Elena turned away from her father's portrait. She stared down the empty center aisle, her eyes locking onto Cooper.
He was adjusting his grip on Celeste's waist, turning toward the exit.
Elena moved. Her black heels slammed against the marble floor, the sharp, rapid clicks echoing off the vaulted ceiling like gunfire. She stepped directly in front of them, physically blocking their path.
Cooper halted. His jaw clenched, a dark warning flashing in his eyes.
"Elena, don't do this today," he muttered, his voice dropping to a dangerous, low octave. "Don't make a scene."
She ignored him. Her chest heaved, her heart slamming against her ribs so hard it bruised. She stared directly into his dark, impatient eyes.
"Did you take it?" Elena asked.
Her voice wasn't loud, but in the dead silence of the cathedral, it cut through the air like a blade.
"Did you take the St. Jude clinical trial spot that belonged to my father, and give it to the Robles family?"
The silence that followed was absolute. Even the storm outside seemed to hold its breath.
Cooper's face drained of color. His pupils dilated in sheer shock. His arm, which had been holding Celeste so tightly, went completely slack, dropping to his side.
Celeste's eyes darted wildly around the room. She shrank back, her body trembling as she tried to make herself as small as possible behind Cooper's frozen frame.
Elena took another step forward. Her eyes were lethal, pinning him down.
"Answer me," Elena demanded.
Cooper swallowed hard. His Adam's apple bobbed. He looked around at the lingering guests, his panic visible.
"This isn't the place to discuss medical logistics," Cooper said, his voice tight. "We will talk about this at home."
"Answer me!" Elena screamed, her voice cracking, tearing through her throat. "Yes or no!"
The remaining guests froze in the aisles. Heads turned. The whispers started again, louder this time, fingers pointing at the billionaire and the woman in white.
Cooper ground his teeth together. The muscles in his jaw ticked violently.
But he didn't say a word.
He didn't deny it.
That suffocating, heavy silence was the loudest confession he could have made. It was the final nail in her father's coffin.
The floor seemed to drop out from under Elena. The cathedral spun. The air was sucked from her lungs, and her vision blurred with black spots. She swayed, her body suddenly devoid of all strength.
A pair of hands grabbed her arms.
Sloane Fischer, Elena's best friend, caught her before she hit the marble.
Sloane's eyes were red with fury. She pointed a shaking finger directly at Cooper's face.
"You are a heartless, disgusting animal," Sloane spat, her voice ringing with pure hatred.
Cooper's face turned a mottled red. "Watch your mouth, Sloane. Remember who you're talking to. Stay out of my marriage."
Before Sloane could lunge at him, Celeste let out a loud, dramatic sob.
She clutched her stomach, bending forward. "Elena, please! I didn't know about the trial spot! Please don't blame Cooper, he was just trying to help-my stomach hurts so bad, Cooper, please!"
The sound of Celeste's pain instantly shattered Cooper's defensive wall. He spun around, grabbing Celeste's shoulders, pulling her back into his chest.
"I've got you. Breathe, Daisy, just breathe," he whispered, his voice dripping with desperate affection.
Elena watched them.
As she stared at his broad back shielding another woman, the image of her father's final moments flashed violently through her mind. The tubes. The agonizing beep of the monitors. The desperate gasps for air. She had begged Cooper to use his connections for the trial, and he had claimed his hands were tied.
All those years of quiet submission, of swallowing her pride to be the perfect wife, collided with the grotesque reality of his betrayal. The sheer, suffocating absurdity of it all crushed the breath out of her. The agonizing pain in her chest didn't just fade; it was violently swallowed by a freezing, absolute void. The last flickering ember of love she had for the man standing in front of her died, turning to cold, dead ash.
She gently pushed Sloane's hands away. Elena straightened her spine, vertebra by vertebra. She felt nothing. The hysterical urge to scream vanished, replaced by a terrifying, hollow numbness that settled deep into her bones.
She looked at Cooper. Her eyes, which moments ago had been wild with grief, were now completely dead, staring at him as if he were a rotting corpse on the side of the road.
Cooper caught her gaze. A strange, sudden panic flickered in his chest. His heart skipped a beat at the absolute void in her eyes. He opened his mouth, taking a half step toward her. "Elena..."
She didn't let him finish.
Elena turned her back to him. She faced the crowd of staring guests and offered a deep, perfectly composed bow.
"Thank you all for coming," Elena said, her voice entirely devoid of emotion. "The memorial service is now concluded. Please proceed to the reception hall."
The panic in Cooper's chest spiked. He reached out, his hand grasping her wrist.
Elena flinched as if he had burned her with acid. She violently ripped her arm out of his grip, her eyes flashing with pure, unadulterated disgust.
"Ah!" Celeste cried out, clutching her abdomen tighter, her knees buckling again. "Cooper, it hurts!"
Cooper's head snapped back to Celeste. He caught her securely by the waist, his jaw clenching as he assessed her pale face. He turned his head slightly, his voice a sharp, authoritative bark directed at his hovering security detail. "Bring the car to the curb. Now." He looked back at Elena, his eyes narrowing into a cold, warning glare. "We will discuss your behavior at home," he muttered icily. Without another word, he wrapped his arm firmly around Celeste's shoulders and guided her quickly down the aisle, his long strides forcing the crowd to part. He pushed through the cathedral doors and out into the storm, never once looking back.
