ChapterThree
1377 Words
Marcus face was filled with hope and relief and he saw me.
"Thank God." He reached for my hand. "I was so scared. Are you okay? It feels like a decade being here without you"
I froze. "What?"
Marcus relaxed, pulling me closer. "I'm sorry, Sophie. So sorry. I love you. I love you so much."
"Mr. Chen," the doctor interrupted.
"Mr. Chen, what's the last thing you remember?"
Marcus thought for a moment. "Sophie and I were at dinner. Our anniversary dinner. We were not just celebrating time, but everything we’ve built together, the partnership that kept us strong, the love that has deepened with each passing day, and the victories that remind us how far we’ve come" Marcus narrated with joy flowing through his heart.
My heart shattered. He didn't remember. He didn't remember the divorce, Natalie, any of it.
"Marcus," I started, but Patricia pulled me aside.
"Don't," she whispered. "The doctor said not to upset him. His brain needs time to heal."
"But this is wrong. I can't lie to him."
"Please, Sophie. Just for now. Until he's stronger."
I looked back at Marcus, who was watching me with worried eyes.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
I forced a smile and walked back to his bed. "Everything's fine."
He pulled me down for a kiss, and for a moment, I let myself pretend everything was fine. That we were still married. That he still loved me.
The door burst open. Natalie stood there, her face twisted with rage.
"What the hell is going on here?"
Marcus frowned. "Who are you?"
Natalie's mouth fell open. "Marcus, it's me. Natalie."
"I don't... Do we know each other?" He looked at me, confused. "Sophie, who is this?"
Natalie stepped forward. "I'm your fiancée!"
"That's impossible," Marcus said coldly. "I'm married. This is my wife."
He held up our joined hands, my wedding ring still on my finger because I'd never been able to take it off.
"Tell him!" Natalie demanded, looking at me. "Tell him the truth!"
I looked at Marcus, at the confusion and pain in his eyes, at the trust he had in me.
"I don't know what she's talking about," I heard myself say.
"You lying" Natalie started forward, but Patricia stepped in her way.
"Security!" Patricia called. "This woman is disturbing my son!"
As security dragged Natalie out, she screamed, "This isn't over, Sophie! I'll destroy you!"
Marcus pulled me closer, protective even in his injured state. "Who was that crazy woman?"
"Nobody important," I whispered, hating myself for the lie but unable to break his heart when he was so fragile.
My phone buzzed. A text from Natalie: "You just declared war. Hope you're ready for what comes next.”
Two days passed in a strange bubble. Marcus was getting stronger, but his memory hadn't returned. Every morning he woke up thinking we were happily married, and every morning I died a little inside.
"The doctor says I can go home tomorrow," Marcus said, playing with my hair as I sat beside his bed.
Home. He meant our old penthouse. The one I'd moved out of three months ago.
"That's great," I managed.
"Sophie, you've been quiet. Is something wrong?"
Everything was wrong. I was living a lie, carrying a baby he doesn't know about, pretending to be the wife he'd thrown away.
"I'm just tired."
He pulled me onto the bed beside him. "Rest with me then."
I shouldn't have, but I was exhausted. I curled into his side, feeling safer than I had in months. This was the Marcus I'd fallen in love with. Gentle, caring, devoted.
I woke to voices outside the room.
"You can't keep me out forever!" Natalie's voice.
"Watch me," Patricia responded coldly.
I slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Marcus, and went to the door.
"Sophie!" Natalie spotted me immediately. "We need to talk. Now."
I followed her to an empty waiting room, Patricia close behind.
"This has gone on long enough," Natalie said. "Tell him the truth or I will."
"The doctor said…"
"I don't care what the doctor said! You're stealing my life!"
"Your life?" I laughed bitterly. "You stole mine first."
"He never loved you, Sophie. You were just convenient. A business arrangement that got too personal."
"That's not true." But even as I said it, doubt crept in.
"Isn't it? Why do you think he came back to me so quickly? One dinner, Sophie. That's all it took."
Patricia stepped forward. "That's enough. My son is recovering from a serious accident. I won't have you upsetting him."
"Your son is being lied to!"
"My son is happy," Patricia said firmly. "For the first time in months, he's happy. And you know what? I think the accident knocked some sense into him. Sophie is who he should be with."
"You always hated me," Natalie accused.
"Yes," Patricia said simply. "You broke his heart ten years ago, and now you want to do it again. But I won't let you. You've overstayed your welcome. You can now leave.”
“Fine, I'll leave. I know this amnesia is a temporary illness and he'll come back to me once he recovers his memory” Natalie said confidently as she leaves.
Marcus stirred at the commotion. "What's happening?"
"Nothing important," I soothed. "Rest."
"Don't leave," he murmured, already drifting off. "Promise you won't leave."
"I promise."
Hours passed. I dozed in the uncomfortable chair until voices in the hallway woke me. Through the door's window, I saw a man exchanging pleasantries with Patricia. He was tall, with Marcus's same dark hair but softer features.
David Chen. Marcus's younger brother, back from London.
He saw me through the glass, his eyes widening. Patricia followed his gaze and let him in.
"Sophie," David said softly. "I heard about the accident and caught the first flight."
"David." I stood awkwardly. We'd always been friendly, perhaps too friendly for Marcus's comfort.
He studied his brother's sleeping form, then me. "Mother told me about his memory. This must be incredibly difficult for you."
"It's complicated."
"Sophie, can we talk privately?" His expression was serious. "It's important."
I followed him to the hallway, where he pulled out his phone.
"My investigator sent me this an hour ago." He showed me a video, Natalie meeting with someone in a parking garage, exchanging an envelope. "That's Dr. Harrison from the fertility clinic. She paid him fifty thousand dollars for your medical records."
"How did you…"
"I've been watching her since she came back. I never trusted her." David's jaw tightened. "There's more. She's been systematically destroying evidence of your pregnancy, bribing medical staff, creating false records suggesting you're not pregnant at all."
"Why would she go to such lengths?"
"Because she needs Marcus's money. Her ex-husband, Richard Blackwood, is about to be indicted for fraud. All their assets are frozen. Marcus is her meal ticket, and you're in the way."
"She offered me five million to disappear."
David's eyes darkened. "Of course she did. Sophie, you can't trust her. She's more dangerous than you know."
"What do you mean?"
"Richard Blackwood's previous wife died in a suspicious accident. Natalie was having an affair with him at the time. The case was never solved."
Ice ran through my veins. "You think she…"
"I think you need protection." David stepped closer. "Let me help you, Sophie. I've always…" He stopped himself. "You deserve better than how my brother treated you."
"David..."
"I know. Wrong time, wrong place. But the offer stands. I can protect you and the baby from both Natalie and Marcus if needed."
Before I could respond, Patricia appeared. "Marcus is awake. He's asking for Sophie."
I returned to find Marcus agitated, his monitors beeping rapidly.
"There you are," he relaxed seeing me. "I had the worst nightmare. You were leaving me, saying I'd chosen someone else over you."
The irony was like a knife to my heart. "It was just a dream."
"Come here," he patted the bed beside him. "I need to feel you're real."
"Marcus…"
"He looked up at me with such love that took my breath away. "I'm the luckiest man alive, Sophie Chen."
My phone buzzed. A text from Natalie: "Three hours left. Choose wisely.”
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