"Start from the beginning and don't leave anything out" Hayley sat opposite him. If she was going to do this, she had to start with him. Jim. His shock at seeing her had turned to remorse. She could see it in his eyes but she wanted to know what happened before going forward with her plans.

Clearing his throat he said "First of all I'm sorry. For hiding the truth from you and threatening to take Alexis. I didn't mean it Hayley. I would never do that unless it's to protect her"

"My daughter doesn't need protection from me" she snapped. Just because she was here didn't mean she wasn't angry anymore.

"I know. You're a good mother, there's no question about that. I just panicked. JR.... He's gone through a lot and I just want to see him happy."

"Why lie Jim? Why didn't you tell me the truth from the beginning?"

"After Candy introduced us, I had Carrick, my PI investigate you. When he brought the results I couldn't believe it. I heard Jeffrey had married but I never met you. I don't know if he told you, but we didn't get along. Mabel poisoned his mind so much that whatever I did was never enough. And I tried my best but with Lucinda and work, it was all too much. When I missed a weekend meant to spend with him, he'd think I chose JR over him. Mabel filled his head with so much venom that by the time he graduated highschool, we had grown apart. I tried reaching out but he was stubborn. Sometimes I would hold back on paying for his college fees just so I could see him but his mother twisted everything. In his eyes I was always taking JR's side and that always bothered him because he couldn't understand how I'd take someone else's side and not him."

"Yeah but JR is your son too"

"He is. But he's adopted" Jim stopped just to gauge her reaction.

"What? I thought....." she shut her mouth. What had she thought? They talked about everything and nothing but never about their lives. He'd asked her about her family and when he'd seen how sad she got after talking about her dad, he stopped asking. That was her JR. Always trying to make her happy.

"He doesn't like talking about it because Lucinda wouldn't stop reminding him he was adopted."

"Why?"

"How do I put this" he asked, letting his elbows rest on the table as he looked her in the eyes "We were young when she got pregnant. She was so excited that we finished the nursery in the first week after she had found out. She was two months pregnant by then and Lucinda wouldn't stop planning for the future. So you see when she lost the baby a month later, she was devastated. Everything about her changed. She spent hours in the nursery sitting on the floor and staring into space. I tried telling her we could try again but she didn't want to. She said one dead child was enough. So we adopted. Lucky for us we found JR, only an infant his mother having died during childbirth. He had no family and the state was only ready to give him to us. But Lucinda..... I think every time she saw him, she thought of the baby we lost. With time her despise for him grew. She couldn't get past the fact that he wasn't perfect like how her baby would have been. JR grew up trying to do everything we wanted because he didn't want to be sent back to the orphanage. If it wasn't for Nick I think he would still be trying to please us."

"All this time I stayed here, how come no one ever mentioned Lucinda? There are no photos or any evidence that she lived here let alone still alive" '

"Out of sight out of mind. I had to put away all the photos of her in her bedroom. Anything that reminded JR he wasn't a Rutherford. That meant all of Lucinda's things."

"Mabel......"

"Is a devil incarnate. She approached me when I was in this bar busy drowning in my misery. After the baby and before JR I didn't know what to do. Lucinda was inconsolable. One night Mabel approached me. She was nice, sweet, charming and so innocent. At least that's what I thought. But it turns she just wanted to get pregnant by a rich guy then live comfortably by using her child. She rubbed her pregnancy in Lucinda's face every chance she got taunting her how she couldn't do something as simple as to carry a child to term. Some of my wife's anger came from that but she took it out on the wrong person."

"Have you seen her? Mabel I mean"

"Yes. Once. Only to tell her how horrible she was and to make sure she knew that if she ever touched Alexis again I would kill her with my own hands" he said running his hand through the gray mass of hair on his head. He looked tired, like someone who wasn't getting enough sleep.

"Jim when was the last time you slept?" Hayley asked. Jim raised his eyes to her looking at her like she had gone insane. "Don't look at me like that. Take your medicine and go to sleep. You look like shit" getting up she left. Jim took that as her way of saying she hadn't forgiven him but with time she would get there. He was an old man who only wanted grandkids to play with. And he wouldn't do that if he dropped dead so he followed her instructions and went to sleep. One thing was for sure. His son was going to be just fine. He'd bet his entire fortune that Hayley was going to see him the second she left the house.

