When a strange woman grabbed my hand and warned me not to go through with my wedding, I brushed it off. But when I found out she was a paid actress, I had to know: who would go to such lengths to stop me from marrying the man I loved?
I was never the superstitious type. I’m Penelope, just your average woman juggling work, wedding plans, and spending time with my best friend, Esther. Life had been a blur of excitement lately. Cameron, my fiancé, was everything I could ever ask for — thoughtful, funny, and supportive.
A grayscale photo of a loving couple | Source: Pexels
Our wedding was just a couple of months away, and Esther, as usual, was by my side through all the chaos, helping me pick out flower arrangements, dresses, and everything in between.
It was a normal Saturday afternoon when the strange encounter happened. Esther and I had just left our favorite boutique, where we’d spent hours browsing through racks of dresses and debating which honeymoon destinations were overrated.
She was still trying to convince me that Fiji wasn’t all it was cracked up to be as we strolled through the supermarket, picking up a few groceries for the week.
A shopping cart in a grocery store aisle | Source: Unsplash
We were halfway down the cereal aisle when I felt someone standing a little too close behind me.
Turning around, I was face-to-face with an old woman: her dark hair messy, her piercing eyes locked onto mine. Before I could react, she grabbed my hand, her grip firm, almost desperate.
“I feel four scars,” she said, her voice low and gravelly. “All on your legs. An animal… a wolf?”
An old woman with dark messy hair and piercing eyes is standing in a grocery store | Source: Midjourney
I froze, my heart nearly stopping. My legs — she was right. I had those scars, deep and jagged from when a wolf attacked me on a family camping trip when I was five. I hadn’t told many people about that. How could she possibly know?
Esther, who had been distracted by a message on her phone, turned just in time to see the woman holding my hand. “Hey! Let go of her!” she snapped, stepping closer, ready to intervene.
A woman looking angrily at someone while standing in a grocery store | Source: Midjourney
But the woman didn’t seem to notice. Her eyes stayed locked on mine. “I see your upcoming wedding,” she murmured, her grip tightening. “Don’t do it. Trouble awaits you.”
My breath caught in my throat. I felt like I was rooted to the spot, unable to move. How did she know about my wedding? What kind of “trouble” was she talking about?
A woman looks surprised and worried while standing in a grocery store | Source: Midjourney
Before I could ask her any of these questions, Esther pulled my hand free from the woman’s grip with one sharp tug. “Are you out of your mind?” Esther hissed at the woman. “Get lost, witch!”
The woman blinked, as if waking from a trance, then slinked away without another word. I stared after her, my heart still pounding.
“Penelope, are you okay?” Esther asked, her voice softening now that the stranger was gone. “She was probably just some crazy lady. Don’t let it get to you.”
A woman looks concerned while standing in a grocery store | Source: Midjourney
I tried to laugh it off. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” I said, though deep down, I wasn’t so sure. For the next two weeks, her words haunted me. “Don’t do it. Trouble awaits you.” They replayed in my mind like a broken record, and no matter how many times I told myself it was nonsense, I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.
A woman looks worried and thoughtful | Source: Midjourney
Then yesterday, while having lunch with my mom at a small café, I saw her again — at least, I thought I did. Across the street, a woman was hurrying into a shop, but this time, her hair was blonde, her eyes light. She looked completely different, but there was something about her, something familiar.
Without thinking, I jumped up from my chair and rushed outside. “Hey! You!” I called, catching up to her just as she was about to enter the shop.
A woman with blonde hair standing in a flower shop | Source: Midjourney
The woman turned, startled. “Let me go!” she shrieked as I grabbed her wrist.
“Who are you?” I demanded, tightening my grip.
“I… I’m an actress,” she stammered. “I was paid to scare you into canceling your wedding.”
My heart dropped. “Paid? By who?”
She hesitated, then reluctantly pulled out her phone. My blood ran cold when she showed me the photo on her screen.
I could barely feel my legs as I stared at the picture on her phone screen.
An extremely shocked woman staring at a phone screen | Source: Midjourney
It was Cameron. The man I was supposed to marry in a few months. The man I trusted, loved, and thought I would spend my life with.
“He… he paid you?” My voice cracked as I asked, still trying to process the betrayal.
The actress shifted nervously, glancing around as if afraid someone might see us. “Look, I don’t want any trouble. I was just doing my job. Please let me go.”
