Married to My Amnesia Ex.

The Lie Unraveling (Part 1)

(Ethan’s POV)

The moment I see the newspaper in her hand, my world stops breathing.

The flowers slip from my fingers, scattering across the marble like fallen confessions.

She’s standing there in her robe, her hair unbrushed, the sunlight catching the tears streaking down her cheeks.

For a second, I think maybe I can still lie my way out of it.

Then she says my name quiet, sharp, trembling.

“Ethan.” Her voice is a blade wrapped in silk.

I take a step toward her, but she flinches like I’ve struck her.

“Don’t,” she whispers. “Don’t come closer.”

The air between us feels like glass, fragile and ready to shatter.

“Ava...”

“Tell me it’s not true,” she says, her voice breaking. “Tell me I didn’t read what I think I just read.”

I can’t.

God help me, I can’t.

“I wanted to tell you..”

“When?” Her voice rises. “Before or after you decided to rewrite my life for me?”

“Ava, listen...”

“No! I trusted you,” she says, clutching the clipping to her chest like it’s the only thing keeping her upright. “I woke up thinking we were still married, that we still had a chance, and you..” Her breath catches. “You let me believe a lie.”

I close the distance between us, slow and careful, like approaching a wounded animal. “You hit your head, Ava. You didn’t remember anything. The doctors warned me not to push you”

“They didn’t say to lie to me!”

The force of her voice hits like a slap. My throat tightens.

“You think this is easy for me?” I snap, then regret it instantly.

“You think watching you wake up and not remember the life we built or the one we destroyed -is easy?”

Her eyes narrow. “Destroyed?”

The word hangs between us like smoke.

“Yes,” I whisper. “We weren’t together anymore, Ava. You left.

You said you couldn’t do it anymore. You said I’d turned into someone you didn’t recognize.”

She shakes her head violently, pressing her fingers to her temple. “No. No, that’s not...” Her breathing quickens, panic threatening to break her in half.

“Stop,” I plead, stepping closer. “Don’t push it too fast. Your memories will come back on their own.”

She looks at me then, eyes wide, wild, heartbroken. “You mean the memories of leaving you?”

Silence.

The kind that screams louder than any words.

“I thought you loved me,” she whispers.

“I did.” My voice cracks. “I still do.”

Her laugh is small and bitter. “You don’t love me, Ethan. You love the idea of me. The version that didn’t walk away.”

“That’s not true.”

“Then why lie?” she demands. “Why not tell me from the beginning?”

I take a breath, but the truth feels too heavy. “Because when I saw you open your eyes, it felt like fate was giving me one last chance. One I didn’t deserve. And I was too damn weak to let it go.”

She stares at me like she’s trying to find the man she once knew. Maybe he’s still in there somewhere, buried under guilt and ambition.

“You built your company on honesty,” she says quietly. “But you couldn’t even give me that.”

Her words cut deeper than any headline ever could.

“I was afraid,” I admit. “Afraid you’d remember everything and leave again.”

Her lip trembles. “Maybe I would’ve. But at least it would’ve been my choice.”

There’s a beat of silence.

Then she folds the clipping, sets it on the table, and looks at me with a kind of calm that terrifies me more than her anger ever could.

“I want to go home,” she says.

“You are home.”

Her eyes harden. “No, Ethan. Yours. Not mine.”

And with that, she walks past me, shoulders straight, eyes full of betrayal.

I follow her down the hallway, panic clawing at my throat.

“Ava, please. You’re not ready to be on your own.”

She spins around, fury flashing like lightning. “You don’t get to decide what I’m ready for. Not anymore.”

I reach out, desperate, but she steps back. “Don’t touch me.”

The finality in her voice freezes me mid-step.

“Ava...”

She shakes her head. “You say you love me, but love built on lies isn’t love at all.”

Her words land like a knife twisting in my chest.

“I just wanted to protect you,” I whisper.

She looks at me for a long time, really looks and for a heartbeat, I see the woman I fell in love with. The warmth. The spark. The forgiveness.

Then it’s gone.

“Protect me?” she repeats. “Or protect your guilt?”

Her voice is trembling now, breaking. “You broke me once, Ethan. You don’t get to rewrite the ending.”

She walks away and this time, I don’t follow.

Because maybe she’s right. Maybe she deserves to choose her ending, even if it isn’t with me.

But when the door slams, the sound rips something vital from my chest.

And I realize, too late.

I’ve lost her all over again.

---..

Ethan watches her leave, and a memory hits him, the night she walked out two years ago. Only this time, he remembers something he never told her… something darker, something that made her leave in the first place.