---------------------

Hayley went to see Vince next. Jim would have definitely lost his fortune had he made that bet. She called him and asked him to have lunch with her. She chose a pizza place where they could stuff their faces so whatever she had to say wouldn't hurt that much. At least that's what she thought. But Vince was a detective. The second he got there, he didn't even get out of his car. Instead he told her to get in and drove straight home without saying a word. He made a bee line for the kitchen where he took out a bottle of whiskey. Drinking the first glass in a gulp, he poured another then went back to where she sat, dropping beside her. "Sorry. I need this if I'm going to get through whatever you have to say to me"

"No Vince. I'm the one who's sorry. I thought I could make this work with you. I really believed I could"

"I know. But you fell in love with him. Didn't you?"

She nodded wiping away her tears "Yes."

"It's okay Hayley. I understand that the heart wants what it wants."

"I never meant to hurt you Vince. You're my best friend, my saviour. You taught me how to live again"

"And I would do it a million times over even if I knew you wouldn't pick me."

"I know and that's why this is so hard Vince. You've been there for me when I needed you the most. You helped me overcome my worries and fears. I don't want to break your heart"

"You're not" he said abandoning the glass on the table to hold her. "I promise you're not breaking my heart. I'm okay Hayley so stop crying"

"Stop lying to me."

"Fine. I feel like my heart has been shattered to a million pieces and I don't know if I'll ever put the pieces back together but I'll live. I've seen worse" she tried to pull back from his embrace but he held her tighter to hide his tears. "I'll be okay so long as you're happy"

"Oh Vince. I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry" they stayed like that for a few minutes then Vince let go of her.

"So have you seen him?" he asked.

"No. I had to see you first"

Vince chuckled "Saving the best for last. Eh"

"No. It's not like that" the horror on her face made him reach out and brush her hair back.

"I'm joking Hayley" she punched him on the shoulder

"It's not funny"

"And your punches aren't feminine so please refrain from hitting me. I'm dying here" they both laughed. Hayley wondered if her relationship with Vince would ever go back to the way it was. They had crossed some lines but they both knew it wouldn't lead to anything. But still. What if he came to resent her because she chose JR over him? What if he never found anyone else to love and remained miserable for the rest of his life because of her? She looked at him worriedly. Vince was a good guy who deserved to be happy. He deserved to find someone who loved him. "Stop"

"Huh" Hayley asked still lost in her thoughts.

"You wear your emotions on your sleeve Hayley. I can see what's going on in that pretty head of yours. Don't think about it"

"But...."

"I'm a big boy and I can take care of myself. I'll be okay"

"So you keep saying"

"But I have one favor to ask"

"Anything" if she would have been paying attention she would have seen the evil smirk on his face. But she didn't

"You're going to have to name one of your kids after me." he said and waited to see her reaction.

"Yeah sure....... Wait what?"

"You heard me. Vincent Elmer."

"Your middle name is Elmer? No way. Sorry but it's not happening"

"You promised me just two seconds ago. You said anything Hayley"

"I know. But Vincent Elmer? Forget that. JR wouldn't agree to Vincent let alone Elmer."

"Use your feminine charms. Besides if you haven't seen him yet it means you hold the power here. He will do anything to get you back"

Hayley cocked her head to the side. "You think so?"

"Trust me. That idiot will agree to name all your children after me if it would mean getting you back."

"I wouldn't say anything....."

"Who do you think sent you those magazines you burnt?"

"What maga....... No way. He didn't" Hayley got up. That sly dog wouldn't do that.

"It worked. You fell for it Hayley"

"He knew Giselle would get to you and that's why he sent them. The best part... "

"What? What was the best part?"

"Was that they were old dated almost a year or two ago"

"He's dead. I am going to kill him"

"Please do. You would be doing a lot of people including me a favor. Don't forget to make it painful" Vince said sipping on his drink. JR was sure going to get it and any amount of pain Hayley was going to give him wouldn't be enough to compare to what he felt inside. So maybe he should suffer a little before he spent the rest of his life with the most amazing woman he'd ever known.

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JR paced in Nick's apartment. Their plan wasn't working at all. He thought she would do something. Call him, show up at one of his dinners, the house. Anything. But she hadn't even attempted to send him a text. "This is all your fault Nick. I told you it wouldn't work but you insisted"

"Of course it's my fault because it didn't work. But had she been in your arms......."

"But she isn't" he roared cutting him off. "She isn't and I don't know if she's ever going to come back. What if all this just made it worse? What if she thinks I don't love her anymore?"

"Then let her go. If she doesn't come back then she was never yours to begin with"

"Fuck you Nick. What do you know about love? Hell you can't even admit you like Shree. Your advice doesn't count" JR snapped. Instead of Nick being offended he wanted to laugh. Who knew a woman would tie his friend into a knot like this? He had to give it to Hayley though. She truly was Wonder Woman.

