Cassandra only smiled, sipping her tea, silent.
Encouraged by the crowd, Tristan beamed. “She took me seriously! She actually dragged me to do embryo culture!”
He nudged her. “Cassie, tell them. Where’s the baby?”
Cassandra tipped back her cup, her eyes dark.
“What’s in my belly right now is Tristan’s IVF child.”
Boom. My mind went blank.
Ella spat curses beside me, but all I could see was Cassandra’s cold, unbothered face.
Every memory twisted like a knife. She had lied about her “infertility,” lied about needing IVF.
I believed her. I trusted her.
I still remember the day the embryo was implanted—how she caressed her stomach, whispering tenderly,
“My dear, Mommy will make sure you and Daddy are the happiest people in the world.”
She wasn’t talking to me. She never was.
Tristan’s voice cut through my haze, laced with mockery:
“Cassie is brilliant. I don’t have to lift a finger, and I still get to be a father. Gareth did all the dirty work.”
I couldn’t bear another word. I turned to leave—
when suddenly, a massive wave struck, and the cruise ship lurched violently.
Tristan was standing too close to the edge, speaking animatedly. With a shriek, he was thrown into the sea.