"This was us two years ago when we were on vacation in Texas for our anniversary," I said, showing Kayden pictures of us together on my phone. "Oh," he said, holding the phone up to his face as if he wanted to make sure the man smiling and holding onto the woman in the picture like she was all he had was truly him. "This was us on our first date three years ago, when you'd newly asked me out.""We looked really happy," he said, looking intently at each photo I showed him with no single ounce of recognition on his face. Sighing, he handed me back my phone with a look of pity on his face and my face fell. "I'm sorry. I don't remember any of this. The doctor said I might regain my memory soon but I haven't seen any difference yet." I nodded, holding back tears. I remained beside him, reminding myself not to be too selfish. His mother was on the other side of the bed, bawling her eyes out because her only son couldn't remember her. I didn't think anything could be more painful. "Oh,
Where I'd assumed Davis would scowl, or worse, ask me to get the fuck out of his office, he began to laugh instead. How did he just have a way of always belittling me? "I'm not joking," I said, holding onto my shirt to hide my embarrassment. It was only the two of us in there, yet I felt like he'd just disgraced me in front of a multitude of people. Fortunately, he stopped laughing. "It would have been better if you were, clown." Did he just…"Did you just call me a clown?" I asked, not even offended by the insult but surprised. The smirk on his face only grew deeper as he watched me with an amused expression. "Yes. I should have known your makeup that day had some hidden meaning. I was just clueless to notice until now." "Why do you find it necessary to…" "You know what? I like the sound of that; clown. Maybe I should call you that." "Excuse me," I began, wondering where he was going with this. "But I can't have people regarding my wife as a clown," he continued, lost in h
So much for my acting. I did as he asked, deciding it would be better if I just got it over with. I turned till I was lying on my back, facing him. We were way too close, I realized when I was on my back. He seemed to realize it too because a smirk crept into his face when I looked up at him. He was sitting on the bed next to me, his body just a few inches away from mine, so close he could touch me if he just moved his hand a little. And that was exactly what he did. My skin sizzled where he touched it and I was surprised by my reaction. Sitting up on the bed, I coughed to hide my reaction, but he had noticed. That self-indulgent smirk only deepened, but fortunately, he didn't try to get any closer. Getting up, he took off his shoes, then his tie and when he began to take off his dress shirt, I realized he was going to undress. I turned away immediately, suddenly feeling self-conscious. I didn't want him to view me as a prude or to make a big deal about it, but I didn't want to se
"I used to be an architect before my illness. I worked at a brewery and did other petty businesses by the side after I lost my job. I graduated from the University of California with honors, and moved here sometime afterward." I smiled at Kayden before giving him a little applause. "That's great. At this rate, you're going to remember every single thing like you never even lost your memory at all."Once I said that, his face fell. "Still feels like I'm just reciting someone else's life and not mine, though," he said, turning away. I frowned. This was how it always was. I hated the fact I couldn't help. His attitude toward all of this was eating me up as well. I felt his hand on mine and I flinched."I know you've been doing the best you can," he said, smiling back. "I'll never take that for granted." "Okay then. Let's continue.""We dated for three years and were so sure we would get married. I'd already bought the ring and all." I blushed, but I couldn't turn away. Deciding no
"It's not even that late," I argued, trying to keep my anger in check. There was no use reacting to him like this. That was probably what he wanted, for me to prove his point on why he couldn't give me a job. I looked away, not liking the way he was occupying the entire bed and making the room all his again. I'd become so accustomed to staying alone and doing whatever I wanted, but now he was back from wherever he had for to, I knew I wouldn't be able to anymore. "Is that all that's getting you mad?" he asked, resting his head on his hands and trying to hide a smirk. He was talking about the name. I breathed in. I'd been bullied in high school and I'd discovered that the main thing that fueled bullies was when the person they were bullying reacted to their ridiculous names. I wasn't about to give him that leverage. I kept my face as expressionless as I could. I wondered how he did it so effortlessly."I'm just confused. I thought we agreed I had my freedom. Why should you care wh
Much to my disappointment, Davis didn't try to stop me. I was a long way away from the room before I discovered I had nowhere to spend the night. Ugh. That was probably why he didn't even bother. I stopped halfway, wondering if it would be better to swallow my pride and return to the room or just keep going until I found somewhere else. Surely, this huge house would have some spare room that was manageable. Gah, he was more than annoying. And what was it with his stupid mood swings? Just because he owned this house he thought he could treat me however he pleased. I made up my mind. I wasn't going back. While I pondered on what to do, Natalie found me pacing on the staircase. Although she curtsied when I noticed her, she had a look on her face that seemed to say she knew exactly what had happened and was mocking me for it. "Shouldn't you be in bed now, ma'am?" she asked. "Is there a problem? Do you need my help?" Even if she was the last person available, I would never need her
