Chapter 5 - The Velvet Cloak
Over the next three weeks, I played the part of the devoted, exhausted bride with Oscar-worthy precision.
I attended two floral tastings with Tristan’s aristocratic mother, approving five-thousand-dollar centerpieces of white calla lilies and silver birch branches without an ounce of protest.
I smiled through a dress fitting in downtown San Francisco, watching the seamstress pin layers of ivory silk lace around my waist while my phone buzzed in my clutch with updates from Adrian’s surveillance team.
Update 14:22: Tessa Jenkins met Julian Mercer at an upscale bistro in Palo Alto. A black leather portfolio was passed beneath the table.Update 18:45: Chiron Therapeutics filed an emergency provisional patent application with the USPTO containing the synthetic watermark code.Update 22:10: Tristan Davis executed a secret option agreement with Chiron's offshore investment holding company, granting them first-look licensing rights to Apex's clinical assets upon executive restructuring.
Tristan was so intoxicated by his impending victory that he became sloppy.
He left his laptop open on the marble kitchen island while he showered, allowing me to photograph the signed Chiron option agreements and the draft SEC filings that would strip me of my title as Chief Science Officer forty-eight hours after our nuptials.
One night, eleven days before the ceremony, Tristan walked into our bedroom carrying two glasses of Pinot Noir.
"To the future Mrs. Davis," he toasted, handing me a glass with that magnetic, boyish grin that had once made my heart race. "And to the end of your stress."
I tapped my glass against his, the crystal chiming clear and sharp in the quiet room.
"Do you really think our marriage will change everything, Tristan?" I asked softly, watching him over the rim of the glass.
"It will change the company, Zoe," he said, sitting on the edge of the mattress and loosening his tie. "You’ve spent years looking at Apex through a microscope. You don't see the macro play. Once we're joined as one legal entity, the board won't be able to question our direction. We’ll be unstoppable."
"And what about us?" I pressed gently. "Not the stock, Tristan. Us."
He paused, a fleeting flicker of irritation crossing his eyes before he smoothed it over with a practiced kiss on my forehead.
"We have seven years of history, Zoe. Nobody knows you like I do. Isn't that enough?"
May you like
No, I thought, looking at the hollow reflection of the man who had traded seven years of devotion for a thirty-million-dollar buyout. It was never enough for you.
"Drink your wine, darling," I said with a radiant, empty smile. "You have a big day coming."
