Blood Wars : Will You Be My Groom?

The morning light crept through Harmony's blinds when her phone pinged. Jeremy's message glowed on the screen: "Morning, gorgeous. Can I see that beautiful face of yours?"

She adjusted her position, carefully angling the camera to capture her face, avoiding any hint of her prosthetic leg. A soft filter smoothed her skin, hiding the sleepless night's traces. Jeremy's response came quickly: "Breathtaking. You're an angel."

The word felt like a fragile promise, ready to shatter at the slightest touch. As she closed her laptop, Harmony's thoughts lingered on Alex's message, and she wondered what the day would bring.

Later that morning, Harmony walked across the university campus, the pale sunlight casting long shadows across the quad. Harmony spotted Alex near the law school steps. His posture was different today-less guarded, more apologetic.

"Hey Harmony, can we talk now " Alex's voice carried a weight of unspoken understanding.

They found a quiet bench beneath an old oak tree. Harmony's fingers traced invisible patterns on her jeans, her prosthetic leg carefully positioned out of immediate view.

"About yesterday," Alex began, his eyes soft but direct, "I'm sorry for how things came out.

A bitter laugh escaped Harmony's lips. "Which part? My sister's drama or my... leg?"

Alex leaned forward, his hands clasped between his knees. "Neither. The vulnerability of having a secret that feels like it could break everything."

The rawness of his words caught her off guard. Her breath caught - a mix of vulnerability and unexpected connection.

"How do you tell someone," Harmony whispered, her voice cracking, "that a part of you is... different? That something fundamental about you isn't what they expect?"

Alex's hand hovered close to hers, not touching, but close enough to feel the shared electricity of understanding.

"Jeremy doesn't know," he said. It wasn't a question.

Before she could respond, her phone vibrated. An unknown number.

[Location: Riverside Cafe. 2 PM. Come alone.]

The moment shattered. Harmony's fingers gripped the phone, her body tensing.

"I have to go," she muttered, standing abruptly.

Alex's concern was immediate. "Everything okay?"

"Just... something I need to handle," she deflected, her escape already planned.

As she walked away, her prosthetic leg moved with a practiced smoothness-a secret rhythm known only to her.

The moment Harmony walked into the Riverside Cafe, her world tilted. There, sitting with an impossible grace, was the blonde woman from the photo Mara had shown her - the same woman Jeremy had been photographed with at the summit.

Sarah. The name clicked in her mind like a key turning in a lock.

"You're the one from the photo," Harmony breathed, her hand gripping the edge of the table.

Sarah's smile was calculated, almost predatory. "I'm more than just a photo, Harmony. I'm Jeremy's fiancée."

The words hung in the air, heavy with implication. "Fiancée?" Harmony's voice trembled.

"Jeremy and I have been engaged for a while now," Sarah explained, her manicured fingers playing with a diamond ring. "Our families are merging two major business empires. Jeremy and I have known each other since childhood."

Harmony's mind reeled. The online conversations, the promises, the intimate moments - all suddenly felt like a fabrication.

"He never mentioned you," she managed to whisper.

Sarah leaned forward, her perfume a sharp contrast to the cafe's soft ambiance. "Of course not. You were just... a distraction. Something to pass time before our arranged marriage."

The words were designed to cut. And they did.

"I don't believe you," Harmony's voice cracked. "Jeremy would never hurt."

Sarah's laugh was cruel. "Look at you. A girl, not even whole, thinking she could compete with me? Jeremy needs a perfect partner. Not someone... broken."

Her eyes dropped to Harmony's leg, the judgment clear and merciless.

Harmony felt her world crumbling. The support she'd built, the dreams she'd crafted - all dissolving like mist.

"Stay away from Jeremy," Sarah's final warning as she stood to leave was soft but absolute. "You're not in his league. Not now. Not ever."

The cafe's ambient noise faded. Sarah's final words echoed in Harmony's ears like a persistent, poisonous whisper.

"Jeremy needs perfection. Not someone... broken."

Broken.... It continued to longer in her mind.

Her legs moved automatically, her prosthetic feeling heavier with each step. The world blurred - buildings, people, colors bleeding into a watercolor of pain.

The city streets seemed to close in. Her breath caught in sharp, desperate gasps. Tears threatened, but she wouldn't - couldn't - break here. Not in public. Not where anyone could see the destruction Sarah had carved into her heart.

Home felt like a distant concept. Her phone buzzed. Jeremy. She couldn't. Not now. Not ever.

As she stumbled out of the cafe, Harmony's mind reeled with the implications of Sarah's revelation."

The front door opened. Her father's concerned voice cut through her fog. "Harmony?"

She couldn't speak. Couldn't look at him.

Her body moved like a wounded animal, each step a battle against the crushing weight of betrayal. The prosthetic leg dragged, a physical manifestation of her brokenness.

Her bedroom door became her sanctuary.

Her shield. Inside, the dam broke.

Tears came - not delicate, Hollywood tears, but raw, guttural sobs that seemed to emerge from the deepest, most wounded part of her soul.

Her phone continued its persistent rhythm. Jeremy's calls. Messages. Notifications.

Each ping was a reminder. A knife twist.

Her fingers, trembling, reached for the device. One by one, she deleted his messages. Each deletion felt like a small act of self-preservation.

"Harmony?" Her father's voice, soft. Concerned. "Can I come in?"

Silence was her only response.The phone buzzed again, she pressed the power button. Silence! Complete and absolute.

The tears continued. But now, they were hers alone.

Broken.

The word Sarah had used burned like a brand.

Her father's shadow lingered outside her door. No words. Just presence. A silent promise of protection she didn't know how to accept.

The world outside continued.

Inside her room, Harmony's universe had collapsed into a single, devastating moment of loss.