"Fine. I'll keep my mouth shut, unless I'm eating. Then I have to open it but the other times I promise not to open it. Well maybe if I'm yawning...."

"Go to hell" JR told him leaving. Nicks laughter followed him all the way to the elevator where he punched the ground floor button harder than necessary. Getting in his car he decided to go home. Hopefully Lucinda would stay out of his way.

"James can I have a word with you?" damn his bad luck.

"Not now mother. I'm not in the mood to hear you complain about how imperfect I am"

"They were right then. I have been a horrible person and mother." she said more to herself than him. JR stopped. What had gotten into her now?

"What are you going on about now?"

She walked to the living room and he followed her curious to know what was wrong with her. She sat on a sofa and he was inclined to seat next to her. "What's wrong mom?"

"I heard your father talking to this woman in his study. I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I couldn't help myself. He told her what a horrible mother I've been.... "

"Mom"

"Was I that bad? Tell me the truth James. Did I really make your life miserable?" when he didn't answer she nodded. "I was so excited when I got pregnant. It was all I had ever wanted. A husband and a child of my own. I drove your father crazy with all the demands I made. By the end of the first week after we found out we were going to have a baby, the nursery was done. That's how excited I was. But when the doctor said I'd lost the baby I couldn't believe it.... I...... How" she stopped so she could swallow the sob in her throat. "I thought the pain would kill me. All I kept seeing was a baby that was ripped away from my hands. Every child I saw out there or on TV, I would compare them and wonder if that's how my baby would have been." JR sensed that whatever had prompted her to talk would prefer he kept his mouth shut. So he didn't interrupt her.

"Your father said we should adopt and I went along with it because I thought it would make him happy. But when I saw you all bundled up, when the doctor placed you in my arms, everything else faded. The pain, the depression, the nightmares. There was only you and me and Jim. We brought you home and it was like you were meant to be with us. But one day you got a fever. It wasn't serious and as I watched you, I realized how easily you could leave me too. That realization knocked some reality into me." she looked up at him and JR saw someone else. Someone who had so much pain in their eyes. "Understand that if I lost you too, I would have died. I wouldn't have survived losing two children. I wouldn't" she said finally letting the dam burst free. JR pulled her in enveloping her shaking body in a bone crushing hug.

"Oh mom. I'm sorry I made you feel that way"

"No" she said between sobs. "I'm sorry I made you feel unwanted. I just thought..... I thought that if I distanced myself from you it wouldn't hurt so much. But it did James. The pain was so much worse than I had anticipated"

He pulled back "Then why did you leave? I thought I had disappointed you"

"Never" she cupped his face in her hands and he placed his on top of hers. "Never my love. Jim told me what I was doing but I couldn't help it. I was so scared that after I left I spent months in therapy."

"And did it help?"

"Yes. I understood that loss changes people. And with me it made me fearful"

"So why didn't come back? After therapy why did you stay away?"

"Because I figured you were better off without me. You had your father and he was doing a great job raising you alone. Besides I didn't think you would forgive me"

"I wish you had come back." he said hugging her again

"Me too. But I'm here now. Will you let me stay?"

"This is your house too mom. You can stay as long as you want."

"Thank you JR" he pulled back in shock

"JR? You've never called me that"

"I know. But everyone calls you that now."

He smiled "Yes. Everyone except...." he stopped.

"Hayley" Lucinda finished for him. JR raised his eyebrows but she just shrugged "The maids talk a lot."

"What do they say?"

"It doesn't matter. I want you to tell me everything about her and what you're doing to get her back"

"Nick suggested I try to make her jealous....."

"Stop right there." she raised her hand "What is wrong with you boys? Make her jealous?" JR nodded. "Haven't I taught you anything? Oh God. Sit down and let me give you the real advice here" she told him even though they hadn't gotten up from the sofa.

-------------------

Jim looked at the pair thanking God for returning his Lucinda back to him. He looked around, making sure no one caught him eavesdropping. He needed to know what kind of advice JR was getting. Maybe he could use it to win his wife back.

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The end is nigh. Am sure you guys know that.

So first things first. If you seriously didn't cry while reading this chapter, go get tested. You might be an alien.

Moving on, do we like Lucinda now that we understand her better? She's different from Hayley you know. What they both went through was painful but most of you would say Hayley should have been the one to be angry because her situation was more painful. Here's the thing though, not everyone is as strong as Hayley so give Luce a break. Okay?

Now don't forget to vote. Comments are optional. Share this book with your friends if you liked it.

There are two more chapters left and I want to put them up together so give me time to finish and polish them. Only the best for you guys 😉😉