I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. “Why? Why did he do this?”
An angry and upset woman | Source: Midjourney
“I don’t know,” she admitted, rubbing her wrist where I had grabbed her. “He just said he couldn’t go through with the wedding, but didn’t know how to tell you.”
I felt a burning rage rise in me, but it wasn’t the fiery kind that made me want to scream. No, this was cold. Ice cold. He couldn’t call off the wedding himself, so he hired someone to manipulate me into doing it? The sheer cowardice was almost laughable. Almost.
A closeup of a man paying money to a woman | Source: Pexels
I exhaled slowly, forcing a calm that I didn’t feel. “Thank you for being honest,” I muttered, turning away from her. I didn’t wait for a response. My feet carried me down the street in a daze. My mind raced, thoughts of Cameron, the wedding, everything spinning out of control.
By the time I got home, I had already made up my mind. Two could play this game.
That evening, I set the table for dinner as if nothing had happened. I cooked his favorite — roasted chicken with rosemary potatoes — and made sure everything looked perfect.
A photo showing roasted chicken served with rosemary potatoes for dinner | Source: Midjourney
The scent filled the apartment, warm and comforting, masking the cold storm brewing inside me.
When Cameron walked in, his usual cheerful demeanor seemed a bit off. Maybe it was guilt gnawing at him. Good. He deserved it.
“Hey, babe!” he greeted me with a kiss on the cheek, oblivious to what was coming. “Something smells great.”
“Just your favorite,” I replied, forcing a smile as I placed the plates on the table. “I thought we could have a nice night in.”
A woman forces a smile while looking at someone | Source: Midjourney
He sat down, and for a moment, we ate in silence. I waited, watching him between bites, waiting for the perfect moment. My heart raced, but outwardly, I stayed calm. When the time felt right, I casually began the conversation I had been planning all day.
“So,” I started, my tone light and easy, “you won’t believe what happened to me today.”
He looked up, raising an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? What happened?”
A man looks surprised while sitting at the dinner table | Source: Midjourney
“I was at the supermarket with Esther,” I said, setting my fork down and meeting his gaze. “And this woman just came up to me, grabbed my hand out of nowhere.”
Cameron froze, his fork hovering mid-air. “What?” he asked, trying to sound casual but failing miserably. “What did she want?”
I shrugged, pretending it was no big deal. “Oh, she started talking about these scars I have on my legs. It was weird — she knew about them, even though I’ve never met her in my life.”
A closeup of a person’s body with a scar | Source: Pexels
His eyes widened slightly. “That’s strange,” he said, his voice a little too tight. “What else did she say?”
“Oh, you know,” I continued, keeping my voice light, “she mentioned our wedding. Said some interesting things about it.”
Cameron’s grip tightened on his fork. “Really? What… what exactly did she say?”
I smiled sweetly, watching him squirm. “She said you’d be a super successful man and that we’d have a very happy marriage.”
That’s when he choked. Right on cue.
A stunned man sitting at the dinner table | Source: Midjourney
He coughed, gasping for breath as I sat back, watching with an almost detached amusement. His face turned pale, his eyes wide with panic as he tried to recover.
“Sweetie, are you okay?” I asked, doing my best to sound concerned, though inside, I was relishing every second of his discomfort.
“Y-yeah,” he sputtered, wiping his mouth. “Just… unexpected.”
I leaned in slightly, dropping the playful tone. “Unexpected? What’s unexpected, Cam? The part about us having a happy marriage? Or the fact that you’re such a coward, you couldn’t even break off the engagement yourself?”
An angry and upset woman at the dinner table | Source: Midjourney
His face went white as a sheet. “W-what? What are you talking about, Pen?”
I didn’t let him off the hook. “I ran into your actress today. The one you hired to freak me out and get rid of me!”
For a moment, Cameron just sat there, stunned, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. He had no words: no explanation, no excuses. He was caught, and we both knew it.
“How… how did you—” he stammered, but I cut him off.
An extremely shocked man | Source: Midjourney
“Don’t you dare deny it! I know everything” I kept my voice low and steady. “You really thought I wouldn’t figure it out, huh?”
His hands trembled slightly as he set his fork down, staring at the table. “Pen, I—”
“Don’t,” I interrupted, standing up slowly. “Don’t even try to explain. I’m done being fooled by you.”
He finally looked up at me, his face a blend of guilt and desperation. “I didn’t know how to tell you, Pen. I thought it would be easier this way.”
