CHAPTER 1: The Groom Beside the Pool

The wedding looked flawless from the far end of the terrace.
White string lights hung through the olive trees. Champagne moved through the hands of old-money guests. The pool reflected the bride like a second aisle, quiet and blue beneath the night.
Evelyn Hart stood at the edge of it in a white strapless gown, her shoulders straight, her bouquet already gone from her hands.
Across from her, Julian Vale looked less like a husband than a man trying to survive his own reception.
His tuxedo was perfect. His face was not.
He held one palm up as if asking the room to calm down, though no one had spoken yet.
Behind Evelyn, guests froze with crystal glasses near their lips. To her left, a blonde woman in a gold dress stood too close to Julian's family table, her mouth slightly open, her eyes fixed on the bride.
Evelyn had noticed her an hour ago.
Julian thought she had not.
No one had expected stillness from her. They had expected tears, a tremor, maybe a graceful surrender to whatever Julian announced next.
Evelyn gave them none of it.
That was the first mistake of the night.
The second was believing a woman in a wedding dress had no power left once the vows were finished.