Kendra's POV:

"Thanks, Elaine."

I made sure I looked grateful enough to fool them while still letting a little fear show. They bought it completely. Vince even looked at me as if he'd already won.

"Kendra, you need to start appreciating what Elaine's done for you. And you need to stop treating her like you used to," Vince said. "She's the real Scott heiress, but she's still helped you over and over again. Most people wouldn't do that for someone who came from nowhere."

I gave him a quick nod and pretended his warning had scared me.

Elaine kept comforting me for a few more minutes, though every kind word coming from her felt fake. Then she took out a piece of paper and a pen and pushed them toward me.

"Kendra, we both know what happened that day. You tried to hit me with your car," she said softly. "I'm not trying to make things harder for you, but the police already know about the accident, and they'll want an explanation."

She gave me a concerned look before nudging the paper closer. "I'm not going to press charges. Just sign this, and we can finally put the whole thing behind us."

One look at the statement told me exactly what they were trying to do. It had already been written from my point of view. According to the confession, I'd been drunk behind the wheel and caused the crash myself.

So that was their plan. Elaine had been the one who hit me, but now she wanted me to admit that I'd caused everything. If I signed my name, I'd be taking responsibility for a crime I hadn't committed, and that lie could follow me for the rest of my life.

There was no way I could sign it.

My fingers relaxed around the pen, and both of them noticed my hesitation almost immediately.

"What's the problem now?" Vince asked impatiently. "You're not seriously going to pretend you didn't do it, are you? Elaine's already letting this go when she doesn't have to. The least you can do is stop making things difficult."

His words hurt more than I wanted to admit. Vince used to tell me I was the most important person in his life, and he'd promised that he'd always protect me. Whenever people looked down on me because of where I'd come from, he'd stand up for me. He'd even spent time teaching me how to carry myself so I could become a proper heir.

I never thought all those promises would mean nothing less than a year later, or that he'd end up helping another woman ruin me.

I lowered my head so they wouldn't see what I was feeling. Then I pressed the pen to the paper and dragged it across the page for a few seconds, leaving behind nothing but a crooked line.

"What are you doing?" Vince grabbed my wrist and glared at me. "Are you screwing around with us?"

I swallowed my anger and quickly pulled back as if he'd scared me. "I'm sorry. I... I don't think I can write with this hand anymore."

They called the doctor back into the room, and his explanation was simple.

"The accident may have damaged some of the nerves in her hand," he said. "That can affect movement and coordination. It's not uncommon after a serious crash."

Elaine's irritation disappeared almost at once, and a pleased look crossed her face. She gently took my hand and went right back to pretending she cared. "Don't worry, Kendra. We'll figure this out. You should get some rest. Vince and I need to talk to the doctor for a minute."

A short while later, they left the room. My entire body still ached, but I forced myself out of bed and made my way to the door. I opened it just enough to hear them talking outside.

"Looks like luck's finally on our side. Kendra can barely use her hand now, so what good is she to the family? We might not even have to push her out. There's no way the Scotts would make her the heir like this. Elaine, this is our chance. Before they come back, we need to make sure everyone hears about her memory loss and what happened to her hand. Then when they have to choose between Kendra, who can't remember anything and can barely use one hand, and an adopted daughter who's healthy and has never caused them any trouble, who do you think they're going to pick?"

Vince kept his voice down, but the excitement in it was impossible to miss.

"But she's still Mom and Dad's biological daughter," Elaine said. "What if they feel sorry for her and still make you marry her?"

Vince reached for her hand. "Then we'll give them a reason not to. We'll make it look like she's seeing someone else and let the whole city know. And I already know who we can drag into it. Rhett, my father's illegitimate son. He's been trying to find Rhett a wife from a decent family anyway. If everyone starts believing something's going on between him and Kendra, we can dump them on each other and be done with both of them."

Elaine leaned into him. "You really do think of everything. But how are you going to get Rhett to go along with it?"

"Don't worry about him. He's spent most of his life outside this world. He doesn't know how any of this works." He sounded completely sure of himself. "I'll offer him something he wants, and he'll take the bait. By the time he figures out what's happening, it'll be too late."

Vince pulled Elaine closer and kissed her. The sound carried through the quiet hallway.

My hands started shaking as I slowly closed the door. I couldn't stand there and watch them hold each other like that.

Three days ago, I'd still believed Vince loved me. I'd thought I was lucky enough to have a fiancé who cared about me and an adopted sister I could trust.

Now I knew exactly what both of them were.

I fought back the tears and curled my fingers into my palm until my nails dug into my skin. Whatever they were planning, I wasn't going to let them win.

I was done letting them decide what happened to me. Once I got out from under their control, I'd make sure they paid for every single thing they'd done.

Vince's POV:

Once Elaine was gone, I called Rhett Clarke.

"Rhett, I have an offer for you. I'll give you one of the company's biggest projects if you help me with something."

I hid my dislike for him and kept my tone friendly. "My fiancée, Kendra, is the Scott heiress, but she's having memory problems right now. Until she gets better, I need you to pretend you're her fiancé."

I was sure he wouldn't turn me down. He'd only recently started working at the company, and he badly needed a major project if he wanted to prove himself.

Just as I expected, Rhett agreed without much hesitation.

"Fine. I'll do it."

Rhett showed up sooner than I thought he would. He wore a suit that looked custom-made, and I could smell cologne on him as soon as he arrived. Clearly, he'd made an effort for the occasion.

I looked at him with quiet contempt. What a pathetic bastard. He was taking a woman I'd already cast aside and acting like he'd somehow won something valuable.