A man looks guilty and desperate | Source: Midjourney
I laughed — actually laughed at the absurdity of it. “Easier? You thought hiring some stranger to spout nonsense about our wedding would be easier than just talking to me? We’ve been together for years, Cam! And this is how you handle it?”
He didn’t respond. He couldn’t.
I leaned in close, just enough to see the shame in his eyes. “I guess I’ll be the one to call off the wedding then,” I whispered.
A woman looking at someone at the dinner table | Source: Midjourney
With that, I turned and walked out of the apartment, leaving him sitting there, stunned and speechless. As I closed the door behind me, the weight that had been crushing me for weeks finally lifted. The future I had envisioned with Cameron crumbled, but in its place, a new path opened — one where I no longer had to pretend.
Game over, Cameron. Game over.
A smiling woman | Source: Midjourney
Did you find this story exciting? Wait till you read this next one: I was just moments away from saying ‘I do’ when the church doors burst open, and my father shrieked that the WEDDING WAS OFF. What he said next shattered my heart in the blink of an eye.
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
I Offered a Homeless Man a Job out of Desperation — the Next Morning, I Was Shocked by What He Had Done to My Office
Facing the collapse of his career and his family’s business, Jason made a desperate decision: he hired a homeless man to pose as a consultant for one crucial meeting. Little did he know, that unlikely move would turn out to be the key to saving everything he had worked for.
I was out of time. The words my father had said to me last night played over and over in my head like a broken record: “Fix this or you’re out.” Simple. Cold. Final.
A serious man | Source: Pexels
Our company wasn’t just any company. It was the family business. My grandfather started it, my dad built it up, and now I was supposed to keep it going. “Supposed to,” being the key phrase.
I could still picture his face, hard as stone. He was the boss, not just of the company, but of the family. And when he made a decision, it was done. No arguments. No excuses.
A sad man | Source: Pexels
I glanced at my watch. Twenty-four hours. That’s all I had left to fill the specialist position or I was done. Gone. Finished.
The problem was, no one wanted the job. It wasn’t easy. I needed a real genius, someone who knew the ins and outs of the system we were developing.
A young man deep in thought | Source: Pexels
The contract was bigger than anything our company had ever handled. If we messed it up, the whole business could go under. And right now, it looked like that was exactly what was going to happen.
I had spent six months searching for the right person. Every interview was a disaster. Too inexperienced, not skilled enough, or just plain wrong for the job. And now, the clock was ticking.
A man holding a job interview | Source: Pexels
I left the office and walked down the street, my head pounding. I needed to think, to come up with some sort of solution, anything that could save me. But all I could feel was the pressure. The weight of the clock ticking down on my shoulders. The fear of disappointing my father.
I found myself wandering into a small coffee shop. The place was warm, the smell of freshly brewed coffee filling the air. But even the comfort of the shop did nothing to calm the storm in my mind. I was out of ideas. I was out of time.
A small coffee shop | Source: Pexels
As I left the shop, I noticed a man sitting on the curb. He was bundled up in a ragged coat, his hair messy, his eyes dull. He was homeless, no doubt. He sat there, staring down at the sidewalk like it held all the answers to life’s biggest questions.
I don’t know why I stopped. Maybe it was the desperation. Maybe it was the sheer insanity of the situation. But I stood there, looking at this man, and a crazy thought popped into my head.
A homeless man | Source: Pexels
What if?
Without thinking, I walked over to him. “Hey,” I said.
He looked up, squinting at me like I was speaking a foreign language. “Yeah?”
“I know this sounds nuts, but…how’d you like a job? Just for a day.”
He blinked, his face expressionless. “What’s the catch?”
A cardboard sign | Source: Pexels
“No catch. I need someone to sit in on a meeting. Pretend you’re a consultant. I’ll pay you. No strings attached.”
For a long second, he just stared at me. Then, to my surprise, he smirked. “You serious?”
I nodded. “Completely.”
He scratched his chin, his eyes narrowing. “And all I gotta do is sit in a meeting?”
A man looking away | Source: Pexels
“That’s it.”
He let out a short laugh. “Alright. What do I wear?”
The next morning, I walked into the office, expecting chaos. Maybe Michael wouldn’t show up. Maybe everything would fall apart. But as soon as I stepped inside, I froze.
