Chapter 3
"Maybe Ms. Harmon finally came to her senses," Larry said quietly as he leaned closer. "Are you still going to keep this up?"
"Find her," Jake snapped under his breath. "She has to be nearby. She wouldn't really leave."
At that moment, the ballroom doors suddenly opened.
A thin figure stood in the light. But it wasn't Alice.
Jake froze. "Fiona?"
Fiona walked in wearing a white dress. She looked fragile, her face pale and sorrowful.
Gasps spread through the crowd. Everyone recognized her as Jake's first love, who had disappeared years ago.
"Jake..." Fiona said, her eyes filling with tears. "I'm back. I heard you were getting married, so I came to wish you happiness."
Jake stared at her. This was the face he had missed for three years. But something felt wrong. He expected joy, relief, and something strong. Instead, there was only a hollow feeling in his chest.
All he could think about was Alice.
"Fiona, step aside for now," he said.
"No!" Fiona suddenly shouted. She turned to face the guests. "Everyone, the bride isn't coming because she doesn't deserve to!"
She threw a stack of photos into the air. "Here's proof that Alice was unfaithful while she was away.
"She lied to Jake. She even tried to trap him with a pregnancy, but the baby isn't his."
The crowd erupted.
This was the exact plan Jake had made. But now, Fiona was the one carrying it out.
*****
At the hospital, the lights were harsh and cold.
Alice lay on the operating table as sharp pain tore through her body.
The anesthesia had not fully taken effect yet. The pain was so intense that her vision blurred.
At the height of her pain, her thoughts drifted back to Jake.
Five years ago, they met at a charity gala. Known as the princess of the Harmon family, she was bored with all the fake compliments and empty praise. She slipped away to the rooftop and found him there, also seeking a moment of quiet.
"I'm Jake," he had said, handing her a glass of juice. "You look like you need this more than champagne."
Alice raised an eyebrow. "How do you know I don't drink?"
"It's not exactly a secret. Everyone knows you only go for juice at these parties," he said with an easy grin.
He looked impossibly handsome under the moonlight, his features almost too perfect.
Later, he told her that the moment she smiled at him, bright and proud, was the moment he decided he had to have her.
Another wave of pain hit. She remembered the first time she cooked for him and burned her hand.
He stayed up all night searching for the best medicine. As he gently applied it, he said, "You're a Harmon. You don't need to do this."
"I want to," she said at the time. "I'd do anything for you."
Now it all felt cruel.
She had been ready to give up everything for him, and to him, she was nothing more than a prize.
"Take a deep breath. It's almost done," the doctor said gently, his voice muffled and unreal.
Alice then thought of the kidnapping. Jake lay in bed, his head wrapped in bandages, holding her hand. "Alice, don't be scared. I'm okay."
She had cried so hard that day, drowning in guilt.
Another surge of pain crashed over her. Alice clung to the edge of the operating table, her fingers digging into the metal until her nails threatened to break.
This time, she remembered the night before their seventeenth wedding attempt. He held her close and whispered, "Alice, even if I lose my memory, my heart will always love you."
Every word had been a lie.
From the very beginning, he had never been honest with her.
"It's over," the doctor said softly.
Alice felt something inside her slip away forever.
She closed her eyes, and a single tear slid down her cheek.
*****
Meanwhile, the wedding venue had fallen into complete chaos.
Fiona stood at the altar, her body trembling as she looked at Jake.
She looked pale and fragile, like she might break at any second. "Jake, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said those things today, but I couldn't just stand there and watch you get fooled anymore."
A wave of gasps moved through the crowd.
A faint look of triumph flashed in Fiona's eyes. She went on, "Jake only lost his memory because he found out the truth about her. The shock was too much for him. This is all Alice's fault."
She turned to Jake, her eyes full of expectation, waiting for him to follow her lead.
According to their plan, this was the moment he was supposed to look devastated. Then she would step in and comfort him, and everything would fall back into place. She would naturally become his woman again.
Jake looked at Fiona. Then he glanced at the guests, who were either stunned or quietly suspicious.
All of a sudden, a memory hit him. Alice stood in front of a mirror, trying on her wedding dress for the last time.
"Jake?" Fiona called softly, pulling him back.
Jake gave a slow nod. "Yes. What Fiona said is true."
The crowd erupted into chaos.
Jake's mother shot to her feet, ready to speak, but his father quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back down.
Larry frowned deeply. Something about all of this felt off.
Meanwhile, Fiona was so thrilled that everything was going according to plan that she lifted her skirt slightly, ready to run up to the altar.