My Husband Prayed for My Death After I Remembered Everything

I sacrificed everything to save my infant daughter from human traffickers, only to be left mentally shattered. Afterward, the doctors diagnosed me with the cognitive ability of a three-year-old. I once wet myself in fear during the company's IPO celebration and caused a scene at my daughter Lila Cole's first birthday party. My husband Adrian Cole had spent five years patiently cleaning up every mess I made. Until the day I secretly followed him, wanting to attend Lila's kindergarten graduation ceremony together. I had heard there would be many children to play with. But instead, someone pointed at me and said I was Lila's mother. Those strange looks, those harsh whispers, everything came crashing in. No matter how desperately I waved my hands to deny it, no one believed me. Adrian, barely containing his anger, shoved me back into the car. He raised his hand at me, his face full of disgust and hatred. "Do you really want everyone to laugh at me and Lila like this?" In that instant, his face overlapped with the traffickers from my past. The pain buried deep in my memory surged back through time and into my body. Terrified, I curled up and covered my head, repeating over and over, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry… please don't hit me…" Seeing my panic, he finally lowered his hand. But with red eyes, he blurted out, "I honestly wish you had died at their hands back then." And just then, my lost memories came flooding back. ****** I slowly raised my head and saw Adrian's tightly furrowed brows, a few strands of gray hair already appearing at his temples. For a moment, I just stared blankly. Almost instinctively, I reached out to smooth the crease between his brows. But Adrian dodged away immediately, looking at the cream smeared on my hands with disgust. "Enough. What are you trying to do again?" It was cake cream, the same mess those children had deliberately thrown at me earlier when they treated me like an i***t. Something inside my chest felt as if it were being gnawed by countless ants, painful but impossible to locate. So even my touch was now disgusting to him? Slowly, I turned my gaze toward my daughter, Lila, who stood nearby with tear-filled eyes. Like a machine, I picked up her most precious building blocks and handed them to her. "Do you want to play with this?" Lila was the daughter I once risked my life to protect under my body. "Don't touch me with your dirty things! I hate you! I hate you the most!" My fingers curled involuntarily. Adrian sharply reprimanded her, "Lila. She's your mother. She became like this saving you." But Lila struggled even harder. "I don't have a mom like this! I don't want an i***t mom! Why did you even save me? I don't want an i***t to be my mother!" Each repetition of "i***t mother" finally tore open the last fragments of my memory. A tense silence hung between father and daughter. At that moment, Evelyn Hart arrived after dealing with the kindergarten graduation incident. She smiled gently, trying to soothe the situation. "Alright, alright. Stop fighting." Her gaze swept over me briefly, dismissive and cold. "I've already clarified things with the other parents. Lila, they won't be laughing at you anymore." Only then did I remember why I had followed them here today. Because a few days ago, Evelyn had deliberately told me there would be many fun things at the kindergarten. My humiliating appearance had become her perfect moment of redemption. The next second, Lila ran into Evelyn's arms. "Miss Hart, you're so nice! Can you be my mommy instead?" Her affection toward Evelyn was completely different from how she treated me. Adrian still frowned and told Lila not to be rude, but the tenderness and approval in his eyes made my blood run cold. Only then did I realize this was never about introducing me as her mother. It was about clarifying that I was not. And that I was not Adrian's wife either. Adrian's cold expression softened slightly as he looked at Evelyn. "Thank you for coming in time." I sat quietly in the car without speaking, my fingers digging so hard into the blocks that blood began to seep out. No one noticed. No one cared. To outsiders, they looked like a perfect family of three. And I was the fourth person who shouldn't exist. ****** I remained silent all the way home. Adrian thought I was simply throwing a childish tantrum. Only when we got out of the car did he notice the blood smeared across my fingers and everywhere I had touched. His veins bulged at his temples. "Claire… even if you hurt yourself like this, I won't feel sorry for you." As if trying to convince himself, he immediately ordered the maid to bring the first-aid kit and personally treated my wounds. I struggled, wanting to do it myself, to prove I was not useless. But he told me not to be difficult. In the struggle, the scissors accidentally pierced his palm. When I saw the hatred in his eyes, I instinctively stepped back. "I… I can… do it myself…" My voice came out broken and fragmented, like it used to be when I was still mentally impaired. Adrian let out a cold laugh. "If you could do anything yourself, I'd truly be grateful." The same meaning as his wish that I had died back then. Just then, Evelyn rushed in and saw the blood on the floor. She screamed and pushed me away. They still thought I was mentally three years old and began arguing in front of me. Evelyn cried, "Adrian, are you really going to chain your whole life to her? Five years of gratitude is already more than enough. Today she can stab you over a few words; what about tomorrow? What if she kills someone? And what about Lila in the future?" My husband said nothing for a long time. Finally, he said, "She is my responsibility for life." A sentence full of duty, but it shattered something inside me. Was I just his responsibility? Evelyn cried as she hugged him from behind. "What about me? Are you really going to let me marry someone else? My parents are pushing me every day. I stayed for you all these years…" The word "marry" finally broke Adrian's composure. His fist clenched tightly. "…Just give me a little more time." In the five years I was mentally impaired, my place had already been taken by someone else. ****** Adrian's injury was deep, and there was risk of infection. Since I also had my routine hospital check-up that afternoon, we went together. Despite his bleeding hand, he insisted on sending me to my appointment first. Standing at the door, I softly said, "I'm sorry." He froze for a long moment. Following my gaze to his wound, his tone softened slightly. "Sorry… I shouldn't have lost my temper at you today." His tone was almost gentle, as if speaking to a child. But it brought me no warmth. Evelyn urged him to get his wound treated. I heard him smile as he reassured her. "It's fine. Don't frown like that; you're prettier when you smile." It suddenly reminded me of university days, when he injured his ankle during a basketball game after a dirty foul. Even then, despite the pain, he smiled first to calm me. Watching their backs disappear side by side, I cried silently. ****** I then found my attending physician based on memory. "Dr. Blake." Ethan Blake looked at me in shock, immediately noticing the change in me. "Mrs. Cole… have you regained your memory? Oh dear, Adrian is going to owe me dinner for this." I pressed a finger to my lips. "Please keep it secret. I want to give them a surprise." But deep down, I already knew my departure might be the greatest surprise of all.