Chapter 2 — The Life He Couldn't Remember
2604 Words
The room became painfully silent.
Alexander stared at the man standing in front of him.
His father.
At least, that was what everyone kept telling him.
But when Alexander looked into the older man's eyes, he felt nothing.
No recognition.
No warmth.
Not even a faint memory.
Only the uncomfortable feeling that he was being asked to trust a stranger simply because they shared the same blood.
“You're coming home,” his father repeated.
Alexander's expression hardened.
“I don't want to.”
His mother stepped forward.
“Alexander, sweetheart, you're confused. The doctors said your memory may return. You need to be surrounded by familiar things.”
“What if nothing feels familiar?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Then we'll help you remember.”
Alexander glanced at Mia.
She was standing near the window, trying not to become part of the conversation.
His father noticed.
“You.”
Mia looked up.
“Yes?”
“Thank you for helping my son.”
“You're welcome.”
“How long have you known him?”
Mia hesitated.
“Only since the accident.”
“And you've been visiting him every day?”
“Yes.”
His father's expression became unreadable.
Alexander immediately noticed.
“Why are you questioning her?”
“I'm simply trying to understand the situation.”
“She saved my life.”
“We're grateful.”
“You already said that.”
His father sighed.
“Alexander, you don't understand what you're saying.”
“Then explain it to me.”
“You have responsibilities.”
Alexander laughed bitterly.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
“Because it's true.”
“What responsibilities?”
His father glanced at Mia.
Alexander followed his gaze.
“Say it.”
His father remained silent.
Alexander's jaw tightened.
“I asked you a question.”
“You have a company.”
“I don't remember it.”
“You have thousands of employees depending on you.”
“I don't remember them either.”
“You have a family.”
Alexander looked at his father.
“And apparently, I have a fiancée.”
His mother's expression changed.
Mia's heart sank.
Fiancée.
The word echoed inside her mind.
She hadn't known.
She suddenly felt like an intruder.
Alexander looked at Mia.
“Mia.”
She forced a smile.
“You should go with your family.”
He stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because they're looking for you.”
“But I don't remember them.”
“Maybe you will.”
“And if I don't?”
Mia swallowed.
“Then at least you'll have a chance to know them.”
Alexander looked at her for several seconds.
Then he nodded slowly.
His father seemed relieved.
But Alexander wasn't.
He was only agreeing because Mia had asked him to.
---
That afternoon, Alexander was discharged.
His father's private security team waited outside the hospital.
A black luxury car stood at the entrance.
Alexander stared at it.
“That belongs to me?”
His father nodded.
“You have several.”
Alexander walked around the vehicle.
He touched the smooth surface.
Nothing.
No memory.
No emotion.
The car meant nothing to him.
Then he looked at Mia.
She stood several steps away.
He didn't want to leave.
He didn't understand why.
His mother approached him.
“Alexander, it's time.”
He nodded.
Before entering the car, he turned toward Mia.
“Will I see you again?”
Mia smiled.
“Maybe.”
“That's not an answer.”
She looked away.
“Goodbye, Alex.”
Something inside him tightened.
He stepped toward her.
“Mia.”
She looked at him.
“I don't want you to disappear.”
Her heart broke.
“You won't remember me forever.”
“I think I will.”
“How?”
“I don't know.”
He touched his chest.
“I just feel it here.”
Mia's eyes filled with tears.
Before she could say anything, his father called him.
“Alexander.”
He turned.
Then looked back at Mia one last time.
“Take care of yourself.”
“You too.”
The car door closed.
The vehicle drove away.
Mia stood there until it disappeared.
Only then did she allow herself to cry.
---
The Vale mansion was enormous.
Alexander stood at the entrance and stared at it.
“This is my home?”
His mother smiled.
“Yes.”
He looked around.
Marble floors.
Crystal chandeliers.
Paintings worth millions.
Security guards.
Servants.
Everything looked perfect.
And yet Alexander felt strangely uncomfortable.
He walked into the living room.
A large photograph caught his attention.
He stopped.
It showed him standing beside a beautiful woman.
She was elegant.
Confident.
Dressed in an expensive gown.
His mother noticed him looking.
“That is Olivia.”
“My fiancée?”
“Yes.”
“When will I see her?”
“She is coming tonight.”
Alexander frowned.
