The Night Before The Wedding

"What do you mean he threw you out the night before your wedding?"

"He threw me out of the house. It was around 8:00 pm, about 15 hours before we were due to get married."

"But why would he throw you out of the house?"

"You're not going to believe me when I tell you the reason why. You are going to think I am making this up because the reason is so bizarre and surreal."

"Huh? He must have a legitimate reason for throwing you out. You don't just throw someone out for no reason!"

"Apparently, you don't have to have a legitimate reason. He threw me out because of his car. There is no other reason."

"His car?"

"Yes, his Audi. Ughhh...it's a long and complicated story, and I'm not even sure where to start."

"Well, we have a bottle of wine to finish, and we aren't going anywhere tonight, so start talking. Fill me in on everything that happened."

"When Constantine and I got engaged earlier this year, we didn't need two cars, and parking spaces were limited in our neighbourhood. Due to my height, I struggled with getting in and out of his Audi because it's a coupe. At the same time, my ex-husband had approached me to let me know that our daughter's car had broken down and required repairs, and they weren't sure how she would get to and from work, or how long it would take to repair her car. Constantine suggested we let my daughter borrow the Audi indefinitely, until her car was repaired. We were expecting 3-5 months, most likely."

"What does this have to do with him throwing you out?"

"Patience. I told you it was complicated. I'm getting there. You have to understand, my daughter lives 2000 kilometres away, so we had to arrange for her father to come and collect the car on his days off work, and drive back to his hometown. As I said, we only needed one car, and mine was more practical, being a Jeep, and everyone was happy with this decision. Until he wasn't."

"Are you telling me he changed his mind about the car and that's why he threw you out?"

"Long story short, yes. But there's more to the reason why. Let me keep telling the story. In the lead-up to our wedding, we had decided to take a few weeks off and go away for some downtime. We booked into an Airbnb in a small country town. It was so quiet and peaceful, and we met so many lovely locals. One of those locals was a young woman named Jess. I was sitting in our courtyard when I noticed this big red parrot squawking in a nearby tree. I went outside to see what all the commotion was about, and that's how I met Jess. She was trying to get Ruby, her parrot, to come back down out of the tree. Jess and I started chatting, so I invited her inside, and she told us an incredible story about her boyfriend and Nepal. Her partner of ten years was stuck in Nepal due to some visa issues, and he was pushing for her to join him as he had found her a job in a Nepalese school, teaching English to the students. This is the point where things took a turn for the worse. Constantine asked more questions, becoming convinced that Jess was being trafficked and that the school was also a front for human trafficking."

"Are you freaking serious?"

"Yes. I told you you wouldn't believe me. It's a crazy story, but it gets even better. Jess's partner sent his friends around to her place to destroy her car because she refused to join him in Nepal. And guess what sort of car it was - an Audi. Can you see where this is going? Constantine decided then and there that Jess should have his Audi. I tried reasoning with him, but he refused to listen. He wanted his Audi returned, and he wanted it then and there, no excuses, no exceptions."

"Hold on, your daughter lives 2000 kilometres away. It's not like she lives just down the road and can drop it off."

"Hmm, hmm. You're starting to see the picture now, aren't you?"

"That's insane. How does he think someone can just return a car like that when they live so far away?"

"That was my question, too. I asked him several times to be more reasonable, and all it got me was threats, insults and screaming. If I didn't get his car returned immediately, he was going to get one of his thug friends to go and collect the car in person and drive it back. I tried for several days to change his mind. But once we got back home, he wouldn't relent. I was walking downstairs the night before our wedding to get my car keys. I was heading to a friend's place to pick up our two dogs as she was dog-sitting for us. I was on the phone with my daughter, asking when she or her father would be able to get 3 days off work to drive the car back. Constantine heard me, and he started screaming at me that I was being selfish, undermining him, and that the car was to be returned immediately. He grabbed my arm, forced me to the front door and shoved me out, locking the door behind me."

"Are you for real? You've got to be kidding me!"

"Nope, I'm definitely not kidding you. I wish I were. He told me that I was to get out of his house and never return. He refused to unlock the door. He threw me out of our home with no finances, nowhere to sleep, and nothing but the clothes on my back. I was in absolute shock, and probably not in any state to drive, but I managed to get to my friend's place and collect the dogs. I had no choice but to return home as I had nowhere safe to keep them. Constantine had to unlock the door to let the dogs in, so I pushed my way in and grabbed as many of my belongings as I could hold in my arms. There was no apology from him, nothing. Just coldness and indifference. This coming from the man who claimed to have loved me for 35 years."

"What do you mean, 35 years? You only moved in with him this year."

"Moved in with him? Yes. But I've known him since I was 18. I met him on Saturday, 5th August, 1989. It was the night of his father's 50th birthday. Constantine and his friends had gone into town to celebrate and ended up at the same nightclub that I frequented back then. It was one of his friends who caught my eye, and I made my move. One thing led to another, and we ended up dating for a short time. My girlfriend liked Constantine, so she made her move on him. That didn't last long either. But Constantine and I remained close friends for the next 12 years, often attending concerts, parties, nightclubs, or going out for coffee, lunch or dinner when the opportunity arose. But it was always platonic. He was always the perfect gentleman, and we were nothing more than friends. Then I turned 30 and got married. We remained close friends, but we both drifted off and lived our own lives, catching up occasionally online or by text."

"I'm confused. What changed?"

"Life changed. Constantine reached out to me approximately 10 years ago to ask if I was single and admitted that he had feelings for me. To say that I was shocked was a complete understatement. I was definitely taken by surprise. However, I declined his offer as I had met someone about six weeks earlier, and I wanted to see where that relationship might lead. Then he reached out again, just over a year ago, and I was in a really dark place. My relationship was failing, and I was miserable. He suggested I fly up and stay with him for a week or two as an opportunity to clear my head. This time I accepted the offer. We stayed up late, catching up and talking about our lives and relationships. He told me he had feelings for me from the first night we met and that he had always wanted to ask me out, but his other friends had beaten him to it. I was an idiot and let my guard down; one thing led to another, and here we are. I'm homeless, jobless, I've lost all my possessions, all my pets, and all my tools of trade because of a man who has supposedly loved me for 35 years. Does any of this make sense to you? Because I definitely can't make sense of it. Looking back, meeting him was the biggest mistake of my life, only I didn't know it at the time."

"Hold on, why would a man who has loved you for 35 years, throw you out the night before he was to marry you? That makes absolutely no logical sense."

"Oh, I know that. But that's an easy question to answer. Back in September 2023, he was medically diagnosed by a psychologist and psychiatrist as having NPD. Do you know what NPD is?"

"No, I don't. What is NPD?"

"It's Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Yes, he's a fully-fledged narcissist. But not only is he a narcissist, but he also has bipolar disorder, autism, ADHD and Schizophrenia. He told me about all these other disorders and mental afflictions; I was aware of each, but he forgot, obviously on purpose, to inform me of his narcissism diagnosis. That little nugget of information would have changed everything for me, and I wouldn't be sitting here now, shattered, broken and destroyed."

"Holy crap. That's an insane story."

"Yes, holy crap, it is indeed. But do you want to know what the craziest bit is? It's all true. Every word."

"What are you going to do now?"

"What I do best. Serve up a cold dish of revenge. I'm going to remove his mask and show the world what a truly evil and despicable human being he has become. I'm going to show the world his true colours."

And how do you plan on doing that?

"Easy. There's a simple solution. Write this story for the world to read. After all, a pen is mightier than a sword."

"Ouch. That's going to hurt."

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