I practically burst through the door into Kayden's room with the pictures in my hand. His mother was there. She shot a look that was in between disgust, shock, and fury as I stood at the door, panting and trying to catch my breath."Hi, Cass," he waved at me. "Is there any problem?" his mother asked me. "Not really. I'll come in later. When you're done with him." She laughed drily. "He's my son so I can even spend the whole day with him if I wanted." "Mom," Kayden appealed, tapping her shoulder and turning to me. "I think whatever Cass has to tell me must be truly important. She's never burst into my ward like this. Just give us a few minutes, please?" She looked like she'd just swallowed a lemon. However, she got up soon after and stormed out of the room. Before she passed me, she whispered, "You've done it again." Walking to Kayden's side, I wondered what it was about me and my significant other's moms. Davis' mom hated my guts even more. "How are you?" I asked him, lettin
"What's wrong?" Kayden asked, noting the look on my face. "Who is he? How do you know him? Is he a bad person? I didn't really get that vibe from him." "He's my…" I began before shutting my mouth immediately. I couldn't tell him the truth about my marriage to Davis. He knew I was married, but somehow we'd gone this long without talking about it. I didn't want him to know I was married to the person who had come to visit him at this hospital. "He's just someone your father told me about. He gave me the pictures," I said instead. "Why do you have so many of them then? You never had to bring this many before. This man has to be important." Oh jeez. I'd forgotten how smart and intuitive Kayden was. I'd never been able to outsmart him in the past and even now when he didn't have any concrete memories to fall back to, he could still see right through my lie. "I just... He was apparently a businessman as well. You once tried your hand in photography but it didn't work. You took many pic
Five years later: Cassie’s POV:I stared into the glittering eyes of my baby girl as she struggled to make them stay open while I read her a bedtime story. She was just as stubborn as her father, fighting sleep even though that was what she needed. “And they lived happily ever after, the end,” I said. By the time I was done with the bedtime story, sleep had won. Although my daughter was asleep, I couldn’t stop watching her I rubbed her head and stared into her face, smiling when I saw the close resemblance she shared with her father. “You’re lucky I married a handsome man,” I whispered, still not ready to leave my baby girl’s side. “I love you,” I said and kissed her on her forehead, before turning to leave the room. “Jeez!” I gasped when I saw Davis standing by the door with his hands in his both pockets, smiling down at me. I turned back immediately to see if I had woken Ivory up, but luckily she was such a deep sleeper. “You scared me,” I whispered. “Come,” he said, stretchi
Davis’s POV:Do what’s right. I knew what that meant, and I didn’t like it. But she asked me to do it for her. How could I possibly say no to her? There was nothing I couldn’t do for her. I realized that now. The fact both warmed and scared me. Never had anyone had this much power over my choices but I had to admit it did feel strangely good. Here I was, driving down to meet Kayden, but this time with a different intention from what I would have liked to do. I was quite surprised to still see him there, sitting on the same swing bench he had been sitting on several hours ago when I found my wife next to him. This was going to be extremely difficult. I took a deep breath. I had to be really careful not to flip out and ruin the whole plan. “This is for you, baby,” I whispered to myself before leaving the car. Kayden flinched a little when he saw me approach, but when he saw there was nowhere to run, he remained where he was sitting and pretended to look unbothered by my presence
Davis’s POV: I don’t know how long I was passed out for, but when I woke up, I found myself alone in a big bland room that had no windows. It didn’t take long for everything to click into place. Even though my head was pounding like it was about to explode, I could still put the pieces together. I had been kidnapped. It was a bit embarrassing though. I was supposed to be experienced and intelligent. How could I have let myself be tricked so easily? I remained on the floor where I was and hoped my head would stop hurting so bad. What happened to using chloroform to make me unconscious? Why did my attacker have to go old school and knock me out with a blunt object? It felt personal, like whoever had done it, purposely wanted me to feel pain. I should have never underestimated him. Of course the timelines clicked in place. Why did I let Lisa come with me? He had cleverly used her to get to me. Now I was here, I wondered what he planned to do with me. He had almost taken my life the
