For three months, I had mourned a dead man.
And now I had just seen him adjusting his wedding suit.
My assistant called my phone.
I couldn't answer.
She called again.
Again.
I sat on the floor, shaking so violently I could barely breathe.
Then I heard footsteps outside the stall.
Someone was looking for me.
“Meredith?”
It was Julian.
Adrian's older brother.
I unlocked the stall.
When he saw me, his face changed.
He knew.
He knew exactly what I had seen.
“Julian,” I whispered.
He closed his eyes.
“Please.”
“You knew.”
“Meredith, let me explain.”
“You knew he was alive.”
He looked at the floor.
“Yes.”
The word shattered me.
Not because I hadn't already suspected it.
But because hearing it out loud made it real.
I pushed past him.
“No.”
“Just listen.”
“No!”
My voice echoed through the bathroom.
“You watched me bury him.”
Julian flinched.
I stepped closer.
“You watched me stand beside that coffin.”
“I know.”
“You watched his mother hold my hand while I cried.”
“I know.”
“You let everyone tell me he was dead.”
“I know.”
“You let me grieve for three months.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
Then I looked at him with a kind of anger I had never felt before.
“Why?”
Julian shook his head.
“It's complicated.”
I laughed bitterly.