Chapter 6 - The Secret Maya Had Not Told Me
The entire ceremony lawn seemed to freeze.
I looked at Maya.
She looked at Ethan.
Then at me.
Her face answered before her mouth did.
“You created the account?” I asked.
Maya's lips parted.
“I can explain.”
Ethan laughed.
“There it is.”
Security escorted him away before he could say more.
His parents followed.
His mother was crying.
His father did not look at me.
Guests began murmuring in clusters.
The ceremony was over.
But apparently, the truth was not.
I took Maya into a private room with David and Miranda.
“Talk.”
Maya sat down.
Her hands shook.
“I made the account.”
“Why?”
“So you would find it.”
I stared.
“The post was real?”
“Yes.”
“Written by Ethan?”
“Yes.”
“How did you get it?”
“He wrote it to me.”
“Where?”
“A private message.”
“So you copied his words.”
“Yes.”
“And posted them where I might see them.”
She nodded.
“Why not just send them to me?”
“I was scared.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I know.”
“Try again.”
Maya started crying.
“I wanted you to find out without knowing it came from me.”
“Why?”
“Because he had already started threatening my job.”
There it was.
The fear beneath the deception.
“He told me if I caused problems, he'd make sure I never got another research position.”
David leaned forward.
“Do you have that in writing?”
“No. He said it in person.”
I looked at Maya.
“You still manipulated me.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe I found the account accidentally.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me investigate him without telling me.”
“Yes.”
Each answer was quiet.
No excuse.
That mattered.
“Why did Claire get the post?”
“I sent it to her too.”
My stomach dropped.
“You knew Claire?”
“No. I found Rachel's name.”
“How?”
“Ethan mentioned her once when he was angry.”
Maya wiped her face.
“He called her unstable. Said she'd tried to sabotage him years ago.”
“So you searched.”
“Yes.”
“I found an old conference paper. Rachel's name was on it. Her obituary listed Claire.”
“You contacted Claire.”
“Yes.”
That explained the mysterious connection.
“And the invitation?”
Maya shook her head.
“Not me.”
David looked at me.
“Probably Martin.”
“Maybe.”
I felt exhausted.
Not angry exactly.
Betrayal had become layered.
Ethan betrayed me.
Maya deceived me to expose him.
Claire withheld part of the story.
Everyone had decided which truth I was allowed to receive and when.
I hated that.
“Why didn't you tell me at the café?”
Maya's voice cracked.
“Because by then, I was afraid you'd hate me too.”
“I might have.”
“I know.”
She looked down.
“But you were the first person who didn't immediately treat me like the villain.”
I said nothing.
“You told me to protect myself. You got me a lawyer. You blurred my face.”
Her tears fell.
“And I had already lied to you.”
I took a slow breath.
“Maya, being afraid explains what you did. It doesn't make it okay.”
“I know.”
“If you had simply sent me Ethan's messages, I would have believed you.”
“I didn't know that.”
“No. You didn't.”
David interrupted gently.
“We need to separate emotional issues from employment issues.”
Classic David.
I almost smiled.
He continued.
“Maya, if Ethan retaliated against you professionally, document everything. Do not communicate with him verbally if avoidable.”
She nodded.
Then Miranda looked at me.
“What do we do with two hundred guests?”
I closed my eyes.
Right.
The reception.
I stood.
“We feed them.”
Miranda stared.
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“You just detonated your wedding.”
“And the salmon is already paid for.”
That made David laugh.
A real laugh.
The tension cracked.
An hour later, I entered the ballroom without a husband.
Everyone stood.
Not because anyone told them to.
They simply did.
For one second, I wanted to disappear.
Then my mother started clapping.
Miranda joined.
My aunt.
My colleagues.
Soon the room filled with applause.
I hated it.
I loved it.
I cried.
All three at once.
I took the microphone.
“I promise there will be no more surprise presentations.”
Laughter.
“Tonight is obviously not the celebration any of us expected.”
More laughter.
“But many of you traveled a long way because you love me, Ethan, or both of us. That love was real even if the wedding wasn't.”
The room grew quiet.
“So please eat. Drink. Dance. Take home flowers. Steal the centerpieces. My mother paid too much for them.”
Mom yelled, “I did!”
Everyone laughed.
That was how my canceled wedding became the strangest party of my life.
There was no first dance.
So I danced with my mother.
No cake cutting.
So my niece cut it.
No bouquet toss.
So Miranda threw the bouquet directly at my cousin Kevin, who screamed and caught it like a football.
For several hours, life felt surreal but survivable.
Then, around ten, David pulled me aside.
“Ethan has retained counsel.”
“Already?”
“Apparently.”
“What does he want?”
“To prevent dissemination of the presentation.”
“We aren't disseminating it.”
“Good.”
“He also claims the funding emails were preliminary brainstorming.”
“Of course.”
“And he denies threatening Maya.”
“Of course.”
David hesitated.
“What?”
“He's accusing you of damaging his reputation intentionally.”
“I showed his own communications.”
“I know.”
“Can he sue?”
“Anyone can sue.”
“Can he win?”
“Different question.”
I rubbed my forehead.
“Perfect.”
“Zoe, go home.”
“I don't have one.”
“Miranda's.”
“I know.”
He squeezed my shoulder.
“You did enough today.”
I thought so too.
I was wrong.
At 11:14, Maya disappeared.
Miranda noticed first.
“She was by the bar ten minutes ago.”
We searched the ballroom.
Bathroom.
Terrace.
Lobby.
No Maya.
Her phone went straight to voicemail.
Then a server approached.
“Dr. Hastings?”
“Yes?”
“A young woman asked me to give you this.”
He handed me a folded napkin.
On it, Maya had written:
I'm sorry. He has the original files. I have to fix this.
My blood turned cold.
I called her again.
Voicemail.
David came over.
“What happened?”
I showed him.
His expression changed.
“Where would she go?”
“The lab.”
We left immediately.
The hospital research building was twenty minutes away.
Security there knew me.
I called ahead.
“Has Maya Lawson entered the building?”
The guard checked.
“Yes. Badge access nine minutes ago.”
“Ethan?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
My stomach dropped.
“When?”
“Three minutes after her.”
David cursed.
“Lock the lab floor.”
The guard hesitated.
“I can't without authorization.”
“Call campus security.”
We were still five minutes away.
I texted Maya.
Do not meet him alone. Leave now.
No response.
Then my phone rang.
Maya.
I answered.
“Where are you?”
Her voice was barely audible.
“Lab storage.”
“Is Ethan there?”
“Yes.”
“Leave.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“He knows I copied the files.”
My heart pounded.
“Listen to me. Walk out.”
“I found something.”
“Maya.”
“Zoe, the five million wasn't the real number.”
I gripped the dashboard.
“What?”
“The spreadsheet had hidden tabs.”
“How much?”
She breathed in.
“Twenty-two million.”
David turned toward me.
Then Maya whispered, “And your name isn't the only one on it.”
A sound came through the phone.
A door opening.
Maya stopped breathing.
Then Ethan's voice sounded in the background.
May you like
“Maya?”
The call went dead.
