Chapter 2 - The Perfect Bride
For the next twenty-nine days, I became the perfect bride.
I confirmed the flowers.
I approved the menu.
I answered messages from Tristan’s mother about seating arrangements and champagne brands.
I smiled through cake tastings.
I pretended not to notice when Tristan started taking his phone into the shower.
I pretended not to notice when Tessa suddenly began wearing expensive jewelry she could not afford on a lab assistant’s salary.
And I pretended not to notice when Tristan came home late, smelling faintly of a perfume that was not mine.
The more normal I acted, the more careless he became.
That was the strange thing about people who believe they have fooled you.
They stop hiding.
Tristan began leaving his laptop open.
He started taking calls on the balcony while assuming I was asleep.
He mentioned “Tessa’s future” in conversations that had nothing to do with work.
One night, I heard him whisper into his phone.
“Just get through the wedding, okay? Zoe is emotional about appearances. After the funding closes, I’ll handle it.”
I stood in the hallway, unseen.
My hands did not shake.
I did not cry.
I simply opened the secure evidence folder Adrian had created for me and added another note.
Audio recorded: 11:43 p.m. Tristan discussing delaying separation until after funding close.
Meanwhile, Adrian and his team uncovered more.
Tristan had expensed private hotel stays through Apex.
He had approved Tessa’s travel reimbursements without documentation.
He had authorized her access to research areas beyond her clearance level.
And most importantly, he had forwarded confidential investor materials to a private account connected to a consulting firm Tessa’s brother operated.
The affair was ugly.
The financial misconduct was worse.
But what angered me most was not the money.
It was the laboratory.
My laboratory.
The place where I had worked for years to develop a cancer-detection platform that could identify malignant changes before traditional imaging caught them.
I remembered nights alone beside incubators.
I remembered sleeping on office couches during failed trials.
I remembered calling my mother after our first major breakthrough and crying because I thought I had finally created something that could save lives.
Tristan had called it “our company.”
But he had treated it like his private stage.
Three days before the wedding, Tessa came to my office.
She wore a cream dress, gold earrings, and the kind of nervous smile people use when they think they are close to getting what they want.
“Dr. Hastings,” she said softly, “do you have a minute?”
“Of course.”
She closed the door.
“I just wanted to say congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
“You and Tristan are very lucky.”
I looked at her.
“Are we?”
Her eyes flickered.
“I mean… you’ve built so much together.”
“Yes,” I said. “We have.”
Tessa’s hands tightened around her purse.
For a second, I almost felt sorry for her.
Not because she was innocent.
She was not.
But because she had mistaken Tristan’s attention for a promise.
She believed she was being chosen.
She did not understand that Tristan never truly chose anyone.
He only collected devotion from people who made his life easier.
“You’ll be at the wedding?” I asked.
She blinked.
“I wasn’t invited.”
“That seems unfair,” I said. “You have been such an important part of Tristan’s life.”
She stared at me.
Then she smiled slowly.
“Thank you, Dr. Hastings.”
“Call me Zoe.”
The relief on her face was almost painful to watch.
She thought I was giving her a place at my wedding.
I was.
May you like
Just not the place she expected.
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