Chapter 3 - The Wedding Where Everyone Stared
Adrian and Celeste’s wedding took place at a glass-walled estate outside the city.
White roses lined the entrance.
A string quartet played beside a fountain.
Guests in expensive suits and pastel dresses stood beneath hanging lights, sipping champagne and praising Celeste’s taste.
Everything looked perfect.
That was the point.
Adrian wanted perfection.
He wanted to stand in front of investors, colleagues, friends, and family and prove that he had upgraded his life.
Celeste wore a fitted ivory gown that emphasized her pregnancy.
Adrian stood beside her in a tailored black tuxedo, smiling at every camera.
When I arrived, heads turned.
I wore a deep blue dress, simple gold earrings, and no expression Adrian could use against me.
Danielle walked beside me.
Ava rested peacefully in the carrier against my chest.
At first, Adrian did not recognize what he was seeing.
He smiled with polite surprise.
“Mia,” he said. “You came.”
“I said I would.”
Then his eyes lowered.
To the baby.
The smile disappeared.
Celeste’s hand moved protectively over her stomach.
Adrian stared at Ava.
“Whose baby is that?”
The people closest to us stopped talking.
I looked at him.
“Her name is Ava Vale.”
His face changed.
No color.
No confidence.
Nothing but disbelief.
“That’s not possible.”
“You left eight months ago,” I said. “I found out I was pregnant three weeks before the divorce was final.”
Celeste whispered, “Adrian?”
He did not look at her.
He kept staring at Ava.
“You never told me.”
“You told me I was broken,” I replied. “You told me no one would ever choose me. Then you filed for divorce, emptied accounts you had no right to touch, and began a relationship with your assistant.”
His mother, standing nearby in pale silver, stepped forward.
“She is lying.”
Danielle opened her portfolio.
“No,” she said. “The medical records, delivery records, and court-certified paternity test are available.”
Adrian’s mother looked at the papers.
Then at Ava.
Her knees seemed to weaken.
“Adrian,” she whispered. “You have a daughter?”
Ava woke at the sound of voices.
She made a small, unhappy noise.
My entire body responded instinctively. I held her closer and rocked her gently.
Adrian took one step toward us.
“Mia, let me see her.”
“No.”
The word was calm.
It was not cruel.
It was simply final.
“You do not get to walk into her life because you were publicly embarrassed,” I said. “If you want to know your daughter, you can speak to my attorney and follow the legal process.”
Celeste’s face had gone pale.
But I was not finished.
May you like
I turned toward Danielle.
“Please give them the second file.”
