The Stranger In Me

Chapter 17: Fragments of a forgotten life

Marie's Point of View

••••

Voices floated around me like distant echoes underwater.Faint,blurred,unreachable.

"...her pulse is stabilizing..."

"...emotional trigger..."

"...memory response..."

I tried opening my eyes, but my head felt unbearably heavy, like something was pressing down on my skull from the inside.Then slowly,light pierced through the darkness.

My lashes fluttered weakly.The first thing I saw was a white ceiling again.

Hospital.

The realization made my chest tighten instantly.No,not again.I tried sitting up abruptly, but a sharp pain shot through my head.

"Easy."

That voice,deep,controlled,familiar.I turned slowly.

Sir Kelvin sat beside my hospital bed.

Still dressed in his office suit, though his tie had been loosened carelessly and exhaustion shadowed his sharp features.

For a second, I simply stared at him.Why was he hereAgain?

"You fainted," he said flatly.

I swallowed slowly.Fragments of the phone call returned instantly.

"You abandoned your family..."

"People say you married a billionaire..."

"You've changed..."

My breathing became uneven.

"My mother..." I whispered.

Kelvin's expression shifted almost imperceptibly.

"So you remember?"

I shook my head weakly.

"No... I don't remember her face."

That hurt more than I expected.What kind of daughter forgets her own mother?Tears gathered in my eyes immediately.

"I tried," I whispered brokenly. "I tried so hard to remember"My voice cracked.

Kelvin looked away briefly before speaking again.

"The doctor said the call triggered emotional stress."

I laughed weakly through tears.

"Emotional stress seems to follow me everywhere."

Silence.

Then softly,

"What exactly did she say?"

I hesitated,because repeating the words aloud somehow made them more real.

"She thought I abandoned my family after marrying a billionaire."

The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly.Kelvin's jaw tightened slightly.

"I see."

I slowly looked toward him.

"Did I?"

His eyes met mine immediately.

"No."

The answer came too quickly,too firmly and strangely I believed him.

"But everyone thinks so," I whispered.

"The media thinks many stupid things."

Despite everything, a faint smile tugged at my lips.That sounded exactly like him.Cold,arrogant'yet oddly comforting.

I lowered my gaze toward my hands.

"What if they hate me?"

Kelvin remained quiet for a moment before answering.

"People fear what they don't understand."

I frowned slightly.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"No," he admitted calmly. "But it's the truth."

Another silence settled between us.This one felt different,softer somehow,loss hostile.Then quietly,

"Why are you here?"

The question slipped out before I could stop it.Kelvin leaned back slightly in the chair.

"The doctor called."

"That's all?"

His expression hardened slightly again.

"What answer are you expecting?"

I wasn't sure.That was the problem,nothing between us made sense anymore.Not his actions,not my feelings,not the strange comfort I felt whenever he was near despite everything I had learned.

Before either of us could speak further, the hospital door opened.Dr. Rafael stepped in holding a small brown envelope.

"Ah, you're awake."

I nodded faintly.

The doctor's expression looked complicated.Concerned,careful.

"Miss Marie, there's something we need to discuss."

Immediately, anxiety crept back into my chest.

"What is it?"

Dr. Rafael glanced briefly at Kelvin before handing the envelope toward me.

"These were found among your old belongings."

My fingers trembled slightly as I accepted it.Old belongings?

I slowly opened the envelope.Inside were photographs,letters and a small silver necklace.The moment my fingers touched it something inside my head pulsed violently.

A flash,a small restaurant,rain,laughter.A woman smiling warmly.

"Marie, hurry up!"

My breath caught sharply.The images vanished instantly.I pressed a trembling hand against my temple.

"Marie?" Kelvin's voice sounded distant now.

"I..." My breathing quickened. "I saw something..."

Dr. Rafael stepped closer immediately.

"What did you see?"

"I don't know..." I whispered shakily. "A woman... maybe my mother..."

Hope flickered across the doctor's face.

"That's good. Very good."

But the headache worsened suddenly.Sharp,violent.I shut my eyes tightly,then another image flashed.This time,a man shouting.A younger version of myself crying,someone saying:

"One day you'll escape this poverty."

My eyes flew open immediately.Sweat formed across my forehead.

Kelvin stood up instantly.

"What happened?"

"I don't know..." I whispered fearfully.

The memories came too fast, too broken and then,another flash.This one clearer than the others.

An airport,a little girl near the rails,tear, running and finally,a pair of cold eyes staring at me with rage.Sir Kelvin.

I gasped sharply;The room spun.

"You..." I whispered weakly, staring directly at him.

Kelvin's expression darkened instantly.

"What?"

"You arrested me..."

Silence,heavy silence.The memory lingered faintly inside my mind now.Not complete,but enough.

Dr. Rafael looked stunned.

"Marie, you remember the airport incident?"

My breathing became uneven again.Bits and pieces were returning now,not everything,but enough to hurt.

"You thought I kidn*pped Mia..."

Kelvin's jaw tightened.

For the first time since I'd known him-

He looked genuinely shaken.

"I..."

But before he could finish,the hospital room door burst open suddenly.A nurse rushed in breathlessly.

"Doctor!"

Dr. Rafael turned sharply.

"What is it?"

The nurse looked alarmed.

"There's a woman downstairs causing a scene demanding to see Miss Marie."

