“Meredith? The coordinator is looking for you. They’re about to start.”
I looked at myself in the mirror.
My eyes were puffy.
My mascara was ruined.
“Meredith? Are you okay?”
“No.”
“Do you want me to take over?”
I thought of Adrian.
Alive. Smiling.
I was getting ready for a wedding after having spent three months mourning him.
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
I wiped my face and picked up my florist’s badge.
And suddenly, I knew exactly what I was going to do next—and how I was going to make Adrian regret what he’d done to me.
I stood in front of the mirror for a few more seconds.
My hands were still trembling.
Part of me wanted to leave.
Another part wanted to find Adrian and demand an explanation.
But, for some reason, neither option seemed even remotely possible anymore.
He had watched me bury him.
His mother had held my hand while I wept.
Someone had organized a funeral.
Someone had lowered a coffin into the ground.
People had brought food to my apartment and sat beside me while I stared at the walls.
Adrian had let all of that happen.
Now, he was twenty minutes away from marrying someone else.
I wiped the mascara from under my eyes and left the restroom.
My assistant, Kendra, found me near the service hallway.
She frowned when she saw my face.
“What happened?”
“I need you to do something for me.”
“Anything.”
“Stay with the flowers. Don’t let anyone move the floral arrangements.”
She studied me.
“Meredith, you’re scaring me.”
“I know.”
“Should I call someone to come help us?”
“Not yet.”
I walked toward the ceremony site.
The guests were already taking their seats. I hardly recognized anyone.
That hurt more than I expected.
Adrian had built an entire life around what he’d done, and somehow, I had been left completely out of it all.
Then I saw Julian.
He was standing near the back row.
For a moment, a wave of relief washed over me.
Julian could explain this.
I crossed the room quickly.
“Julian.”
He turned.
The color drained from his face.
That was all the answer I needed.
“You knew.”
His eyes darted toward the aisle.
“Meredith, please. This isn’t the place for this…”
“You knew he was alive.”
“Keep your voice down.”
I let out a single laugh.
It sounded ugly.
“I stood by his family at his funeral.”
Julian rubbed his forehead.
“Please. Let me explain after the ceremony.”
“The ceremony?”
He lowered his voice until it was barely audible.
“It’s complicated.”
“No. Changing a wedding date is complicated. Finding out your fiancé has been unfaithful is complicated. This is something else.”
A few guests glanced our way.
Julian stepped closer.
“Adrian was going to tell you.”
“When?”
He didn’t answer.
I felt something inside me settle.
The pain was still there, but another feeling had emerged alongside it.
Clarity.
“Who is the bride?”
Julian looked away.
“Her name is Sarah.”
“How long?”
“Meredith.”
“How long has she been with him?”
His silence lasted too long.
“Before the accident,” he finally confessed in a low voice.
A wave of nausea washed over me.
I nodded slowly.
“So there was no accident.”
“There was an accident.”
“What?”
Julian exhaled. “Adrian was in the car, but he survived. Someone else didn’t.”
I stared at him.
“He used the accident to disappear.”
Julian’s expression tightened.
“He panicked.”
“He faked his death.”
“He thought it was the only way out.”
“Out of marrying me?”
Julian looked ashamed.
“Out of everything.”
I took a step back.
For months, I had imagined Adrian’s final moments.
I wondered if he had been afraid. I wondered if he had thought of me.
Instead, he had survived and decided that death was easier than honesty.