“I don't know her.”
“You loved her.”
The words made him uncomfortable.
“How can you be certain?”
His mother looked surprised.
“Because you told us.”
Alexander turned away.
“I don't remember.”
His father walked into the room.
“Your memory will return.”
“And if it doesn't?”
His father stared at him.
“Then you will have to learn to live with it.”
Alexander looked at him.
“Do you always speak to me like that?”
His father paused.
“Like what?”
“Like I'm an employee.”
His father said nothing.
Alexander walked upstairs.
His bedroom was larger than Mia's entire apartment.
A king-sized bed.
A private balcony.
Expensive furniture.
A walk-in closet.
He opened the closet.
Rows of suits.
Hundreds of shoes.
Watches.
Ties.
Everything organized perfectly.
He looked at himself in the mirror.
A stranger stared back.
He was dressed like a powerful man.
But he didn't feel powerful.
He felt lost.
His eyes fell on a framed photograph on the bedside table.
It was him and Olivia.
He picked it up.
Nothing.
He closed his eyes.
Nothing.
Then another image appeared.
Mia.
Standing in a tiny kitchen.
Laughing while holding a broken cup.
Alexander opened his eyes.
Why could he remember her?
Why did he remember the little things about her but nothing about the woman everyone said he loved?
He sat on the bed.
For the first time, a frightening thought entered his mind.
What if the life I had before the accident wasn't the life I wanted?
---
That evening, Olivia arrived.
She entered the mansion wearing a white dress and carrying a bouquet of flowers.
The moment she saw Alexander, she ran toward him.
“You're okay!”
She hugged him.
Alexander froze.
Her perfume felt unfamiliar.
Her touch felt wrong.
He gently pulled away.
“I'm sorry.”
Olivia stared at him.
“What?”
“I don't remember you.”
Her face fell.
“I know.”
“They told me you're my fiancée.”
“You are.”
“Were we happy?”
She hesitated.
“Of course.”
Alexander studied her.
“Then why don't I feel anything?”
Olivia's eyes filled with tears.
“Because you're sick.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“You were in an accident.”
“I know.”
“You need time.”
Alexander nodded.
“Maybe.”
Olivia reached for his hand.
He allowed it.
But he didn't feel the warmth he expected.
Instead, he thought about Mia.
Her hands.
Her voice.
Her smile.
The way she had called him Alex.
He pulled his hand away.
“I need some air.”
He walked toward the balcony.
Olivia watched him.
For the first time, fear appeared in her eyes.
She had always believed Alexander belonged to her.
But now she wasn't certain.
---
The following days became a nightmare.
Doctors visited Alexander constantly.
Psychologists asked him questions.
Photographs were shown to him.
Old videos were played.
His family told stories about his childhood.
His business partners introduced themselves.
His assistant showed him his schedule.
But none of it felt real.
He knew facts.
But he didn't know feelings.
He knew he was Alexander Vale.
He knew he was rich.
He knew he was the CEO.
He knew he had a fiancée.
Yet the life everyone described felt like someone else's.
One evening, he found himself staring at his phone.
His fingers moved before he could think.
He searched for Mia's name.
He found nothing.
He looked at his call history.
Nothing.
He had no number.
He didn't know where she lived.
He didn't even know her last name.
He stood suddenly.
“Where is she?”
His assistant looked confused.
“Who, sir?”
“Mia.”
“The woman from the accident?”
“Yes.”
“I don't know.”
“Find her.”
His assistant hesitated.
“Sir, your father instructed us not to—”
“My father doesn't give you orders.”
The assistant looked nervous.
“Sir?”
“I am your employer.”
“Yes.”
“Find her.”
“Yes, sir.”
---
Across town, Mia sat alone in her apartment.
She had just finished work.
She looked at the small table where she had eaten breakfast with Alex.
She could almost hear his voice.
You called me Alex.
She smiled sadly.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
“Hello?”
“Is this Mia Carter?”
“Yes.”
“This is Alexander Vale's assistant.”
Her heart stopped.
“Is he okay?”
“He's fine.”
She closed her eyes in relief.
“Why are you calling?”
“Mr. Vale asked me to find you.”
Mia's heart raced.
“He did?”
“Yes.”
She didn't know what to say.
Then the assistant continued.
“He wants to see you.”
