Chapter 2 - The Rehearsal
The night before the wedding, Tristan hosted our rehearsal dinner at a sprawling, exclusive rooftop restaurant overlooking the San Francisco bay. The room was packed with Silicon Valley’s elite—the very investors and board members who believed Tristan was the visionary behind Apex.
Tessa was there, of course. She hovered near the open bar in a slinky silk dress, shooting me polite, sickly-sweet smiles while subtly catching Tristan’s eye whenever she thought no one was looking. She genuinely believed she had outsmarted me. She thought she was waiting in the wings to inherit a billionaire lifestyle once Tristan successfully edged me out of my own company.
Midway through dinner, Tristan tapped his champagne glass and wrapped his arm securely around my waist.
"To my beautiful Zoe," Tristan announced, his voice projecting flawlessly across the terrace. "They say behind every great man is a great woman. But Zoe isn't behind me. She is beside me. Tomorrow, I don't just marry my best friend. I cement the legacy of Apex Biotech. Together, we are unstoppable."
The crowd erupted into applause. Tessa took a long, bored sip of her wine, rolling her eyes.
I turned to Tristan, looking deeply into his lying, arrogant eyes, and offered a radiant smile.
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"Thank you, Tristan," I said, loud enough for the investors to hear. "Tomorrow is going to be a day that completely changes the trajectory of your life. I promise you that."
He kissed me passionately, completely oblivious to the fact that just three hours earlier, in Noah's office, I had legally transferred every single patent I owned into a brand-new, impenetrable holding company. The champagne Tristan was currently drinking had been paid for by a man who was now the CEO of absolutely nothing.
