Chapter 1 - The Call Tristan Was Never Supposed to Hear About
The man Tristan had spent seven years keeping away from me was named Adrian Cole.
He had been Apex Biotech’s original corporate counsel before Tristan pushed him out.
At the time, Tristan told me Adrian was “too cautious,” “too expensive,” and “not aligned with the company’s future.” I believed him because I was busy building the science while Tristan built the story around it.
But Adrian had always looked at me differently than everyone else did.
He never saw me as Tristan Davis’s brilliant fiancée.
He saw me as Dr. Zoe Hastings—the scientist whose research platform had made Apex possible.
“Does Tristan know you’re calling me?” Adrian asked again.
“Not yet.”
I could hear him breathing on the other end of the line.
“What happened?”
I looked through the bar window.
Tristan had returned to our table. Tessa sat close beside him, her head tilted toward his shoulder while he told some dramatic story to our investors. He looked effortless. Confident. Untouchable.
The same way he looked every time he took credit for work that began in my laboratory.
“I need you to review everything,” I said. “My patents. My shareholder agreements. Board voting rights. The investor documents. The terms of Tristan’s executive employment contract.”
Adrian was silent for a moment.
Then he said, “Zoe, have you discovered something?”
“Yes.”
“Is it personal or corporate?”
I watched Tristan laugh.
“Both.”
Adrian’s voice became professional immediately.
“Do not confront him. Do not alter company files. Do not access any accounts that are not already yours. Preserve what you found exactly as it is. Take screenshots with timestamps. Send copies to a secure drive. And come see me tomorrow morning.”
“I want to know one thing first.”
“Ask.”
“If I walked away from Tristan, what would happen to Apex?”
Adrian paused.
Then he answered carefully.
“That depends on whether Tristan understands the documents he has been signing for seven years.”
The next morning, I arrived at Adrian’s office before sunrise.
He was waiting with coffee, legal pads, and three files already spread across a conference table.
The first file was labeled:
APEX BIOTECH — INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ASSIGNMENT
The second:
HASTINGS FAMILY TRUST — CONTROLLING VOTING RIGHTS
The third:
DAVIS EXECUTIVE EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
Adrian tapped the first document.
“Your patents were never transferred to Apex outright,” he said. “You licensed them to the company under terms that require you to remain chief scientific architect and majority IP holder.”
I stared at the page.
“I know that.”
“Do you know what happens if the company’s CEO engages in conduct that materially harms the company’s reputation, investor confidence, or intellectual-property security?”
I looked up.
Adrian’s expression was grim.
“The license can be terminated.”
My pulse slowed.
Not from fear.
From understanding.
Tristan had spent years acting like Apex belonged to him because he was the CEO, the face of the brand, and the man who spoke at conferences while I stayed behind the scenes.
But the foundation beneath his empire had always belonged to me.
The patents were mine.
The platform was mine.
The controlling voting rights were mine.
And the penthouse where he planned to host our rehearsal dinner?
Mine too.
Adrian opened the final folder.
“Tristan also signed a morality and fiduciary clause as part of the last funding round. If his conduct exposes Apex to internal liability, conflicts of interest, or misuse of company resources, the board can suspend him.”
I thought about the photos.
Conference hotel rooms.
Late-night images in my laboratory.
Tessa sitting inside his Range Rover.
The caption beneath the engagement-ring box.
She still thinks the wedding is about love.
“Would an affair be enough?” I asked.
“Not by itself.”
“And company property?”
Adrian’s eyes held mine.
“If he used company facilities, company travel budgets, research data, or his position over a junior employee to facilitate the relationship, that becomes a different matter.”
Tessa was twenty-four.
She was a lab assistant.
Tristan was Apex’s CEO.
And he had been sneaking her into my laboratory after hours.
Suddenly, I did not feel betrayed.
I felt prepared.
“Do you still have the twenty-third open?” I asked Adrian.
He leaned back in his chair.
“The day of your wedding?”
“Yes.”
“What exactly do you need?”
I looked down at my ring.
Then I removed it and placed it on the table.
“I need you to come to the ceremony.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
“As your lawyer?”
May you like
“No,” I said. “As the man who helps me make sure Tristan finally understands what he signed away.”
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