The Day I Chose My Parents Over My Fiance Chapter 07
Mrs. Hayes stared at the silent phone in her hand. Behind her, Lily was still sobbing.
She looked up, and her expression twisted.
“Tristan’s in surgery. He can’t see you. So drop the act.”
Lily’s expression cracked. She turned to Mrs. Hayes, eyes welling up.
“What are you talking about? I’m worried about him.”
Mrs. Hayes’s laugh was hollow.
“Did you really think I couldn’t see right through you?”
“I never liked Audrey. So I built you up just to make her miserable.”
“Looking back, that might’ve been the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. I threw away a diamond and settled for
a cheap knockoff.”
Lily opened her mouth to respond, but the operating room doors swung open.
Mrs. Hayes forgot Lily existed. She was at the doctor’s side in a heartbeat.
“Doctor how is he? How’s my son?”
The surgeon pulled his mask down.
“He’s stable, but…”
He paused. The silence stretched.
“There’s significant damage to his right leg. He may never fully regain use of it.”
Mrs. Hayes sank into the nearest chair like her legs had given out.
“It’s okay. It’s okay. He’s alive. That’s enough.”
When Tristan opened his eyes in the ward, it took a second for the room to make sense. Then the panic hit.
“Audrey… Audrey…”
Lily was sitting at his bedside. Something sharp flashed in her eyes before she shifted her expression to one of concern.
“Tristan, Audrey’s gone. She left with her parents.”
“You almost died, and she didn’t even flinch.”
“She doesn’t love you, Tristan. She never did. So please… look at me instead.”
“I’ve been in love with you for ten years.”
Tristan went still.
He turned and looked at her – really looked at this girl he’d always believed was harmless. Clueless. A child.
Every excuse he’d ever made came echoing back.
She’s just a kid. She doesn’t know any better.
Every word hit him like a slap.
His voice came out raw.
“The posts. Leaving your stuff in my car. All of it – did you do it on purpose?”
Lily didn’t even hesitate.
“Yes. All of it.”
“I just wanted you to finally see what’s been right in front of you.”
“You took me to Disneyland to watch the fireworks. On her birthday.”
“You picked a fight with her just so you could take me to see the northern lights.”
“When it rained, your umbrella always tipped my way.”
“Every time we went somewhere, I was the one in the passenger seat.”
“And every single time it came down to me or her, you chose me.”
“It’s obvious, Tristan. I’m the one you really want.”
Tristan’s answer came without a second’s hesitation.
“No.”
Lily’s breath caught. What came next shattered everything she’d built inside her head.
“I was trying to make Audrey jealous. That’s all you ever were.”
–
“She was too calm with me. I’d come home late, I’d flirt with other women right in front of her nothing. She didn’t even bat an eye.”
“I was scared. Scared she’d send me another breakup text and just be done – the way she did the first time.”
“Then you showed up at the house with a gift from your family. That was the first time you met Audrey.”
“She took to you instantly. Treated you like you were already her favorite person in the room. She was warmer with you in five minutes than she’d ever been with me.”
“At one in the morning, I reached for her in bed, and she pushed me away – said she was helping you study.”
“I’d plan trips for us over the holidays. She’d cancel on me and invite you over for dinner instead.”
“I told her it bothered me. She just laughed and said she’d always wanted a little sister.”
“Then she blew me off one more time because you needed her, and something in me clicked.”
“What if I could make her stop caring about you?”
Lily stared at him. There was something unhinged in his expression now. The color drained from hers.
It hit her all at once. For thirteen years, the Hayes family had supported her.
She’d been around Tristan countless times. He’d never looked twice.
Not until Audrey noticed her.
That was when the boy she’d worshipped for a decade finally turned his head in her direction.
She’d thought it was fate.
Now she understood.
His voice, low and flat, confirmed what she already knew.
“So I kept choosing you. Over and over. Just to watch her lose it. The jealousy, the anger, the fights – I wanted all of it.”
“And it worked. She stopped caring about you completely.”
“I figured once we were married, I’d cut you out for good.”
“But I didn’t… I didn’t think she’d actually leave…”
Tristan’s voice broke. He stared up at the ceiling, and the regret hit him so hard it was physical.
He’d gotten drunk on it – watching Audrey spiral, knowing he was the reason, knowing she cared enough to fall apart.
And every time she forgave him, he pushed further. Until he couldn’t stop.
“If you paid the price if I paid the price – do you think she’d come back?”
He looked at Lily. His eyes were empty.
She took a step back.
“Don’t don’t look at me like that, Tristan. You’re scaring me…”