Three Days

“You’re not going near him again,” Christian said, pacing the length of the room. “Not without me.”

“I can handle myself,” Jessica said.

“Clearly. That’s why he cornered you into a secret meeting within twenty four hours of moving in.” Christian stopped pacing, running a hand through his hair. “I should have warned you better. I should have known he’d move this fast.”

“You couldn’t have known he’d already talked to Barry.”

Christian’s eyes darkened at the name. “Barry. Of course he’d run straight to my cousin the second he lost everything. Trying to burn down what’s left.”

Jessica sat on the edge of the sofa, her mind still racing. “What proof does he actually have? A video from the gala, a picture of us at a cafe. None of that proves the marriage is fake.”

“It doesn’t need to prove it,” Christian said. “It just needs to make my grandfather doubt it. That’s enough. A dying man doesn’t need proof to feel afraid he’s making the wrong choice.”

“Then we give your grandfather something stronger than doubt,” Jessica said, standing up. “We give him certainty.”

Christian looked at her, waiting.

“Everyone already thinks we moved too fast,” Jessica continued. “So we stop hiding that. We tell your grandfather the truth, sort of. That we met under strange circumstances. That it wasn’t planned. But that something real happened anyway.”

“You want to tell him the truth?”

“Not all of it,” Jessica said quickly. “Just enough to make Matt’s story sound weak. If we act surprised by how fast this happened too, instead of pretending it was some perfect fairy tale, it makes us harder to catch in a lie.”

Christian studied her for a long moment. “That could work. Or it could make things worse.”

“Do you have a better idea?”

He didn’t answer right away. Then his phone buzzed on the table. He glanced at the screen and his face went tight.

“It’s Lira,” he said, answering. “What.”

Jessica watched his expression shift from irritated to alarmed in seconds.

“When?” Christian’s voice sharpened. “How bad?”

He hung up and turned to Jessica, his face pale. “My grandfather collapsed an hour ago. He’s at the house now. The doctor’s with him.”

Jessica’s stomach dropped. “Is he okay?”

“I don’t know.” Christian was already grabbing his keys. “Come on. We need to go.”

The house was full of tension when they arrived. A doctor stood near the stairs, speaking quietly to Lira. Arnold was in his bed, pale but awake, his breathing slow and heavy.

“Grandfather,” Christian said, rushing to his side.

Arnold’s eyes fluttered open. “Christian. And Jessica.” His voice was weaker than before, but his eyes still held that same sharp light. “Don’t look so scared. I’m not gone yet.”

“You collapsed,” Christian said. “The doctor said your heart—”

“My heart is old,” Arnold said, waving a thin hand. “It’s been old for years. This isn’t news.”

Jessica stepped closer, taking his other hand gently. “You scared us.”

Arnold’s eyes softened as he looked at her. “Good. Means you care.” He turned his gaze to Christian. “I want the wedding moved up.”

“Grandfather, you need rest, not a wedding—”

“I need to see you married before I go,” Arnold said, his voice suddenly firm despite his weakness. “Not in two weeks. Tomorrow. Or the day after. I won’t wait longer.”

Christian’s jaw tightened. “That’s too fast. There’s too much to plan.”

“I don’t care about flowers and cakes,” Arnold snapped, some of his old fire returning. “I care about seeing my grandson happy before I close my eyes for the last time. Give an old man his final wish, Christian.”

The room fell silent. Jessica watched Christian’s face, saw the war happening behind his eyes. Moving the wedding up meant less time to plan, less time to prepare for whatever Matt was planning. But saying no to a dying man’s final wish felt impossible.

“Two days,” Christian said finally. “We’ll have the wedding in two days.”

Arnold’s face broke into a tired but genuine smile. “Good. That’s all I wanted to hear.”

Outside the room, Christian leaned against the wall, his composure finally cracking.

“Two days,” he said quietly. “Two days to plan everything, and Matt has that long to destroy us.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Jessica said.

“Will we?” Christian looked at her, exhaustion clear on his face. “My grandfather might not survive the month, Jessica. And Matt is standing in the wings ready to burn everything down the second he gets a chance.”

Jessica stepped closer, surprising herself with how natural it felt to reach for his hand. “Then we don’t give him the chance.”

Christian looked down at their joined hands, something shifting in his expression. “Why are you still here? You could have walked away after that cafe meeting. Taken whatever Matt offered and disappeared.”

“Because your grandfather held my hand like I actually mattered to him,” Jessica said quietly. “And because somewhere between the champagne and the kiss in that car, this stopped feeling completely fake to me too.”

Christian’s eyes met hers, something raw and unguarded passing between them.

“Jessica—”

His phone buzzed again, cutting him off. He glanced at the screen, and his face went hard.

“What is it?” Jessica asked.

He turned the phone toward her. It was a message from an unknown number, the same one Jessica suspected belonged to Matt.

Heard about the wedding moving up. Guess desperation runs in the family now. See you both at the rehearsal dinner. I’ve got quite the presentation planned.

Jessica’s blood turned cold.

“He knows already,” she whispered. “How does he know already?”

Christian’s eyes darkened, scanning the message again. “Someone in this house is talking to him.”

He looked up, his gaze sweeping toward the hallway where Lira stood watching them from a distance, her expression unreadable.