Wondering how other women broke off their engagements? THERE GOES THE BRIDE shares the details of that last day. Here’s a peek:

No matter how much I tried to be nice, his ex-wife HATED me! I could never understand it. He assured me they hated each other, and told me not to worry about her because she was a witch. The couple of times we broke up briefly, they slept together. Apparently, if he wanted sex and didn't have a girlfriend, she was the easiest place to 'get some.' So I actually believed they were NOT sleeping together while WE were together.

One day while he was still at work and I was washing clothes and happily playing homemaker, his ex-wife knocked on the door and told me that she was telling me 'for my own good' that he was cheating on me. She went on to say that she knew I deserved better, and that he was a no-good loser, etc. and she was SO glad she finally got over him – she was seeing someone wonderful now, etc. etc. She said that she knew I loved her daughter and was attached, and she just wanted to spare me pain down the line, because she had been there and knew how it was with him. So I told her thanks for the concern, but that I didn't believe her, and she left.

I calmly called him at work, and said, "Are you cheating on me?" I was SURE he would die laughing or be mad at me for even asking such a ridiculous question, but I had to ask. And his answer? A quiet "Yes." I asked, "And do you love me?" He said, "Yes." I said, "And we're getting married?" He said, "Yes." I replied, "No, we're not. I'll be out before you get home."

And that was it. One minute I'm happily planning the rest of my life, the next minute it's over. As unexpected and irreparable as if someone had died.

Kelly

[We had a fight about his parents' over-involvement in our lives, he told them, and they summoned me to their house.]
His parents sat me down and told me that my attitude was unacceptable, that my family and I had no class, and that their son had decided that the wedding was off. As if their son could decide to wipe his ass by himself. I took off the ring and handed it to his father and said "Here. I wasn't marrying your son, I was marrying you." Then I walked home, crying.

Naomi

I went out for my birthday with a guy from work. He kissed me. I felt things when he kissed me that in five years I didn’t feel with my fiancé. I realized that if I could feel this way about someone else and not about him, I needed to think about that. So I waited a few days to get my head together. Then I went to his house and told him I thought it best to postpone things. He told me if we were going to postpone it, we weren’t going to get married. I said okay and handed him the ring and went home. That was it.

Susan

I knew that something was wrong when I didn’t feel the least bit happy about what was supposed to be the happiest time of my life. I would look at others and wonder how it would feel to be happy. I had a stomachache for three weeks straight, lost weight and had a bad case of insomnia. When the stuff about the wedding and shower came up, I knew that was it. What ultimately forced me to call it off was a quote I heard on a Canadian radio show. “Better to be alone than to want to be.” I was feeling that way and knew it was over. He came over later that night and I told him that I couldn’t go through with it. I was crying and very upset. It was one of the worst evenings of my life.

Laura

I finally gathered the courage to confront him regarding several issues. He denied every one of them. Even though I had dates and times when he was seen with another woman. He was late coming home and I was at his apartment waiting for him. After he kept denying the situation, I left. After a couple days we got together to patch thing up (what the hell was I thinking?) He actually confessed to me that when he did not talk to me for a couple days he went to a strip club. He even was gloating that some strippers were digging him.

I realized that it would not work. I took my engagement ring off. Looked him squarely in the eye and threw the ring at his head. Told him to go get *&$#ed and walked out. Not very ladylike but I felt much better. The best part was when I threw the ring at his head it him squarely in the forehead.

Andrea

Excerpted from THERE GOES THE BRIDE
by Rachel Safier with Wendy Roberts, LCSW
All rights reserved.