The Billionaire Who Forgot His Marriage

Chapter One

Adrian’s POV

“Who the hell are you?”

The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. My throat burns, my voice hoarse, the sterile scent of antiseptic thick in the air. I blink through the haze of white light, trying to piece together where I am.

A hospital room. Machines hum softly beside me, a dull beep measuring my pulse. My body aches like I’ve been hit by something hard, because apparently, I have. My car. The crash. That much I remember.

But the man standing at the foot of my bed, I don’t.

He’s staring at me like I’ve just stabbed him. Eyes wide, chest trembling as if holding back a sob. There’s something fragile about him, something too human for the cold glass world I’m used to.

“It’s me,” he says quietly. “Noah.”

The name hits me like static. Familiar, almost, but it slips through my mind like water through fingers. I frown. “Noah…?”

His lips twitch into a nervous, broken smile. “Your husband.”

The room stills.

For a moment, I think I misheard. Husband? That’s impossible. I’ve never…..

“Is this some kind of joke?” My voice sharpens, cutting through the soft hum of machines.

He steps closer. “It’s not a joke. We’ve been married for two years. You, Adrian, you said we’d always keep it quiet, at least until things with your family settled. You said….”

“I said what?” I snap.

The silence that follows is unbearable. His shoulders shake slightly as he exhales, staring at me like he’s trying to find something in my eyes. “You said you loved me.”

My heart clenches at the word, though I don’t know why. Love. I can’t remember the last time that word meant anything to me.

The door opens then. My mother, Victoria Wolfe, strides in, tall and elegant as ever in her black coat. Behind her, my brother Damian smirks like a wolf in a suit, and Evelyn, my personal assistant, clutches her tablet like a shield.

The air grows heavier.

“Adrian, darling,” my mother says, her voice sweet but sharp around the edges. “You’re awake. Thank God.”

“Mother.” I shift slightly, my ribs protesting. “What happened?”

“Your car hydroplaned. You’re lucky to be alive.”

Then her gaze lands on Noah, and the warmth in her voice freezes over. “Who let him in?”

Noah’s jaw tightens. “I’m his husband.”

Victoria’s eyes narrow. “His what?”

Damian chuckles slowly. “This is new. Adrian, you get married and forget to tell your family?”

I stare between them, confusion tightening my chest. “I don’t remember,” I admit quietly.

Victoria steps to my bedside, her hand brushing my hair back like I’m a child again. “That’s because you’ve had a trauma, darling. The doctors said there may be… lapses. Selective memory loss. But don’t you worry. We’ll handle everything.”

Her eyes flick to Noah, icy and unreadable. “Including whoever this man is.”

Noah flinches but doesn’t back down. “I’m not some stranger. I know things about him none of you do. The scar on his shoulder from when he fell off his father’s boat. The way he can’t sleep unless there’s music playing. The……”

“That’s enough,” Victoria cuts in sharply. “Anyone could have read that online.”

“I didn’t read it,” Noah says through clenched teeth. “I lived it.”

Evelyn clears her throat softly, approaching with her tablet. “Mr. Wolfe, for what it’s worth, we checked your records. There’s no legal marriage license filed under your name.”

Noah pulls a folded document from his pocket, his hands trembling slightly. “Because he wanted it private. But we registered it abroad. In Italy. Look, this is…..”

“Forgery,” Damian says smoothly, taking the paper before Noah can stop him. He glances at it, smirks, and hands it to Evelyn. “Cheap, too.”

“That’s not…….

”

“Noah,” I interrupt, my voice quieter now. There’s something in his eyes that makes my chest ache, something like betrayal and hope tangled together. “If you’re telling the truth, why can’t I remember you?”

He swallows. “Because you’ve forgotten me. But that doesn’t mean what we had wasn’t real.”

I look away. His vThe doctors come in then, breaking the tension. They run tests, ask questions. I answer automatically. Yes, I know who I am. Yes, I know the date. No, I don’t remember the past two years.

When they leave, Noah is still standing there, pale and exhausted, like he hasn’t slept in days.

Victoria turns to him. “You’ve done enough. Leave my son alone.”

“No,” Noah says. His tone hardens, surprising even me. “I’m not leaving him. You can say whatever you want, but I’m not going anywhere.”

Damian chuckles under his breath. “You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that.”

Noah ignores him, his gaze locked on me. “Please, Adrian. Let me stay. I can help you remember. Let me, just try.”

I should tell him no. That’s what I’ve always done with people who claim too much of me, cut them out, protect myself. But something in me hesitates.

His voice breaks slightly. “You said love was your biggest risk. But you took it anyway… with me.”

My breath catches. For the briefest second, an image flickers, hands tangled in white sheets, soft laughter, the taste of coffee on someone’s lips. Then it’s gone, slipping away before I can grasp it.

I exhale shakily, pressing a hand to my temple. “I need time,” I manage.

Noah nods, eyes glassy. “Take all the time you need.”

But as Victoria escorts him out, I can hear her low hiss in the hallway. “Don’t you dare come near him again.”

The door closes. Silence returns.

I lean back, staring at the ceiling. The world feels off balance, like I woke up in a life that isn’t mine.

Two years gone. A stranger who calls himself my husband. A family too quick to bury the truth.

And underneath it all, the faint echo of a voice I can’t forget.

“You said you loved me.”

The words loop through my mind.

By the time night falls, I can’t sleep. The city lights spill through the blinds, and somewhere in the dark, I swear I hear his voice again, soft, broken.

“Adrian, don’t let them erase us.”

I turn sharply, my heart racing.

But the room is empty.

Still, something inside me whispers,

What if he’s telling the truth?

My hand clenches around the bedsheet, and before I can stop myself, I whisper back into the darkness,

“Then why can’t I remember you?”oice shakes something in me I don’t understand, a ghost of emotion I can’t reach.