Mia looked down.
“I don't think that's a good idea.”
“Why?”
“Because he needs his family.”
“He specifically asked for you.”
Mia swallowed.
“I'm sorry.”
She ended the call.
Her hands trembled.
She had promised herself she wouldn't get involved.
Alexander had a family.
A fiancée.
A life.
She had no place in it.
But her heart whispered something else.
He asked for you.
---
The next morning, Alexander waited.
He sat in the mansion's garden.
For hours.
His mother eventually approached him.
“You've been waiting for someone.”
“Yes.”
“Mia?”
He looked at her.
“Yes.”
His mother sighed.
“She isn't coming.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she doesn't belong here.”
Alexander's eyes hardened.
“What does that mean?”
“She is from a completely different world.”
“So?”
“You're Alexander Vale.”
“I know.”
“You're the heir to this family.”
“And?”
“She can't give you what you need.”
Alexander stood.
“I don't need money.”
His mother stared at him.
“You say that now.”
“No.”
He looked toward the gate.
“I've lived without it.”
“You don't remember your old life.”
“Exactly.”
His mother became silent.
Alexander continued.
“When I was with Mia, I wasn't lonely.”
His mother's expression changed.
“You barely know her.”
“Maybe.”
“But you trust her?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Alexander touched his chest.
“Because I don't remember her.”
His mother frowned.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does to me.”
He looked at her.
“I don't remember what she told me.”
“I don't remember what we did.”
“I don't remember where she lived.”
“But somehow, when I think about her, I feel like I'm home.”
His mother had no answer.
---
That night, Alexander couldn't sleep.
He walked into his father's study.
His father was reading documents.
“Where is Mia?”
His father looked up.
“I told you.”
“I want to hear it again.”
“She is not part of your life.”
“You don't get to decide that.”
His father's face hardened.
“I am trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
“From making a mistake.”
Alexander laughed.
“You don't even know what I want.”
“I know you better than you know yourself.”
“Do you?”
His father stood.
“You were raised to become the leader of this family.”
“I never chose that.”
“You didn't have to.”
Alexander stared at him.
“That is exactly the problem.”
His father slammed his hand against the desk.
“You are not some ordinary man who can throw his life away for a woman.”
Alexander's eyes became cold.
“And what exactly is wrong with her?”
“She has nothing.”
Alexander stepped closer.
“She has something you can't buy.”
His father stared at him.
“What?”
Alexander answered quietly.
“She cared about me when she thought I was nobody.”
Silence.
His father looked away.
Alexander walked out.
But as he reached the door, his father spoke.
“Stay away from her.”
Alexander stopped.
“Why?”
“Because if you continue seeing her, you will regret it.”
Alexander slowly turned around.
“That's a threat?”
“No.”
His father's voice was calm.
“A warning.”
Alexander left the room.
He didn't know what his father was planning.
He didn't know what his family was capable of.
And he certainly didn't know that the greatest battle of his life had already begun.
---
Three days later, Alexander received a message.
A photograph.
Mia standing outside the café.
The message contained only one sentence.
Forget her.
Alexander stared at the screen.
His blood ran cold.
He immediately called his assistant.
“Who sent this?”
“We're investigating.”
“Find out.”
“Yes, sir.”
Alexander looked at Mia's photograph again.
He had no memories of their time together.
Yet the sight of her made his heart ache.
He whispered her name.
“Mia.”
He didn't know why.
He didn't know what she meant to him.
He only knew one thing.
He was supposed to forget her.
And for the first time since losing his memory, Alexander felt certain about something.
He refused.
He grabbed his coat.
“Prepare the car.”
His assistant looked surprised.
“Where are you going?”
“To find her.”
Outside, thunder rolled across the dark sky.
Rain began falling again.
Just like the night everything had changed.
Alexander stepped into the rain.
He didn't know where this road would lead.
He didn't know whether Mia would welcome him.
He didn't know whether his memories would ever return.
But somewhere inside him, a voice whispered the same words Mia had told him on the night of the accident.
We'll figure out who you are.
And perhaps that was exactly what he was about to do.
Not by returning to the man he had been.
But by discovering the man he had become.
The man who loved a woman he couldn't remember.
The man who would soon have to choose between the family that raised him—
and the woman who had saved him.
And this time, his heart was already choosing.
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