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The doubts sown by Silvia and Burke were beginning to sprout in Ralph's mind, creeping like ghosts into the darkness of his thoughts.He was increasingly plagued by the lingering feeling, a feeling something was terribly amiss in this laboriously built world provided by Rebecca. He would find himself staring off into space, a furrow on his forehead, trying to grasp a wisp of an image, a whisper of a recollection. It was at such times of unrest that Rebecca would reappear out of nowhere, her voice low and calm, anchoring him in the present, pulling him back from the brink of his own turbulent mind; back to her."What's on your mind, sweetheart?" she would say, her arm on his. "Don't worry about unimportant things. Just focus on getting better. Focus on us."And Ralph would try. He would concentrate on Rebecca's smile, her words of support, her worry-free assurance. Still, though, that nagging feeling remained an itch that couldn't be scratched.One afternoon, when Rebecca was on a lo
The tarnished silver locket, clenched tight in Ralph's fist, was physical proof of memories Rebecca had callously tried to bury. The smiling faces on its diminutive borders were constant reminders of an erased past, a tug on the fragile strands of his amnesia.Rebecca's attempts to brush off the locket as belonging to "old friends" sounded insincere next to Ralph's mounting sense of recognition brewing in his mind. The falsehood clung to her voice like oil on water.He was taken with the little photo, studying her face, her laugh humming at the back of his mind. The tiny photograph smiled up at him—two faces, one unmistakably his, the other a woman who stirred echoes in the hollow spaces of his fractured memory.He would run his thumb over the line of her smile, feeling loss and regret engulfing him, a sense of yearning for something he couldn't quite identify."Who is she, Rebecca?" Ralph would ask again and again, his tone growing more insistent. "Why does she mean so much?"Her re
Silvia pushed the door open as she tried to exit her boss's office. It was her duty to make sure she cleaned the office every morning before his arrival. Today was no different—except for the disaster that was just about to unfold.As she stepped out, she bumped into a solid object, leaving her momentarily dazed. Slowly looking up and ready to lash out at whatever that was, her heart skipped a beat as she saw what, or rather whom she had collided with — her boss, Ralph.“I am sorry sir,” she muttered apologetically. As she tried to regain her balance, she knocked over a cup of water which spilled over his crisp and expensive shirt. This was a really tense moment because she could see her boss fuming in great anger.“What in blazes is the matter with you?” Ralph asked angrily. He had just arrived at the office in a really bad mood, and this was not the best way to start his day.“I am really sorry sir,” Silvia kept pleading to receive mercy from her boss. But Ralph is a man who hardly
CHAPTER 2Silvia could not read the report she was seeing on the piece of paper. The letters and numbers jumbled together, an illegible mess. Her heart pounded against her ribs.The cold white hospital walls appeared to be suffocating her, crushing her under the burden of the news. The quiet beeping of heart monitors in the distance echoed in her ears, a steady reminder of mortality."What is this, sir?" She questioned in a puzzled manner with a very confused look on her face.The doctor slowly exhaled, as if getting ready.“Your mother...," he adjusted his glasses, "I am sorry ma'am. Your mother has an ischemic cardiomyopathy, a severe heart condition,” he broke the news to her, the words hanging heavily in the air.Silvia’s head snapped up. “A what?” Her voice cracked. She blinked, trying to shake her head as if that might somehow cause the medical jargon to make sense."Doctor, you just told me she was fine! How can she be fine if she has. that? A minute ago, you were the one telli
The office was filled with cold silence as the two parties just kept staring at each other.Ralph was trying to read her expression, while Silvia was just nervous.“I didn't hear you well. Do you mind repeating what you just said?” Ralph asked firmly. The way his tone sounded drove fear into Silvia's nerves.Silvia took a long, deep breath when Ralph asked her to explain the situation.“Please sir, I…I need… I need your help, sir,” she stuttered. It was evident that her fear had the most of her.The air-conditioning in the office was on but, she found herself sweating profusely. Sweat was running down her back, and she could sense the heat creeping up her neck under Ralph's intense scrutiny. She sat fidgeting in her chair with her legs trembling just slightly.“What do you need me to do? What is it all about?” He asked curiously.Even if he decides to help her, he needs to know where his money is going. That's how a businessman thinks.Yesterday's memory came rushing back like waves—t
Silvia found it hard to process what her boss was saying. They had never had a close discussion other than this one time, and now he was asking her to marry him.She knew nothing about her boss's lifestyle, preferences, likes, and dislikes.“Did I say anything wrong?” Ralph noticed Silvia was lost in her thoughts as she tried to unravel the mystery and reasons behind his request.After a long night of reflection, Ralph realized that proposing a contract marriage to Silvia could be a practical and mutually beneficial solution for both of them.Truth is, he had no love interest in Silvia...not at all. The marriage was a ruse. She was actually going to take on the role of a maid in his home. This would not only lighten his daily burdens but also allow him to save a substantial amount of money that he would otherwise spend on hiring additional workers.It would also reduce the unnecessary pressure on him to get married. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.The contract was going t