My chest tightened instantly.The nurse swallowed nervously before adding,

"She claims she's Marie's mother."

Sir Kelvin's Point of View

••••

The moment the nurse said those words,

"She claims she's Marie's mother."

I felt the atmosphere in the room change instantly.Marie froze beside me,completely still.Like even breathing had suddenly become difficult for her and d for some strange reason...My own chest tightened too.

Dr. Rafael frowned immediately. "Calm her down first. We cannot allow unnecessary stress around the patient."

"I tried, doctor," the nurse explained nervously. "But she refuses to leave. Security is already gathering downstairs."

Marie slowly looked toward m.Lost,confused,afraid.God.I hated that look in her ey,because somehow, every single time she looked vulnerable, something inside me reacted before logic could stop it.

Her fingers tightened around the silver necklace trembling in her hand.

"My mother..." she whispered faintly.

I watched her carefully.The fear on her face didn't look fake.It looked like someone standing at the edge of a cliff without knowing whether the ground beneath them would collapse.

Dr. Rafael turned toward me.

"Mr. Kelvin, perhaps it's best if we control this carefully. Her emotional condition is still unstable."

I understood what he meant immediately.One wrong emotional trigger and Marie could collapse again or worse.

I exhaled slowly and straightened.

"I'll handle it."

Marie's eyes widened slightly.

"You?"

I ignored the question,because frankly, I didn't know why I volunteered either.Maybe because the moment I heard someone downstairs was upsetting her,my instincts moved before my pride could interfere.Again,annoying.

I adjusted my suit jacket coldly and walked toward the door,but before leaving, I glanced back at her once more.

She looked small sitting on that hospital bed,fragile.Nothing like the stubborn girl who once argued with me despite being terrified,nothing like the woman who slowly brought life back into my mansion without realizing it and somehow,that unsettled me more than the media scandal ever could.

I stepped outside the room.The moment the door shut behind me, my expression hardened instantly.Back to reality,back to control.

The hospital hallway was chaotic already.Nurses whispering, patients staring.Security guards trying to calm a middle-aged woman near the reception area downstairs,even from the upper floor, I could hear her voice faintly.

"Let me see my daughter!"

I descended the stairs slowly.Every step felt heavier than it should,because deep down, I already knew this woman would bring complications, questions,truths.

A past Marie herself couldn't remember yet and I wasn't prepared for what those truths might change.

The moment I reached the reception hall, the woman noticed me immediately.Her eyes widened,recognition flashed across her face instantly.

"You!"

The entire hall went silent.Wonderful,I stopped a few feet away from her calmly.She looked older than I expected.Worn out by life,simple clothes. Red swollen eye,but despite her exhausted appearance, her glare held fire.

"You're Alberto Kelvin," she spat bitterly.

"Yes."

"You destroyed my daughter's life!"

The accusation echoed loudly across the reception hall the security guards shifted awkwardly,Nurses exchanged nervous glances.I remained still,controlled.

"What exactly are you implying?"

She laughed painfully.

"Don't act innocent! The whole Philippines already knows about your scandal with Marie!"

Scandal.

That word again.I was beginning to hate it.

"She stopped calling home after meeting you," the woman continued emotionally. "Then suddenly the news started spreading everywhere! Billionaire CEO! Secret woman! Mansion!"

Her voice cracked slightly.

"We thought she abandoned us..."

For a brief second,something uncomfortable twisted inside my chest,because despite everything,Marie had never once spoken badly about her family.

Even without her memories, she cried over forgetting them.That alone told me enough.

This wasn't some greedy woman chasing luxury.No.If anything,Marie had spent most of her time sacrificing herself for other people.Including me.

The realization irritated me deeply,beecause it made my guilt heavier.

"I think you should lower your voice," I said coldly.

The woman glared harder.

"Or what? You'll arrest me too?"

My jaw tightened immediately.The airport incident,damn it.

Marie remembered at least part of it and now hearing this woman say that for the first time in years, shame hit me properly.Not irritation,Not annoyance.Shame.

Because I really had treated Marie horribly from the beginning.Not because she deserved i,butt because she reminded me too much of Maya.

And instead of dealing with my grief like a man,I punished her for existing.

Pathetic.

"You don't understand the situation," I said finally.

"Then explain it to me!" the woman cried. "Why is my daughter in the hospital?!"

Silence.

A dangerous silence, because I couldn't answer honestly.Not without exposing myself completely.The woman noticed my silence instantly and her expression changed.

Disappointment,disgust.

"You did hurt her..."

I looked away briefly.That alone was answer enough.

She covered her mouth emotionally.

"Oh God..."

For the first time in a long while,I genuinely felt like the monster people believed I was.Not the feared billionaire CO,not the powerful businessman.

Just,a broken man who kept hurting the people around him and somehow,Marie still defended me,still looked at me without hatred.

Why?

Why would someone like her continue seeing humanity inside someone like me?

I suddenly heard footsteps behind me,I turned slightly.Marie stood at the top of the staircase weakly, holding onto the railing for support.

Dr. Rafael and the nurse rushed after her anxiously.

"Marie!" the doctor exclaimed,but she wasn't looking at them.

She was staring directly at the woman downstairs.

Tears slowly gathered in her eyes and then softly,almost like a frightened child;

"Mama...?"