TAIF, 17 August — It was the case of the better halves turning into bitter halves in two incidents. As is the case in fairy tale endings all was well with a moral too there for the picking. A Saudi man here had to use the threat of canceling his marriage to convince his fiancee and her mother to cut down on the marriage expenses. He made this threat when the would-be bride’s jewelry purchases exceeded all limits, Al-Jazirah reported yesterday. The fiancee and her mother had to swallow a bitter pill and toe the man’s line after the latter refused to pay the bill run up by his fiancee at a jewelry shop. With all arrangements under way for the marriage, the resulting altercation nearly wrecked the marriage even before it was solemnized. Prominent people had to intervene to save the marriage, and the fiancee seeing that her fiancé was adamant, agreed to the cut. At another wedding ceremony, the bridegroom was cut from a different cloth when he put self before his bride. The groom fled the hall when someone shouted fire, leaving all in the hall in his rush for safety. He later came back to a very miffed bride on learning that there was no fire and nothing to fear. Though his bride was intact his pride was not as the angry spouse gave vent to her feelings. She was clearly riled by the fact that the groom did not give a thought for her safety, saying that “he should have taken me with him when he made his dash...” The two families had to intervene to calm the bride, the paper said.