I kept those thoughts to myself and brought him straight to Kendra's hospital room. The moment the door opened, I saw the surprise on her face, and a sense of satisfaction rose inside me.

"Kendra, this is Rhett Clarke, your fiancé," I said. "He's also my illegitimate younger half-brother."

Kendra's POV:

The moment I saw Rhett, I found myself at a loss for words. He was undeniably handsome, with a tall, broad-shouldered frame and an imposing air that naturally drew attention. Yet there was something almost dangerous about the way his eyes rested on me, as though a predator were quietly studying its prey and calculating its next move.

"It looks like my fiancée approves of what she sees."

His deep voice held a trace of teasing amusement, while his steady gaze made it strangely difficult for me to look anywhere else.

For a moment, I just stood there, not knowing how to respond.

Vince and Elaine had actually gone as far as finding someone to pretend to be my fiancé. What shocked me even more was that Rhett had willingly gone along with their absurd arrangement. He slipped into the role so naturally, as though he'd been playing it for years.

I quietly examined his face, trying to figure out what was going through his mind. Before I could make sense of anything, however, Vince reached over and covered my eyes.

"Kendra, what are you looking at? Have you never seen a man before?"

The annoyance in his voice was obvious, and his fingers pressed so tightly against my face that I winced. I was just about to pull his hand away when Rhett grabbed Vince's wrist and yanked his hand back.

"She's my fiancée, Vince. Is it really that surprising she takes an interest in me?"

Rhett slid an arm around my waist before leaning down and pressing a kiss against my cheek. The gesture was so natural and intimate that anyone watching us might have assumed we'd been a couple for years.

With his arm securely around me and the faint fragrance of his cologne drifting around me, I immediately felt heat spreading across my face.

"You're standing too close," I whispered, attempting to push him away. Instead of letting me go, Rhett tightened his hold.

"You're cold." His voice was low as he spoke beside my ear. He then shrugged off his jacket and gently placed it over my shoulders.

The warmth of the jacket wrapped around me, along with the unmistakable sense of his presence.

It had barely settled around me before Vince angrily snatched it away.

His face was twisted with jealousy and fury as he tried to pull Rhett away from me. "What exactly do you think you're doing, Rhett? Don't forget what you came here for."

Rhett didn't show the slightest sign of being intimidated. He remained beside me, calm and unshaken, like a guard determined to stand his ground.

"I haven't forgotten. I know perfectly well why I'm here. I'm Kendra's fiancé, and there's nothing inappropriate about me showing some affection toward the woman I'm supposed to marry."

Vince looked furious, far more enraged than I'd ever seen him. He opened his mouth as though he wanted to argue, but in the end, he stopped himself and let out a disdainful scoff.

"Some people spend their entire lives picking through another person's scraps until they start mistaking leftovers for treasure." His expression turned even more contemptuous. "But I suppose an illegitimate son without any status and some nobody from the backwoods are a fitting pair."

"Vince, you shouldn't say things like that so bluntly. You might hurt their feelings," Elaine said, pretending to sound concerned.

She immediately wrapped herself around his arm as though deliberately reminding everyone that he belonged to her. Vince didn't push her away. Instead, he casually pulled her closer, the familiarity of the gesture making my stomach churn.

Knowing that the two of them had been intimate with each other behind my back throughout my relationship with Vince made me want to rip them apart. But this wasn't the moment to lose control. I dug my fingernails into my palm and forced myself to stay composed.

Both Vince and Elaine wanted me dead. I had no idea what Rhett's intentions were, but at this moment, he was the only person who could possibly help me get away from them.

I deliberately turned my gaze away from Vince and Elaine, and then slipped my arm through Rhett's.

Forcing a faint, bashful smile onto my face, I said, "Whatever people may think about Rhett's background, he's the man I love. In my eyes, no one could ever be better than him."

Vince stared at me as though he'd just heard something impossible. He even pulled his arm free from Elaine's grasp before reaching toward me.

"Kendra, what the hell are you saying? You have no memory of anything, and you're saying you love this bastard—"

Before he could get any closer, Elaine grabbed his hand and held it tightly.

Then she let out a soft, pitiful whimper in that delicate voice of hers. "Babe, Kendra and Rhett are together. As long as they're happy, shouldn't we be happy for them too?"

Vince didn't say another word, but his eyes remained locked on the arm I had linked with Rhett's. The look he gave me was almost accusatory, as though I were the one who had betrayed him.

It was ridiculous. This entire arrangement had been Vince's idea in the first place, yet somehow, he seemed to be the first person incapable of maintaining the act.

Rhett reached out and gently held my face, turning my attention back to him.

"Don't keep looking at other men when your fiancé is standing right beside you. I already spoke with your doctor about your condition, and you've been cleared for discharge. Come on, Kendra. Let's go home."

He then turned toward Vince and smiled politely. "Thank you both for informing me that my fiancée needed me. I'll take her home now."

Rage darkened Vince's face. He squeezed Elaine's arm, not even noticing until she winced and cried out.

I paid them no attention and allowed Rhett to lead me away. We were almost at the hospital entrance when Elaine suddenly hurried after us.

"Kendra, your phone was damaged in the accident, so I bought you a new one."

She held out the phone with a concerned expression.

After finally seeing Elaine's true colors, I was certain she wouldn't go out of her way to help me simply out of sisterly concern. There was no such thing as a free favor from someone like her. Even so, I accepted the phone and returned her smile.

"Thank you, Elaine. You're so thoughtful. Rhett and I are going home now."

I then followed Rhett into his ordinary black sedan. As soon as the car door shut, I pulled out the new phone and immediately began inspecting it.