Chapter 1

Connor Biddle's long-lost first love had been found.

When he received the call from the police, he rushed out of the office in a panic, leaving his jacket draped over the chair.

The business partners discussing a new collaboration froze in surprise, turning unanimously toward Anne Maddison.

"It's fine, let's continue," said Anne, retracting her gaze from Connor's disappearing figure. She offered a poised smile and seamlessly picked up where Connor had left off. "Now, about the investment for the new project..."

An hour later, Anne personally saw the partners off.

Returning to the office, she picked up her phone to check it, but there was no message from Connor.

Anne called him. The phone rang a few times before a girl's voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Where's Connor?" asked Anne after a pause.

"He's in the kitchen, cooking," the girl replied, sounding slightly flustered.

Anne's grip on the phone tightened involuntarily, and suspicion began to rise in her mind. The next moment, Connor's cold voice came through.

"What is it?"

Anne's eyes stung as she struggled to keep her emotions in check. "Don't you think you owe me an explanation?" she asked.

In their three years of marriage, Connor had never cooked for her.

She had always known he could cook. He had learned specifically for Felicia Yule when they were together.

He knew perfectly well what she was asking, but Connor replied icily, "I'll explain everything to the business partners myself."

Anne opened her mouth to speak several times but could not get any words out. As the evening sky darkened, she stood by the window, her eyes reddening.

This afternoon, faced with the pitying and amused looks from the business partners after Connor's abrupt departure, she had excused him, thinking there might be something genuinely important. She had not expected that 'important thing' to be meeting Felicia.

Silence stretched over the line before Felicia's soft voice could be faintly heard, "Connor, who is it?"

"An employee," Connor replied.

Hearing his answer, Anne could not hold back her tears any longer.

She could hear the two of them whispering in low voices, the phone muffled so their words were indistinct.

Just as she was about to hang up, Connor spoke again, his tone slightly softer, "Anne, Felicia has amnesia. The doctor said she can't handle any emotional stress right now."

He paused briefly, hesitating over how to explain that Felicia still believed they had not broken up.

Looking back, he saw Felicia sitting on the couch, clutching a throw pillow so tightly that her fingers had sunk into it. Her once-lively eyes held a cautious vulnerability.

Feeling a pang in his heart, Connor turned away and calmly informed Anne, "She doesn't remember anything from the past three years. Whenever we bring it up, she gets debilitating headaches. She relies on me a lot right now, so I haven't told her that I'm married."

Connor let out a long sigh, the weight on his heart easing.

If Felicia had not disappeared three years ago, Anne would never have become his wife. He had already given her the title of Mrs. Biddle.

However, after Felicia was found, he felt responsible for taking care of her until her memory returned.

Anne listened quietly, neither arguing nor crying. The taut string in her heart finally snapped.

"When do you plan on telling her?" asked Anne calmly. "So now I can't even go back to my own home, is that it?"

Connor had prepared himself for a confrontation. Having grown up with Anne, he knew her temperament well. As kids, when playing house, if he played with another girl, Anne would tug at his hair and call him a traitor.

They had been inseparable from kindergarten through high school. Back then, Connor had thought his future wife would surely be Anne.

However, they parted ways on bad terms after they got into university.

In university, Connor met Felicia, who confessed to him at their first meeting. The seemingly delicate girl was relentless in her pursuit, showing up at every game to bring him water.

Once, Connor deliberately teased her by accepting water from someone else. Her bright eyes instantly reddened as though deeply wronged, yet she stubbornly took the water from his hand and replaced it with the one she had bought.

Season after season, Felicia persisted for a year. One winter, when Connor said he was hungry, she pulled a still-warm bun from her coat pocket and handed it to him with a smile. "Luckily, it's still warm."

At that moment, Connor's heart softened completely. He pulled her into an embrace. "Let's be together."

When he announced their relationship on social media, Anne did not react.

That same day, a six-month-long experiment Anne had been working on failed. She had not missed the post. In fact, she looked at it dozens of times before forcing herself to close the app. It took two bottles of alcohol for her to fall asleep.

Their friends all lamented their missed connection.

The once-proud Anne had stumbled only twice in her life. Both times over Connor.

However, Felicia's reappearance made Anne realize something. Some battles are destined to have no victory.