“Where is my mother?” Silvia asked as she angrily pushed the doctor's office open. “You're here already. That's a good thing” The doctor stretched his hand, requesting that she have a seat.But Silvia was seriously pissed. She wasn't ready to sit down and have a peaceful talk with the doctor.“I can't find my mother in her ward,” she said angrily.The doctor, who now understood the reason behind her deep anger, started laughing very hard.Silvia just stood in shock, as she tried to check if there was anything on her that could amuse the doctor.“Your mother. She is in a private ward, and some doctors are trying to run some tests on her because of her surgery tomorrow” the doctor said.Silvia, who was not informed about anything of that sort, had to take a seat first before she would continue the conversation.“I don't understand. The surgery. But who paid for the surgery?” She asked confusingly, with a puzzled expression.“A man called. He refused to disclose who he was. All he did
Her heart nearly stopped as she opened the door. Standing before her, a tall, striking figure, smartly dressed in a tailored suit, was her boss—and apparently now her husband—Ralph. Behind him, his sleek black SUV was parked, and it reflected the late afternoon sun. Even his bodyguards drove in luxurious cars, parking them behind him while keeping their trained eyes on her. What was this? Had he thought she would breach their agreement and make a run for it? Panic surged through her. She couldn’t let her mom see this scene, or else she would be worried. She wouldn’t believe the lie she had spun about going on a business trip.“Sir, you’re here,” Silvia, stammered. She swallowed back an urge to say something more. "What are you doing here?"His hard, dispassionate expression made her stomach drop. Her heart raced as she recognized the storm brewing in his eyes. It seemed like he was in a terrible mood.“What are you still doing here? Did you forget what was stated in the contract?” h
The tarnished silver locket, clenched tight in Ralph's fist, was physical proof of memories Rebecca had callously tried to bury. The smiling faces on its diminutive borders were constant reminders of an erased past, a tug on the fragile strands of his amnesia.Rebecca's attempts to brush off the locket as belonging to "old friends" sounded insincere next to Ralph's mounting sense of recognition brewing in his mind. The falsehood clung to her voice like oil on water.He was taken with the little photo, studying her face, her laugh humming at the back of his mind. The tiny photograph smiled up at him—two faces, one unmistakably his, the other a woman who stirred echoes in the hollow spaces of his fractured memory.He would run his thumb over the line of her smile, feeling loss and regret engulfing him, a sense of yearning for something he couldn't quite identify."Who is she, Rebecca?" Ralph would ask again and again, his tone growing more insistent. "Why does she mean so much?"Her re
The doubts sown by Silvia and Burke were beginning to sprout in Ralph's mind, creeping like ghosts into the darkness of his thoughts.He was increasingly plagued by the lingering feeling, a feeling something was terribly amiss in this laboriously built world provided by Rebecca. He would find himself staring off into space, a furrow on his forehead, trying to grasp a wisp of an image, a whisper of a recollection. It was at such times of unrest that Rebecca would reappear out of nowhere, her voice low and calm, anchoring him in the present, pulling him back from the brink of his own turbulent mind; back to her."What's on your mind, sweetheart?" she would say, her arm on his. "Don't worry about unimportant things. Just focus on getting better. Focus on us."And Ralph would try. He would concentrate on Rebecca's smile, her words of support, her worry-free assurance. Still, though, that nagging feeling remained an itch that couldn't be scratched.One afternoon, when Rebecca was on a lo
The uncertainty lingered, a stark contrast to Rebecca's commanding presence. The pen clattered sharply beside the contract, a bold reminder that his company's fate and his very future hinged on that decisive moment. The air crackled with tension as she prepared to take control of the situation, knowing that every second counted in solidifying her position. Her grip on his arm suddenly tightened ever so subtly. "Darling," she said softly, her voice a soothing comfort, her eyes masking an unspoken urgency, "after thorough discussions, we have reached a point where we need to move forward with the Spire proposal. It's important to embark on this direction we’re taking. Trust me."Ralph's gaze shifted from the contract to her reassuring smile. The familiarity of her, the absolute certainty in her voice, were lifelines amidst amnesia's sea. He had to believe her, must believe her. The disturbing encounter with the crazy woman, that haunting melody disturbing interventions into the neat
