a gullible safety net. She got mad and yelled back that I was judging her and that I had no right to dictate how she lives her life. I told her if she went through with this twisted plan. she'd basically be living a lie and dragging Tom into a fraudulent marriage. She said I was being dramatic and that it's her life. It ended with me saying something along the lines of, fine, it's your life, but Tom has a right to decide if he wants to be part of that kind of life.

And I'm going to make damn sure he knows what he's getting into. Kimmy went pale and then furious. She started crying angry tears and called me a traitor. She said I'm supposed to be her best friend and how dare I'm. choose Tom over her. I told her, you chose this path, not me. I warned you. I essentially kicked her out of my apartment after that because I couldn't even look at her. As she left, she screamed at me that if I tell him, I'm dead to her. I responded, honestly, Kimmy, you made yourself dead to me when you decided to keep screwing around behind Tom's back. So yeah, that friendship is

basically scorched earth now. I kind of mourned it right then and there. She clearly wasn't going to do the right thing. So I had to. I decided I was going to gather whatever proof I could and tell Tom everything. I didn't want this to come down to her word against mine, because given how she's been lying, I wouldn't put it past her to try and paint me as a liar or something. Unfortunately, I didn't exactly have a cache of evidence on hand, aside from my own eyewitness account of those initial texts at the party. I will look for something and gather proofs if I have to. Update 2. A few days after that blowout fight with Kimmy, I ended up having an encounter with Jacqueline that I can only describe as serendipitous or carmic. For context, Kimmy works as a nurse at a hospital.

I actually met Jacqueline very briefly once before, months ago, when I had lunch with Kimmy near her workplace and she bumped into him. Back then, she had introduced him to me as my work friend Jacqueline and I thought nothing of it. Little did I know. Anyway, I had to go to the hospital to deal with some medical paperwork for my insurance. I was walking down a corridor, and who do I almost literally run into but Jacqueline himself. He recognized me first, I think. He gave me a friendly, oh hey. You're Kimmy's friend, right? My name, isn't it? I forced a polite smile and said, yeah. Internally, I was simmering just seeing him, but I reminded myself that as far as he knew, I was just Kimmy's oblivious friend. For all I knew, he thought Kimmy and Tom had broken up or

something. I decided to play it cool and gather Intel. We made a little small talk. I said I was just there for some paperwork and asked if he was on shift. He said he'd just finished his shift and was heading out. I then asked him if he knows anything that's been going on Kimmy's life with Tom recently. He nodded, and then he sort of lowered his voice and said, off the record. I'm not really a fan of Kimmy's ex. I swear, I was like, her ex. And he goes, yeah, that Tom guy. He actually called Tom her ex-boyfriend. At this point, I was internally like, holy shit. So I probed, why don't you like Tom? And this dude sighs and says, I probably shouldn't be talking about this, but he was really controlling and possessive of her. He treated her poorly and didn't

respect her. I'm just glad she's getting out of that relationship. I had to bite my tongue from unleashing what I really thought. The sheer irony of him describing Tong, who is the sweetest, most accommodating guy, as controlling, based on what Kimmy must have told him, was mind-boggling. but I played along a bit more. I said, getting out of the relationship. What do you mean? He replied, well, she told me she's planning on breaking it off with him soon. She just wanted to wait until after the holidays to avoid drama, he chuckled and said.

She says he doesn't take breakups well, kind of an obsessive type, you know? I think that's when I realized the full extent of Kimmy's deceit. Everything clicked, she was not only betraying Tom, she was feeding Jacqueline a little, load of crap too. She was stringing both along with lies. I looked at Jacqueline and said, just to be clear here, Kimmy told you Tom is her ex. He nodded, yeah, they broke up months ago, but he still keeps tabs on her. That's why she wants to be careful, she said he's the type to make a scene. I took a deep breath and decided, screw it, this guy deserves to know the truth too. I said, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but Tom is not her ex.

He's her fiancee. They are very much together, and their wedding is being planned. They literally just had an engagement party. First he looked shocked, then he laughed like, yeah right. He thought I was joking. He said, come on, seriously. And I told him I was dead serious. I explained that I'm one of Kimmy's closest friends and I was at that engagement party.

I watched his face as the realization dawned that I wasn't kidding. He went quiet and his expression went through about five different stages of anger and confusion. But, she told me they broke up or breaking up. She said he was crazy and wouldn't accept it, he muttered. I just shook my head and said, nope. She's been with him the whole time. She's been lying to you, and lying to Tom too. To his credit, Jacqueline actually looked disgusted and genuinely upset.

Not that I have much sympathy for someone sleeping with a woman who, from my perspective, he at least knew had a boyfriend of some sort, but he clearly didn't know the full story. He cursed under his breath and said something like, I can't believe this. She told me I was the only one. And that he was basically an abusive ex. He then asked me how long I've known. I even took a short video clip of the screen as he scrolled through a particularly incriminating text thread, just to show context and that it wasn't fake.

Jacqueline was fuming by the end of it. He apologized to me, which I found a bit weird, like it's not me he needed to apologize to, but I think he was just embarrassed to have been part of this mess. He said he was going to confront Kimmy as well, but I asked him to maybe hold off until I told Tom. I didn't want her getting a heads up and trying to spin things. He understood. We parted ways with an awkward half-hug. I think both of us were just rattled.

