LOVELORNED

HEARTMENDED (CHAPTER THREE)

HEARTMENDED

Book 2 of the LOVELORNED Series

CHAPTER 3: PAPER AND PRESSURE

Dreame’s legal office wasn’t scary.

It was worse. It was normal.

Coffee machine. Whiteboards. A plant that was definitely fake.

Ms. R was already there, tapping her pen.

“This is Priya Sharma,” she said when I walked in. “She’s with us.”

Priya didn’t smile. Lawyers don’t.

“Ms. Hart,” she said, sliding a folder to me. “We have 48 hours before they can file for an injunction.”

Caleb sat across from me. He hadn’t looked at me since Chapter 2.

“Morning,” he muttered.

“Morning,” I said back. That was it.

Priya flipped pages. “Addison’s claim: she co-wrote chapters 1-3 and paid for the original cover. That gives her partial ownership.”

My stomach twisted.

“Our counter: you have timestamps. 200+ pages of new drafts. Lily’s handwritten letters. The new contract. The reader engagement data.”

“So we win?” I asked.

“We fight,” Priya corrected. “But if the judge sides with her temporarily, Dreame has to take LOVELORNED down. Until the case closes.”

Months.

No book. No income. No readers.

Caleb leaned forward. “I’ll testify. I’ll say under oath that her contribution was 3 chapters. Nothing more.”

Priya nodded. “We need that in writing. Today.”

My phone buzzed on the table.

Unknown number.

I almost ignored it.

Unknown: You stole my book and my boyfriend. Give it back. Or I'll take both. -A

Addison.

My hands went cold.

Ms. R saw it. “Don’t reply. Screenshot it. Send to me.”

I did. My thumb was shaking.

After the meeting, Priya gave me a list:

* All drafts with dates

* Lily’s letters

* Any emails with Caleb about rewrites

* Don’t talk to Addison. Don’t post about this.

Caleb walked me out. It wasn’t raining this time.

“I’m sorry you had to see that text,” he said.

“I’m sorry you didn’t tell me sooner,” I said.

He stopped on the sidewalk. “Maya, I know I messed up. But I’m here now. Every court date. Every meeting. Every ugly part.”

I looked at him. Really looked.

Tired. Honest. Scared.

“Okay,” I said. “But you write your statement tonight. And you send it to me before you send it to them.”

“Deal.”

I turned to go.

“Maya,” he called.

I looked back.

“The book is yours. No matter what the court says. Because you’re the one who made it matter.”

I didn’t answer.

I just went home and opened notebook #2.

Halfway through, tucked between pages, I found it.

A folded piece of paper. Lily’s handwriting.

“Maya, if anyone ever tries to tell you your story isn’t yours:

Burn the paper. Keep the fire.”

I read it three times.

Then I opened my laptop.

HEARTMENDED - Draft 1. Word count: 0

Time to write louder.