A figure stumbled in and clumsily threw himself between Jenny and the attacker.
“Dad!”
Tears burst from Jenny’s eyes the moment she saw him.
Ryan, despite having the mind of a six–year–old, was running on pure instinct, protecting his daughter.
But the strength between him and the thug was no match. He was shoved to the ground in seconds.
was
Jenny knew how ruthless the thug was. She cried out, “Dad, go! Don’t worry about me–run!”
Ever since developing dementia, Ryan had always been obedient. But now, he defied Jenny’s orders.
He stepped in front of her again and again, shielding her from the thugs‘ blows–until they lost their patience and raised a hammer toward him.
“No!”
Jenny’s scream tore from her throat–but she was helpless.
All she could do was watch, helpless, as the hammer slammed down on her father’s head–again and again–until he collapsed into a pool of blood, completely still.
The coppery scent filled her nose. The light in her
her eyes vanished.
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When the thug raised the hammer again, this time for her other hand, Jenny didn’t move. She just sat there, limp, like a broken rag doll.
Clang!
The hammer hit something hard, but not her.
Jenny blinked, dazed. Samuel had arrived.
He tackled the thug, tied him up, and called the cops.
The whole time, Jenny didn’t spare him a single glance. She just knelt on the floor, cradling her father’s broken body in her arms, whispering again and again, “Dad, just open your eyes… one more time…
“Please, Dad…”
***
She had already arranged everything in Chicago–booked a spot in a nursing home. Once she was married, she planned to bring her father there to live with her.
But instead…
She was now planning his funeral,
The thug was arrested. A conviction was guaranteed.
But his connection to Nadya? Hidden. Jenny searched relentlessly until she finally uncovered the dark, sordid past between Nadya and her so- called foster brother.
She compiled the evidence onto a flash drive, scaled it in an envelope, and handed it to Samuel.
“The password will unlock itself in ten days. What’s inside might surprise
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you.”
Samuel smiled. “A gift for me? I’ll be dead in ten days, though…”
He was still playing his games, but Jenny didn’t care anymore. Her voice was flat. “Those death notices? They’re rarely accurate. If you’re still alive that day, open it.”
“Got it. You always liked writing letters to the future and stuff. If I make it, I’ll read it.”
Samuel said it lightly, but as soon as she left, he tossed the envelope into the very back of a drawer, without even looking at it.
***
Ten days later, Samuel’s “death” arrived right on schedule.
He never once altered the timing of his faked death, nor his plan to vanish with Nadya to live happily ever after.
At the funeral home, Jenny stood before his “ashes,” dry–eyed and silent.
The Yvart family had asked her to stand by the door to greet guests, but she showed up in a wedding dress.
Whispers rippled through the crowd, shocked by her lack of decorum. “I’m getting married. I didn’t have time to change. Riley is still waiting at our wedding venue.”
The room burst into laughter.
Everyone knew Riley–Chicago’s heiress, cold–blooded queen of business. Stunning, ruthless, untouchable.
Legend had it that a drunken man once tried to harass her–she crushed two of his fingers and left him blind in one eye.
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Sure, she and Jenny were childhood best friends, but two women getting married? That had to be madness.
Everyone assumed Jenny had lost it–her mind shattered by grief over Samuel’s death.
After all, everyone had seen how much she once adored him.
Even when he publicly rejected her at their wedding, saying he’d never love her, she just smiled into the mic and replied, “Yeah, forced love isn’t sweet–but it still gets the job done.”
Now, with his body barely cold, she was spiraling into delusion.
Everyone just pitied her–this hopeless, lovesick fool.
At the airport, Samuel–very much alive–sat in the VIP lounge beside Nadya, sunglasses on, waiting for their flight.
With his fake death a success, he had shed his old identity and was about to jet off with Nadya to the first stop of their world tour–Paris.
Scrolling through his phone, he watched his own funeral stream. He saw Jenny in a wedding dress.
His assistant whispered, “Mrs. Jaures seems to have snapped. She keeps saying she’s marrying Riley…”
For some reason, Samuel’s chest tightened.
“Don’t send her to the hospital just yet,” he said. “Just keep an eye on her. Make sure she stays safe.”
At that moment, Jenny was passing through airport security–still wearing white lace and tulle–boarding a flight to Chicago.
Waiting to receive her was the Jensen family’s butler, the same one who’d
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served Riley since she was a child.
He reached for her luggage, only to be intercepted by Samuel’s assistant.
“Mrs. Jaures, the guests are still waiting for you at the memorial. Please, stop this nonsense.”
Jenny gave a cold smile. “Samuel is dead. So is our marriage. I’m no longer your ‘Mrs. Jaures.‘ I don’t need your permission to live my life.”
She spoke with icy clarity. No confusion. No hesitation. For a moment, the assistant doubted everything he’d been told about her being mentally
unstable./
When he realized he couldn’t stop her, he slipped aside and made a call.
“Mr. Jaures, she’s really flying to Chicago…”
“What the hell is wrong with her?” Samuel muttered, annoyed. He had barely “died,” and Jenny was already shouting about getting remarried to a woman, no less.
Ridiculous!
Just then, Nadya hooked her arm around his. “Honey, boarding time.”
Urged along, Samuel switched off his phone. “Forget her. Let her play her little drama. What trouble could she and that Canadian girl possibly stir up?”
What the assistant didn’t know was that Riley had bugged his phone- every word Samuel said was being transmitted, loud and clear, to Jenny and the Jensen family’s butler.
Jenny handed off her suitcase and exchanged a quiet smile with him. “Looks like your family really knows how to keep secrets,” she said.
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“I’m just a widow marrying my best friend. What can they do about it?”
