All Chapters of I Remember the Wedding That Killed Me: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

"You followed me," I say, pulse hammering, the vial clutched so tight in my fist I can feel the glass biting into my palm."I anticipated you." Marcus's voice carries easily over the murmur of the crowd still lined up for doses, none of them paying attention to the quiet confrontation happening at the edge of their hope. "After tonight's excursion into my facility, I assumed you'd look for some other way to make your case publicly. A public distribution run, visible, hard to secure without undermining its own purpose. It wasn't difficult to predict.""Then you know I'm not putting this back.""I know you believe that." He takes a single unhurried step closer, and I feel Damian appear at my shoulder, tense and ready, having abandoned whatever distraction he'd been running the moment he saw Marcus approach. "Ivy. Think carefully about what you're actually holding. That vial contains medicine that's going to save lives tonight, regardless of how it was developed. If you walk away with it

"What does that mean," I say, my grip tightening on the phone, "an early version.""It means it might not fully work," Mara says, voice tight with the particular controlled urgency of someone delivering news she wishes she didn't have to. "Or worse, it might work partially, enough to suppress symptoms temporarily without actually clearing the pathogen, which could make carriers look recovered while they're still contagious. I don't have full data yet, just enough to know this isn't the formulation he claimed on camera an hour ago."I look toward the distribution line, still moving, still hopeful, people rolling up their sleeves for a dose that might not be what they were promised at all."We need to stop this," I say. "Now.""You can't just announce that in the middle of a crowd," Damian says, already scanning the lot, already thinking three steps ahead. "A panic right now, in the middle of an active outbreak, could get people trampled, could cause exactly the kind of chaos that gets

Dr. Lin issues the emergency halt order within the hour, her staff working with the particular grim efficiency of people who've finally been given permission to act on suspicions they've carried quietly for years, and by the time Julian and I leave the building, the first reports are already coming in of distribution trucks being recalled across the city."It won't stop him completely," Julian says, as we walk back toward the car through streets that feel more dangerous with every passing hour. "But it's something. A real, documented obstacle he can't simply charm his way around.""It's something," I agree, exhaustion settling heavy into every part of me.We drive back toward Route 9 in silence, the city passing by in fractured glimpses of fire and emergency lights and the particular eerie quiet of streets that have emptied out of anyone with the sense to stay indoors, and by the time we reach the bunker, I feel like I'm running on nothing but momentum and fear.Damian meets us at the

"Tell me," I say, bracing myself against whatever comes next."It wasn't a heart attack, which is good news, relatively speaking. But her heart is under significant strain, and given her age and the stress of tonight's events, I'd be lying if I told you this isn't serious." The doctor's voice stays level, measured, the particular careful honesty of someone who's delivered difficult news enough times to know gentleness and clarity aren't mutually exclusive. "She needs rest, monitoring, and significantly less stress than whatever she's apparently been managing tonight. I understand that's a complicated request given everything happening across the city.""Can I see her.""Briefly. She's asking for you."I find her propped up in a small recovery room, color better than it was an hour ago but still far from steady, and when she sees me, something in her face softens with relief."You look terrible," she says, voice weak but carrying a thread of her old humor."You scared the life out of m

"Missing," I say, staring at the screen. "He walked away from that lot less than two hours ago, perfectly composed, surrounded by security.""Something doesn't add up," Damian says, already reaching for the remote to unmute the broadcast.The reporter's voice fills the small waiting room, tense and uncertain, clearly working from incomplete information. "...sources inside Ashford Biotech confirm CEO Marcus Ashford has not been seen or heard from since departing an emergency distribution site approximately two hours ago. Company stock has plummeted following the earlier halt order and unconfirmed allegations circulating on social media. We go now to a statement from acting company spokesperson—"The screen cuts to a nervous-looking woman standing at a podium, flanked by two company lawyers who look even less comfortable than she does."Ashford Biotech is cooperating fully with authorities regarding Mr. Ashford's whereabouts," she reads from a card, voice flat and clearly rehearsed unde