“I had to.” Her voice grew stronger. “Your foundation helped me once. A sandwich. School supplies. That doesn’t sound like much to people like them, but it was everything to me. And she was going to destroy it.”
So when Saturday came, Lily knew the only way to stop Olivia was to stop the wedding herself.
That afternoon, she stood across the street behind a parked van, palms slick with sweat. Expensive cars rolled up to the church. Guests stepped out polished and untouchable. Guards stood at the entrance like bouncers at a private club. People like Lily did not belong in places like that.
At exactly three o’clock, the music started inside.
She clutched the phone so tightly it hurt.
“Just five seconds,” she whispered to herself.
Then she stepped out.
At the church doors, a guard blocked her path. “Private event, kid.”
“I need to talk to Ethan Parker,” Lily said, her voice shaking. “He’s in danger.”
The guard laughed. When she tried to slip past, he grabbed the back of her shirt and yanked her back.
Inside, the wedding music swelled.
Lily had run out of time.
So she screamed, loud enough to cut through the ceremony.
“Don’t let him marry her! She’s going to steal everything!”