Davis’s POV:Surprisingly, my relationship with Cassie changed for the better after my few hours stay in the hospital. She felt terrible for what she had done, but the action made her see how dangerous it was to believe one side alone. It was just as I suspected. Her father had gone ahead to change the contract entirely. It had nothing to do with money because I had given him more than enough money to start something for himself. He was not unreasonably wicked either, so it had to be something else. When I read the fake contract and found how Kayden’s greatest qualities were mentioned over and over, I knew who was responsible. Simply knowing with no proof though, was not enough. I had to teach that scoundrel a lesson or he would just disappear for a while and return again to be a thorn in our flesh. Fortunately, Cassie had been easy to convince. I think it because she felt terrible after sending me to a hospital, even after I assured her continually that it wasn’t her fault. I di
If I said I knew what I was doing, I would be lying. I was in the car with Rufus, who was taking me to only God knows where, and I had no idea where Davis was or how he was doing. After everything that had happened these past few days, I had disassociated a little from reality and this was proof of that fact. There was nothing I could do except sit and watch after all. Look where trying to act on my own had got me. “I just got off from a call with the boss,” Rufus said, swerving to the right. “He says I should take you to meet him at Palm Greens.” I turned away, distracting myself with the view of the palm trees and other cars we passed. I didn’t know where Palm Greens was. Maybe it was the place where he had captured Davis and the others. I didn’t want to think about it. I couldn’t bear to see my husband in that position again, or worse, Lisa. A feeling of dread washed over me as I began to realize just how serious this was. Kayden did not believe he had done anything wrong. I w
I waited until Rufus was completely out of the house before speaking. I didn’t have a plan yet, but I wasn’t dumb enough to follow him to meet Kayden. Who knew what that psychopath would do with me? “Leave, now,” I told my father as I untied Gloria from the chair. My father stood still as if he hadn’t heard me. I really didn’t have the time for this. “Why are you still standing there?” I asked him. “Hurry up so you both can leave while you still can.” “It can’t be that easy, Cass,” he said. “He’ll find us soon enough or Kayden will send someone else after us.” I groaned in frustration. “So what do you expect me to do? Follow him?”“I’m not saying that, but…”“You want to die!” I screamed, running my hand through my hair, a habit I had learned from Davis. “Isn’t it better to try than to just stand around and wait to be killed? I don’t know what you expect me to do, but I’m not following anyone anywhere. We’re all escaping one way or another and it’s fine if you don’t want to follo
As this was not the first time I had walked away from my father in anger, it neither felt good nor painful. I was just tired of the whole thing. I had no idea what was going on inside or what he was trying to hide, but at this point, I no longer wanted to find out. He was old enough to deal with his issues on his own and I was done being on the receiving end of his selfishness. He didn’t try to stop me and that was a clue that if he left the house, something bad would probably happen to him. Come to think of it, ever since I returned to California, I didn’t think he had ever left the house. I was tired of overthinking and watching my every step. I was tired of second-guessing my place in everybody’s life and wondering who was secretly a traitor and who wasn’t. I just wanted to live my life normally and peacefully, but my ex-boyfriend had made it his mission to make me keep looking over my shoulder. I wished Kayden could just disappear somehow. I didn’t care how, I just wished he an
Before I could say anything in response, my phone began to ring. I saw it was a call from Kayden and I froze. I let it ring and go to voicemail, because even though I was mad at him, I could still remember what he had done to me and I wasn’t sure I wasn't ready to face him yet. “Who was that?” my father asked, craning his head to look into my phone. “No one,” I said quickly, reducing the volume of my phone and placing it in my bag. “You asked how we can know for sure whether Kayden was the reason I lost my baby or not?” I asked him, giving him a chance to take back his words. He looked away. “It may not have been him. The baby may have already been weak…i don't know how these things work but…” “I just told you he kicked me repeatedly on the stomach and I started to bleed. You're telling me I should believe the kicking had nothing to do with me losing my baby?” I asked, now more disappointed than ever. Even if he was being forced to do this, what could be at stake for him to say su
“Cassie dear. I'm so happy you're here,” my father said, looking from side to side after I showed up at his door unexpectedly. “Come on in.” I took my steps in carefully, sucking in a breath to remind myself I needed to remain as calm as possible. “Sit down,” he said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. “What would you like to drink?” “Nothing. Don't worry yourself.” He nodded and sat down facing me. I glanced around the room to ease some of the discomfort I was beginning to feel. “I see you cleaned this place up.” “Yeah, my…yes I did,” he said. “I'm sorry for your loss.” We sat in awkward silence for more moments as I tried to gather my thoughts. It had been three days since Davis was discharged from the hospital and the press had been on our necks ever since. I didn't know what they were talking about because I had blocked every single news outlet from my phone. That wasn't a lasting solution, but it was working for now. On the other hand, my father had probably been swall