Sure, I’ve added around 20% more to your text, building out the scenes and emotions for added depth. Here’s the extended version:
One week before her wedding, Amanda comes home early, only to find her fiancé kneeling before her mother, sobbing. What she overhears shatters everything. Lies, betrayal, and a secret that could have ruined her life. Now, she must decide: forgive the man she loves or destroy the con artist who almost turned her life upside down.
Have you ever had one of those moments where the ground drops out from under you? Where everything you thought was solid, everything you trusted... just disappears?
Yeah, that was me. One week before my wedding.
That morning, my life still made sense. I woke up next to Patrick, kissed him on the cheek, and started my usual whirlwind of wedding planning before rushing off to work.
I had to sort out the flowers, finally deciding between roses and tulips, and whether we wanted to add the extra tier on the cake.
"But you know how much I love peanut butter frosting, babe!" Patrick had whined. "I need the vanilla cake with the peanut butter frosting!"
He whined enough that I was actually thinking about adding that tier so that he would let it go. I just wanted my good old chocolate cake.
Patrick had always been the charming, dependable one. The guy who held my hand through my father's passing. The guy who made me grilled cheese sandwiches at 2 in the morning when my neck was stiff and I was drowning in work.
He was the man that I had spent the last three years building a life with.
So when I got a sudden wave of dizziness and nausea that afternoon (wedding nerves, probably), the last thing I expected was to come home early and walk straight into the beginning of my world ending.
The house was quiet when I entered through the side door. It wasn't unusual because Patrick often worked from home, holed up in the study with his headphones.
But then I heard it.
A distinct sobbing.
I froze. My heart thudded in my ears.
Then, my mother's voice. Cold. Controlled.
"Okay, I won't," she said. "But only under one condition."
A choked sound followed. A voice thick with tears.
Patrick's voice.
"Please, Diane," he said. "Don't do this to me... Please..."
What the hell? I thought.
My stomach twisted uncomfortably. I was used to my mother being around, especially when I was at work. And more so now that we were in the thick of wedding planning. But it was hearing my fiancé's voice, so... broken, that threw me for a loop.
I crept forward, each step slow and silent. My pulse hammered against my ribs as I peered around the corner. I needed to stay hidden for a moment, I wanted to see what was going on before I walked into it.
And then the shock hit me.
Patrick was on his knees. Begging.
Actually begging!
Tears streamed down his face, his hands clasped together like he was praying.
No, seriously, what the hell? I thought again.
And there was my mother, looming before him, her arms crossed and her expression unreadable.
Something about the scene made me feel sick, and my skin turned ice cold.
"Do what?" I demanded.
Both of them snapped their heads toward me. It would have actually been amusing if I didn't feel like my entire life was about to change.
Patrick's face drained of color. My mother's expression didn't change at all.
Then, she said something that made my hair stand up.
"He's begging because I told him that I'd tell you everything. He thinks that his pleading and begging will prevent me from telling you the truth, Amanda."
I blinked back the shock and confusion.
What had she just said?
"Tell me what?" I asked simply. There was no time for niceties. I needed to know what was going on.
Patrick got to his feet and grabbed my hands, his grip strong and desperate.
"Amanda, please, babe, just let me explain."
Explain what?
I yanked my hands away from him. I didn't know if it was his red eyes or the fact that he looked like a slobbering mess, but something had switched off inside me.
"Your fiancé has been lying to you, Amanda," my mother said, not even trying to hesitate.
The air suddenly felt too thick to breathe.
"Lying? About what?" I asked. My voice barely sounded like my own.
"About who he really is," my mother said.
Patrick turned to me, shaking his head furiously.
"No, no! That's not... She's twisting it! Stop it, Diane!"
"Shut up!" My voice was sharper than it had ever been. It was cutting. And I saw the effect it had on Patrick.
He looked wounded and betrayed.
But why? He was the one keeping secrets.
"Mom, tell me what you know," I said, collapsing onto an armchair.
"He was engaged before, Amanda. And he did something so horrible to her. Something that he confessed he was going to do to you!"
My stomach twisted even more.
"No, Diane! Amanda, it's not like that!" Patrick shouted.
"He left her at the altar, darling. He ran off the morning of their wedding with every dollar she had saved for their future, including their down payment for the house they were going to move into. How sickening. Despicable."
I gripped the armchair tightly to steady myself. I felt like I was going to be violently ill. The dizziness from earlier had caught up with me, and I was feeling faint.
"Is that true?" I whispered.
Patrick's mouth opened. Closed. Opened again. And then he sighed.
His silence was my answer. And suddenly, the last three years snapped into focus.
I thought back to the moments, the tiny, seemingly insignificant things. The things that I had simply brushed off without a second thought.
But now, it seemed like every single one of Patrick's actions could be called into question.
I forced myself to look at him while taking deep breaths to curb the nausea.
"You scammed her? You scammed a woman that you claimed to love? Did you help plan an entire wedding just to steal her money?"
Tears streaked down Patrick's face, but instead of making me feel sympathetic, he just looked like a loser.
"Amanda, I panicked. I was young! I was stupid and reckless, and I thought that a meaningful life meant having a lot of money."
My mother cut him off with a wave of her hand.
"And guess who tracked him down? Noelle."
Oh God, what now? I thought.
She reached into her handbag on the coffee table and pulled out a letter.
"Patrick's ex-fiancée contacted me three months ago," she said. "She thought that the truth rather come from me than a stranger on the internet. She found me on Facebook. This is a copy of our conversation."
My hands trembled. My world had already shattered. But now, I had to decide what to do with the pieces.
I didn’t want to read it. I didn’t want to see anything that would confirm the truth of what I already suspected. But my mother wasn’t letting me walk away from this without knowing every last detail.
My eyes reluctantly scanned the letter. Noelle had written about how she’d trusted Patrick, had given him everything: love, money, a future together. And then, just like that, it was gone. The betrayal was so blatant, so cold, it felt like a slap in the face.
As I read, I could feel something inside me begin to harden. The person I thought I knew was slowly morphing into someone else entirely. A stranger. A thief.
How could I have been so blind?
I looked at Patrick, and all I saw was the man who had used me. Used my love. My trust. The man who had come into my life like a hero only to turn into a villain.
"You've been lying to me this entire time," I said, my voice dangerously low, steadying itself despite the chaos inside.
Patrick’s shoulders slumped. The weight of everything seemed to finally hit him.
"I’m sorry," he whispered. "I’m sorry for everything."
But the words felt empty now. Too late. The damage was done.
And in that moment, I knew that my life would never be the same again.
Now, the choice was mine. Forgiveness? Or justice? Could I still look at him and see the man I loved—or was he a man who had simply worn a mask too well?
I felt no rush to answer. The truth was far too painful.
But I would find my answer soon. Because what I did next would change everything.
I hope this version meets your needs! If you want to adjust any part of it or need more added, just let me know.