A shocked young man | Source: Pexels
The office wasn’t the same. Music played softly in the background, and there was a table full of coffee and pastries. People were laughing, talking, smiling—something I hadn’t seen in months. The tension that had hung over the team was gone, replaced by an almost celebratory atmosphere.
And there, right in the middle of it all, was Michael.
A confident middle-aged man | Source: Freepik
He was cleaned up—hair trimmed, face freshly shaved, wearing a sharp suit that I had no idea where he got. He was talking with some of my staff like he’d known them for years, leaning in, listening, making them laugh. For a second, I had to remind myself who he really was. Just yesterday, he had been sitting on a sidewalk, bundled in a ragged coat.
I felt a pit in my stomach. This was going to blow up in my face. My dad was going to walk in any minute, and he’d see right through the act. Then, I’d be out—no more chances.
A scared young man | Source: Pexels
The meeting started, and I sat down, ready to coast through the day. Michael was supposed to nod and smile, not say a word. That was the plan.
But as soon as we began discussing the contract, Michael stood up.
“Alright, folks, let’s get serious,” he said, walking over to the whiteboard. He picked up a marker and started sketching out diagrams, arrows, and workflow strategies faster than I could process.
A smiling man | Source: Freepik
At first, I thought he was bluffing, just drawing random nonsense. But then I looked closer. Everything he was putting out there was exactly what we’d been struggling with for months. He broke down the system, piece by piece, offering solutions that no one else had even thought of.
The room was dead silent. My father, who had joined the meeting without a word, crossed his arms and watched Michael closely. I braced myself, expecting the worst.
A man giving a presentation | Source: Pexels
Michael finished, turning to the room with a grin. “Any questions?”
I glanced around. My team was wide-eyed. My father raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Finally, one of our top engineers spoke up.
“How did you… how did you figure that out? We’ve been stuck on that problem for weeks.”
A man talking during a meeting | Source: Pexels
Michael shrugged. “It’s just about looking at things differently. You’ve got good people, good systems. You just needed a little tweak.”
I sat there in stunned silence. How was this even possible? Who was this guy?
My father leaned forward, his eyes never leaving Michael. “Well, Jason,” he said, his voice calm. “It looks like you found your solution after all.”
A man in his office | Source: Pexels
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I had spent months trying to fix this, and now a homeless man—someone I’d picked up off the street out of sheer desperation—had just solved everything in one morning.
After the meeting, I pulled Michael aside, away from the others. “Okay, who are you, really?” I asked, my voice low but firm. “You’re not just some random guy off the street.”
Two men talking | Source: Freepik
Michael looked at me, his eyes suddenly tired. “No, I’m not,” he said, leaning against the wall. “I used to run a business. A good one. But things went bad. My ex-wife… she set me up, destroyed my reputation, took everything. Once you’re labeled a failure, people don’t care to hear your side of the story. I lost the company. Lost everything.”
I stared at him, speechless. He continued, “It wasn’t long before I had nowhere to go. No one wanted to hire me, and the few people who might’ve helped were long gone. I ended up on the streets. Been there for a while now.”
A thoughtful man | Source: Pexels
My mind was racing. How could someone like him, with all this knowledge and experience, end up living like that?
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, still trying to wrap my head around it.
He chuckled softly. “Would you have believed me?”
A chuckling man | Source: Pexels
I didn’t know what to say. Part of me felt guilty for assuming the worst. But another part of me was in awe. This man, who had lost everything, was still brilliant. And in the end, he had saved me. Saved my job. Saved the company.
Just then, my father approached. He didn’t look angry, but there was something in his eyes I hadn’t seen before. “Michael,” he said, his tone thoughtful, “how would you like a permanent position with us? You’ve clearly got the skills we need.”
A smiling middle-aged man with his arms crossed | Source: Freepik
Michael looked at me, then back at my dad. A small smile tugged at his lips. “I think I’d like that,” he said quietly.
I didn’t know how to feel. Relief? Gratefulness? A part of me was even a little jealous. Here was a man who had walked in out of nowhere, and within a day, he’d earned my father’s respect—the thing I had been fighting for my whole life.
Two people shaking hands | Source: Unsplash
But as I stood there, watching Michael and my father shake hands, I realized something. This wasn’t just about me. Michael deserved this chance, maybe more than anyone else.
He had been knocked down, but he hadn’t given up. And maybe, just maybe, that’s what real leadership was about.
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