The scene in the study captured a moment of heightened emotion. Silvia was there; her angry eyes, mussed hair, and voice full of a reality Ralph could not yet understand. Rebecca's beautifully constructed composure was in ruins, her face twisted into a furious snarl.Julian Vance's hand moved automatically towards his inside pocket. Ralph felt suddenly overwhelmed by a fragment of a familiar melody and the woman whose wild beauty hit that unapologetic, primal recognition."Who is this woman?" Ralph spoke curtly while his puzzled tone had his eyes darting between Silvia and Rebecca. The familiar comfort he experienced with Rebecca dissolved into an unsettling sense of confusion."Darling, she's an ex-employee with delusions," Rebecca said with regained calmness but her sweet-tongued voice betrayed hidden panic. By this point, security should have removed her from the premises. Their performance on the job was clearly inadequate. Julian, would you?" Julian moved toward Silvia, a ster
As Rebecca’s threat hung in the air like smoke, acrid and choking, Julian’s grip tightened.His hold was brutal on Silvia's arm, his fingers sinking into her flesh. He began dragging her towards the door. Rebecca's eyes flashed with a victorious cruelty, Silvia worse than what she had ever witnessed. The room, previously filled with the melancholic notes of their melody, now hummed with threat."Where do you imagine you're taking me?" she asked, trying to maintain a defiant tone despite her quavering voice.He didn't say a word, his expression a mask of chilly impassiveness as he dragged her through the empty mansion. Rebecca followed behind him, her smile a ravenous one.Down the grand staircase, they descended, rich ambiance colliding with the raw terror that gripped Silvia. A fleeting catch at seeing herself in one of several gilded mirrors – a pale, disheveled woman dragged down her hallway – soured her tongue with injustice.Down they descended, into cold, moist air. Julian led h
The Spire letters in her palm weighed as much as lead. The harsh, unyielding reality of Rebecca's dupery, so clever and complicated a scheme, burned her with a desperate passion. She must locate some means of making Ralph see, shattering this fiction Rebecca had gone to such lengths to weave.Her first attempt was subtle. While having dinner that evening, as Ralph recounted Rebecca's sharp words at the most recent board meeting, Silvia tactfully interrupted.The Spire deal appears to be very complicated, Ralph," she told him in a very neutral tone. "Did you scrutinize all terms carefully?"Ralph frowned, glancing at Rebecca for verification. "Rebecca promises it is a safe investment. She has a keen financial mind."Rebecca gave her a tight smile. "Of course, darling. I always have your best interests at heart." Her eyes, though, sent Silvia a stern warning.Silvia pressed on softly. "But long-term forecasts, are they as favorable as they appear?"Ralph's brow furrowed deeper, a glint
The unease Julian Vance had caused lingered in Silvia's mind, a crack in the despondency wall that had begun to surround her. His words, vague but unsettling, implied an added degree of manipulation, one extending outside Ralph's personal domain and into the bedrock of his empire.The suspense at home reached its climax. Rebecca sensed Ralph's veiled shift in attitude – fleeting, confusing seconds of indecision, a flicker of old resolve struggling to take its rightful place – strengthened her grip all the more.Her commands became insistent, her control absolute. She stood over Ralph at every turn, her voice soft and commanding, protecting him ever more from every conceivable reminder of his history.Silvia was laying out dinner, her movements slow and precise in an attempt to hold on to her disorganized existence. Ralph entered the dining area, forehead furrowed, with a photo in his hands – a photo of Ralph and Silvia horsing around on their honeymoon. It was a photo Rebecca somehow
The transformation in Ralph's personality bled over from within the bounds of their love relationship; it crossed over into his business as well. The forceful, resolute businessman Silvia had admired was now waffling, looking for Rebecca's opinion on even the most minor decisions. Rebecca, an opportunist to her core, exploited this flaw, inserting herself into every facet of his business.Boardroom conferences, previously Ralph's domain, now included Rebecca by his side, offering uninvited advice and inserting her opinion at will. The other executives, initially shocked by her ungraceful return and at her assertive nature, learned with little effort that going against her meant going against Ralph, who was still very much incapacitated. A chill of gray spread through the ranks of professionals, complaints regarding Ralph's use of Rebecca muttered behind closed doors.Silvia, relegated to the role of silent onlooker, would occasionally overhear fragments of conversation between Ralp
The silence of Burke's despair and inability weighed heavily on Silvia. Even his fleeting friendship had been a whispered acknowledgment of the truth Rebecca so tirelessly concealed. But beyond their quiet, the party continued, muffled in its glittering pretense. Each metallic laugh, each artificial compliment, was another ripple of despair flooding Silvia's beach, steadily eroding what little remained to her.At a later hour, flushed with triumph and several glasses of champagne, Rebecca nudged her way through a throng of people to Silvia, pilfering glasses from an empty side table. Her eyes flashed with mischievous delight."You know, Silvia," she slurred somewhat, her tone had lost its sharp bite behind its pretended jollity, "you almost look like you belong here—if one squints, and conveniently forgets you're on the payroll." She added a dry laugh at the end of her remark.The lively chatter around her faded into a dull hum, intensified by Rebecca’s probing questions."Maybe you