They walked into the hallway, where the hum of fluorescent lights softened against the blue wash of dusk outside the windows.
“I don’t have time to chat,” he said, adjusting his pace, hoping she’d fall away.
“I won’t keep you long,” she promised, falling in step anyway.“But I do have thoughts.”
“Of course, you do.”
“This girl,” she began, and he stiffened at her tone.That same cloying disdain she’d once used for Nicole.“This Bianca Laurent, she reminds me far too much of her.”
Tripp stopped cold.“Nicole?”
“She practically cloned her.Pretty.From the wrong side of town.Ambitious in all the wrong ways.”
His jaw clenched.“Bianca was shot in the chest, Mom.She and her unborn baby were murdered.”
Her eyes narrowed, disdain cutting sharper than grief.“Don’t be dramatic.I’m saying she had an agenda.Girls like that always do.Just like Nicole.Always angling for more than they deserve.”
The words hit like a fist.More than they deserve.
“More than they deserve?”His voice was raw, low.“What exactly do you think Nicole ‘deserved,’ Mother?”
“Oh, come now, Dustin.You were about to start college.You had your future mapped out.And she—you were both just children.She tried to trap you with that ridiculous wedding.Do you really think she would’ve waited for marriage unless she had a bigger plan in place?”
The air thickened.Tripp turned to her slowly, heat building in his throat.“You knew.”
Her smile faltered, just slightly.
His voice dropped, dangerous.“You knew about the wedding?”
A beat of silence.Too long.
Then her chin tilted, recovering, her expression smoothing into practiced denial.“Don’t be ridiculous.Paige told me after it happened.”
“No,” Tripp said, his chest tight, the realization dawning like a storm.“You said Nicole tried to ‘trap’ me.That’s not how Paige described it.That’syourword.You knew before.You knew exactly what we were doing that night.”
Her lips pressed into a thin, brittle line.
For once, she had no ready dismissal.
She hesitated, eyes flicking away for just a second, then back.“Fine.Yes.I suspected.Paige’s mother figured it out, and we pressured your friend until she told us.You were being foolish, Dustin.Someone had to stop you before you threw away everything.”
The air went still.Cold.Lifeless.
“You meddled,” he said.“You didn’t just interfere.You manipulated everything.My father put me on a plane.You had my bags packed.And Nicole, she never got my calls, Mom.”
His voice broke.
His mother’s eyes softened for just a moment, like a chink in armor.“We were trying to protect you.”
“From what?”he demanded.“From loving someone?From choosing a life that didn’t fit your mold?”
“She wasn’t right for you.She was never going to fit.You had everything ahead of you, and she would have dragged you down.”
“You never gave her a chance,” he said.“You made that decision for me.For us.”
And then it hit him.
The email.The annulment papers.The silence.
