Hermione's POV
I threw the photograph back at James.
"You're lying!" My voice echoed across the empty street. "My mother never mentioned you!"
James caught the photo before it hit the ground. "She wouldn't have. I was just a kid she helped once. But I never forgot her kindness."
"I don't care!" I backed away from him and his fancy car. "I need to talk to Jerry. He owes me a real explanation!"
"He won't give you one." James tucked the photo into his jacket. "Men like Jerry Kingston never do."
"You don't know him!"
"I know his father. I know their family. And I know what they're capable of."
But I wasn't listening anymore. I was already running back toward the park.
Jerry and Linda were still there, standing by the fountain. They looked like a perfect couple. Like they belonged together.
Like I never existed.
"Jerry!" I shouted his name. "Jerry, wait!"
He turned around, his face going pale when he saw me. "Hermione, please don't make this harder."
"Harder?" I laughed, but it came out broken and wrong. "You're stealing my wedding day and I'm making it hard?"
Linda stepped between us. "He already told you everything. What more do you want?"
"I want the truth!" I pushed past her, grabbing Jerry's arm. "Look at me. Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't love me anymore."
Jerry's jaw tightened. For a second, I thought I saw something there. Regret, maybe. Pain.
Then it was gone.
"I can't marry you, Hermione." He pulled his arm free. "My father will disown me if I do. He'll destroy my entire future."
"Because of Rebecca's lies? Because she faked those papers?"
"The papers are real." Jerry's voice got louder. "Your mother changed her will before she died. Rebecca has lawyers, documents, everything. You're not the heir anymore. You're nobody."
Each word felt like a knife in my chest.
"So you're choosing money over me?" Tears poured down my face. "That's what this is really about?"
"It's not just money!" Jerry ran his hands through his hair, messing it up. "Do you know what my father will do if I embarrass him? If I walk away from this deal with the Hale family?"
"Deal?" My voice cracked. "Our marriage was supposed to be about love, not deals!"
"Grow up!" Jerry yelled. Really yelled. I'd never heard him raise his voice before. "Love doesn't pay bills. Love doesn't keep families in power. Love is just a nice story we tell children!"
I felt something inside me crack. Something that could never be fixed.
"Then why did you propose to me?" I whispered. "Why did you make me believe?"
Jerry looked away. "Because I thought it would work out. I thought my father would accept you eventually. But then Linda got sick, and everything changed."
"Linda isn't sick!" I turned to her. "You're faking it! I know you are!"
Linda's eyes went wide. She looked at Jerry, then back at me. "How dare you! I'm dying and you're calling me a liar?"
"Show me your medical records then. Prove it."
"I don't have to prove anything to you!" Linda grabbed Jerry's hand. "Tell her, Jerry. Tell her about my diagnosis."
Jerry swallowed hard. "The doctors say she has six months. Maybe less. She wants to experience marriage before..." He couldn't finish.
"And you believe that?" I stared at him. "You really believe she's telling the truth?"
"I saw the hospital papers myself." But Jerry wouldn't meet my eyes when he said it. "It's real, Hermione."
"Then let me see them too!"
"No." Linda pulled Jerry closer. "You've already caused enough drama. Just leave us alone."
"Caused drama?" I felt anger rising up through the pain. "You stole my fiancé! You stole my home! You and Rebecca are destroying everything I have!"
"We're not destroying anything." Linda's voice turned cold. "We're just taking what should have been ours all along. Your mother stole my mother's rightful place in that house. Stole her rightful place in your father's life."
"What are you talking about?"
Linda smiled. "Didn't you know? Rebecca and your father were engaged first. Before your mother showed up and ruined everything."
The ground felt like it was moving under my feet.
"That's not true."
"Ask anyone who knew them back then." Linda's smile grew wider. "Your mother was the other woman. She broke them apart and stole the life that should have been ours. So really, we're just taking back what was stolen."
"Jerry." I grabbed his arm again, desperate. "You can't believe this. Please. Tell me you don't believe this."
Jerry pulled away, and this time he looked me straight in the eye.
"It doesn't matter what I believe. The wedding is happening in four hours. With or without your approval."
"So that's it?" My voice barely worked. "Everything we had means nothing?"
"What we had was nice while it lasted." Jerry straightened his shoulders. "But Linda needs me more than you do. She's dying, Hermione. How can I say no to a dying woman's last wish?"
"By keeping your promise to me!" I screamed it. "By loving me like you said you would!"
"I'm sorry." Jerry turned away. "Goodbye, Hermione."
Linda waved at me like we were old friends. "Try not to cry too much. It'll ruin your makeup."
They walked away together. Jerry never looked back.
I stood there alone, my whole world falling apart piece by piece.
The black car pulled up beside me again. James got out.
"Ready to listen now?" he asked quietly.
"What do you want from me?" I was too tired to fight anymore.
"I want to help you take everything back." James held out his hand. "Your home. Your inheritance. Your dignity. Everything they stole."
"How? I have nothing left."
"You have me." James's eyes burned with something fierce and dangerous. "And I have resources they can't even imagine. Let me help you, Hermione. Let me finish what your mother started."
"What did my mother start?"
James glanced toward the church where workers were setting up flowers for Jerry and Linda's wedding.
"A war," he said simply. "And it's time we won it."
Before I could answer, my phone rang. An unknown number.
I answered without thinking. "Hello?"
Heavy breathing on the other end. Then a woman's voice, old and shaky.
"Hermione Hale? This is Dr. Patricia Mills. I was your mother's physician before she died." The woman paused. "I need to tell you something about her death. Something I should have said twenty years ago."
My blood turned to ice.
"What about her death?"
"It wasn't natural." Dr. Mills's voice dropped to a whisper. "Your mother was poisoned. And I know who did it."