As soon as I got to my car, I sent a text to Tom. I told him I had something extremely important to show him and asked if we could meet in person. He hasn't replied yet, but we'll update after he does. Update 3. This is the big one. I met up with Tom that day as planned. When he showed up at my door, I could tell he was worried. He probably thought maybe Kimmy or I had gotten hurt or something the way I sounded on the phone. I invited him in, we sat down, and I just blurted out. I'm so sorry to have to do this,

but I need to tell you something about Kimmy. His face immediately went pale. He said, Is she okay? Just tell me. I took a breath and said, she's been cheating on you, she's been having an affair with a guy from her work. Tom just stared at me like I was speaking another language. He kind of half-smiled like he didn't believe it. Then realized from my face that I was dead serious. He asked quietly, with who? I told him, some guy named Jack Lawn from her hospital. It's been going on for about six months. I saw his hands clench and unclench. I could see the shock turning into anger and heard in real time. He started asking a bunch of questions, how do you know? are you sure why so i showed him i had prepared in folder with the screenshots and the video i took

i wasn't about to just thrust my phone in his face one by one i opened it on my laptop and let him read everything i also explained how i found out at the engagement party and gave her a chance to come clean etc i didn't leave anything out tom was dead silent reading the messages the one where she called him safe but boring and all her crap about my ex's paranoid really hit him. His jaw was tight, and I could tell he was trying not to cry or explode or both. After going through it all, he just muttered, that lying, but he didn't even finish the sentence. He asked me if I could forward all that to him, and I immediately did. Then he thanked me. Actually, he said something like, I had a feeling. I knew something was off, and she made me feel like I was crazy for thinking

that. He looked devastated. I told him I was so sorry that I didn't want to be the one to hurt him, but I felt he needed to know. He nodded and said, you did the right thing. What happened next unfolded fast? Tom left, he said he was going to confront her right away. I asked if he wanted me there or anything. Not that I thought that would help, but I felt bad sending him into that alone, but he said no, he'd handle it. So off he went. I basically paced around my house for the next couple hours, waiting to hear what happened. Around midnight, I got a text from Tom, it's done. I called off the wedding. I'll call you tomorrow, thanks for everything. I found out the details the next day, when Tom and I talked on the phone. Apparently, Tom went home and

confronted Kimmy with the evidence immediately. He told me that as soon as he said Jacqueline's name, Kimmy's face fell and she burst into tears. She didn't even try to deny the affair at that point. Instead, she flipped the script and started screaming at him about how I was a backstabbing bitch who was trying to ruin her life. Yep, saw that coming. She accused me of being jealous of her happiness because I'm single. According to Tom, she actually said something like, she's miserable and alone, so she wants everyone else to be too. She tried to make it seem like I was the instigator here, like I had enticed poor innocent Kimmy into cheating or something.

Obviously that didn't fly because the evidence was right there from her own phone. Tom told me he just let her rant for a minute until he pulled out his phone and basically read one of her texts out loud back to her, one where she was mocking him to Jacqueline. That shut her up pretty quick. Then she switched to pleading, saying it didn't mean any. she loves him, blah, blah. Then apparently pleading turned into defiance. She got angry that Tom had gone through her messages, really? And then started blaming him, saying if he hadn't been

so distant and busy at work lately, she wouldn't have looked elsewhere. Classic deflection. Tom said at that point he realized there was no hope of salvaging anything, not that he wanted to after seeing her true colors. He told her the wedding was off, and that he wants her out of the apartment. They rent a place together. She kind of went hysterical at that, alternating between begging and yelling. He ended up leaving the apartment to go stay at his brother's place that night because he couldn't stand to be under the same roof. By the time we were talking, which was the next day, he had already contacted their families to inform them the engagement was often generally why, I don't know how detailed he got with them. But I'm sure Kimmy

spun her own story. A few close friends knew by then too. Shit hit the fan, to put it mildly. As for Kimmy? Well, she didn't stay silent either. I got a lovely text from her about a day after the confrontation. It was basically a lot of swearing in all caps. Gems included. Calling me Judas, a pathetic lonely witch, and saying I hope you're happy, you just blew up my entire life.

Enjoy being bridesmaid at my non-existent wedding, bitch. But he told me there were times Kimmy. would come home late or be oddly protective of her phone. Whenever he gently questioned it, she'd blow up at him and call him paranoid, making him apologize for even questioning her. She called him paranoid so many times that he actually started apologizing to her, thinking he was just being insecure. That is some grade A gaslighting. On a slightly positive note, guess who else reached out to Tom? Jack Lawn. He apparently found Tom's contact, maybe through a coworker, and sent him a text apologizing.

Jack Lon told Tom he truly didn't know Kimmy was still in a relationship, let alone engaged, and that he would never have gotten involved if he had known. Tom showed me the text. It was actually pretty sincere. He even said he was willing to talk or answer any questions if it would help, and that he felt disgusted having unknowingly played a part in deceiving Tom. Tom hasn't decided if he'll respond or meet him, and I don't think he needs to if he doesn't want to.

to, but I think it gave him some closure to know the other guy was also deceived. It's weird, but I'm actually kind of glad Jack Lawn turned out not to be a complete jerk in this. One less loose end of drama. Where things stand now, the wedding is obviously off. Deposits on venues and vendors are probably lost. I have no idea and frankly that's not my problem, though I feel bad for Tom's side of the family who might have put money down. Kimmy moved out of the apartment they shared because it was actually Tom's name on the lease. She's staying with her sister, I heard. I suspect she'll try to spin this story to mutual friends in a way that saves face, but the raw facts are hard to argue with.

I haven't gone broadcasting details to anyone except those who needed to know, but word spread anyway. A couple of our mutual friends reached out to me and I told them the truth because I'm not covering for her.