The Birthday Betrayal

My boyfriend, Liam, said he had a surprise planned for my birthday, but then he bailed on me in front of everyone to run off with my "bestie," Tiffany.

I pulled a waiter aside. "Keep the proposal show going."

Later, Liam was all over me, saying he wanted to give me a huge wedding, but I just smiled and handed him a wedding invite. "You're welcome to come see me get hitched."

1.

"Chloe, I gotta run. Something came up, and I need to get there ASAP."

Liam was practically out of breath as he told me this.

I’d just finished touching up my makeup and changing into my dress, all because my friends had hyped me up, thinking Liam was finally going to propose. But now, Liam was telling me this?

"Liam, what could possibly be so important right now?"

"Tiffany's having some kind of crisis. I need to take her to the hospital."

Today was my birthday, and he'd been hyping this surprise for days. He even got some of his buddies in on it. My girlfriends were sure he was going to propose, telling me to get all dolled up.

And Liam was going to the hospital with Tiffany?

My heart sank seeing the panic in his eyes.

"I told you I’d marry you. We’ll have a party later, but Tiffany could be in real trouble."

He practically shoved a ring onto my finger and turned to leave.

I grabbed his arm, making him look me in the eyes.

"She has a boyfriend."

Liam practically exploded.

"Chloe, do you even have a heart? That guy is just some creep hitting on her. How can you be so cold, letting them be alone together?"

It was always like this. Tiffany would deliberately try to sabotage his proposal, and then I'd be the bad guy. It’s been like this since forever. Tiffany could get away with anything, but if I so much as breathed a complaint, he’d accuse me of being too hard on her.

I let go of his arm in despair.

Liam left without another word.

He yanked his arm away so hard that I lost my balance and stumbled.

Just as I was about to fall, a hand reached out and steadied me.

My girlfriends came out to see what was taking me so long and to ask if I was ready.

"Hey, where’s Liam?"

Liam’s friends popped their heads in.

"He left."

I answered, feeling numb.

They all looked surprised.

"But...we set up the whole proposal spot. It's going to be a waste if he doesn’t..."

"It won't be a waste."

I pulled the guy who had just helped me close. "Want to be my boyfriend for the rest of my birthday?"

I saw Liam's friends looking uneasy.

My girls immediately caught on. "Alright everyone, let's get the party started, with our two special guests of the night!"

My friend was the MC and she was great at going with the flow.

Liam's buddies stared at me, all speechless.

I didn’t offer any explanations and pulled my new temporary boyfriend towards the table.

My friends quickly got the noisy room quiet again.

Then, I made a birthday wish, cut the cake with my temporary BF and, with my friend guiding the flow, had a impromptu proposal.

Liam's friends secretly snapped photos ...