Bride Loses Fiancé on Wedding Day — Years Later, She Learns the Heartbreaking Truth about Him

A bride was ready to start a new chapter of her life with the man of her dreams, but that wasn't meant to be. Little did she know that she dodged a bullet when their wedding failed. She later found out that she wasn't the only woman in his life.

When one woman woke up on the morning of her wedding day, she didn't expect to hear bad news. She also didn't know that she'd be mourning someone who wasn't worth it. Read on to hear this New Yorker's grueling tale.

Kaitlin Palmieri met Eric on a dating app in February 2018, while she was living in Astoria, Queens, and him in Manhattan. He proposed marriage in December 2019, and Palmieri said yes. In a June 23, 2024, interview, she revealed that Eric was fun and charismatic.

According to Kaitlin, what she loved most about him was that he made everyone feel "super comfortable." Eric had a loud and funny laugh, and Kaitlin admitted to having been attracted to her fiancé's sense of humor and confidence.

Soon enough, the then 35-year-old bride and her 33-year-old groom had set their wedding date. Yet, what was supposed to be a glorious and special day turned into a nightmare.

On the night before their wedding day, the couple had a fantastic rehearsal dinner. The bride-to-be recalled how happy everyone was, describing them as having been "in a great state of mind." The memories were something she hoped to cherish until she discovered the truth about her fiancé.

The couple's wedding was set for August 22, 2020. They spent the previous night apart in separate rooms. But the following morning, Kaitlin woke to the sound of the hotel phone ringing. It was her mother. Thinking nothing of it, she asked for the time.

She also asked if she was late and what time her hair appointment was set for. Without responding to any of her questions, her mother advised her to come down to the lobby. Sensing that something was wrong, she asked why.

Hearing the reluctance from her mother, Kaitlin refused to come down until she revealed what was going on. So her mother told her that Eric had died in the middle of the night from a heart attack caused by a medical condition, leaving her paralyzed.

Kaitlin recalled how the groom wasn't feeling too well leading up to the wedding day. He had complained about heartburn, an ailment he struggled with a few days before the wedding, and he was given a steroid to help him deal with the pain. This made Kaitlin believe he was healthy before he died.

The next few days were a blur for the would-be bride. At one point, she gave up and felt like there was no point in anything. She could barely stand on her feet for long.

She felt like she had no control over her body and was sick. If she wasn't in tears, she was sleeping or in shock. She even confessed to having thoughts about suicide because she couldn't imagine living past the pain of losing Eric.

One day she admitted her feelings to her mother who comforted her, saying, "Okay, we'll figure that out tomorrow." Eric's bride felt heard and validated, giving her the strength to carry on. She struggled with moments of denial where she couldn't believe her fiancé was really gone.

Luckily, her family and friends were very supportive and real with her, giving her the space she needed when she couldn't get out of bed in the morning. They also never left her alone longer than a few minutes at a time. For weeks they rotated their schedules around her, so she always had company.

Eventually, Kaitlin found more support from others who were grieving on social media. These were a community of people who suffered horrible things but still came out as survivors. But what she didn't expect was it would lead to a shocking revelation.

To celebrate Eric's 37th birthday on November 20, 2023, Kaitlin took to Instagram, but the first thing she saw was a conversation between two people. What she discovered changed her life forever.

One woman was talking about having spent Eric's last birthday together with him and that they'd had a "great night." Kaitlin was confused by the post and reached out to the woman behind it.

When she asked the woman to explain her relationship with the late Eric, the stranger revealed that Eric had been cheating on Kaitlin since March 2019. The traveling financial consultant had been with the woman on the West Coast for more than a year before his death.

He met her while traveling for work. Eric had set up a profile on a dating app despite being in a long-term relationship and engaged. He would meet with the other woman every week when he traveled.

Kaitlin asked the woman to send her everything she had about their relationship. She learned that the couple's affair began seven months before Eric's "fairytale" proposal to her in Central Park.

The last texts between the pair were sent by Eric seven days before the wedding. They were sexual in nature, and Kaitlin described them as "disgusting." The truth left her with so much anger. Kaitlin recalled, "It felt like I’d been emotionally trapped and I couldn’t run anywhere."

The traumatized woman had lots of frustration she didn't know where to direct because the culprit was gone. She was desperate for someone to tell her it was all a lie. But in her heart, she knew it was all true, and that made her want to burst.

For the first few days after discovering the truth, Kaitlin cried. She couldn't believe how narcissistic and pathological he was to have stood in front of her 77-year-old parents and asked for her hand in marriage, knowing what he was doing. She revealed that the ordeal, which they didn't deserve, had aged them.

Kaitlin also admitted to being left broken by Eric's deeds, but that eventually turned to rage. Soon enough, depression started seeping in, and it came with shame.

Since his passing, Kaitlin was forced to leave the Astoria apartment she shared with Eric and move back home to Long Island. With her parents' support, she's working on dealing with the anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorders she's endured.

She noted how she'd lost everything, and it was Eric's fault. But when she started being aware of her depression and shame, she chose to stand up for herself. She refused to waste a second on her former groom in the way she was.

Since her story got published, more women have come out claiming to have had relationships with Eric. Kaitlin discovered that her late fiancé had a relationship with someone else before they even met.

When Kaitlin came into the picture, Eric had broken up with his longtime girlfriend, but they soon rekindled their relationship. This other woman didn't know Eric's fiancée existed and thought she was the only one dating him.

The grieving bride confessed that it felt like Eric hated her, and she'll never know the truth. She admitted, "I loved him more than anything in this universe." But now she feels betrayed because she gave love to someone she didn't know at all.

Before meeting Eric, Kaitlin was dating her boyfriend, Mike, who died in an accident in 2015. During her 30th birthday party, Mike slipped into a body of water and fell unconscious. Six days later, he was dead after being on life support.

Kaitlin described Mike as a "teddy bear" whom she met through friends. His best friend was dating her best pal. When she shared her grief about Mike with Eric, she recalled him being "wonderful" about it.

But when she found out the truth about Eric, she stopped grieving his death. She now doesn't feel any love for him at all. The former bride says she sees him for what he was, and when he went dark, everything else brightened up in her life.

Kaitlin now feels grateful for her life and vows to be happy because she's done with that chapter of her life. She described finding out the truth about Eric as the only revenge she can get.

The trauma she's experienced left her with a major depressive disorder diagnosis. She also has generalized anxiety disorder and "horrific sleep." The medication she's on has lots of side effects, but she needs it to be able to work and make money.

Despite all the loss she's gone through, Kaitlin is open to dating and still hopes to find the right person one day. Her gratitude goes out to widows on social media, strangers, and more who helped her get this far.

Someone else who found out the truth in an uncanny way is a woman who started hearing her daughter talking in her sleep and bringing home unexplained "borrowed" items. She learns that her child was keeping a huge life-changing secret!

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.