Chapter 28
538 Words
The Pretender
Noah sat up in bed, breathing heavily as the fragmented images returned like a violent wave crashing over a once still shore. He could see Anna crying in the rain. Daniel’s arm around her. Juliet whispering lies into his ears. Isabelle kissing him while he felt nothing.
The memories were no longer shadows—they were sharp, painful, and real.
But he didn’t let anyone know.
Not yet.
He turned when the nurse entered the room. “Noah? You’re awake early. Are you feeling any better today?”
He offered a tired smile. “Bits and pieces are coming back… still a blur.”
The nurse paused. “Would you like me to call your mother or Miss Isabelle?”
Noah shook his head calmly. “No. Not yet. I… I need some quiet time. Alone.”
Once she left, his smile dropped. He opened the notebook he had hidden under his pillow and scribbled down names and dates. He needed to be careful. If Juliet and Isabelle suspected he was remembering, they’d tighten their grip. He needed to act like the same lost Noah they believed they controlled.
But this Noah was done being a puppet.
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Downstairs...
Juliet and Isabelle sipped tea as if they owned the world.
“He’s growing dependent on me,” Isabelle bragged with a smirk. “He trusts me now. All I have to do is make sure he doesn’t see Anna again.”
Juliet nodded. “Anna was always a phase. Too emotional. Too ordinary. You, on the other hand, have always understood status.”
Isabelle leaned forward. “I want him to propose before he gets too many memories back.”
“Leave that to me,” Juliet said. “I’ll make sure the past is erased for good.”
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Later that Day...
Noah asked to be taken for a walk around the property.
Outside, under the guise of weakness, he pretended to stumble, catching himself on the gate to Juliet’s private garden. From that angle, he saw Isabelle on a call—smiling sweetly while texting someone with the words: “He’ll be mine soon. She’s already out of the picture.”
Noah’s jaw clenched.
He slowly walked back inside, where Juliet was waiting with a forced smile and a tray of soup.
“You really should get some rest,” she said sweetly. “You’ve been doing too much.”
Noah gave her the same innocent look he’d mastered. “Thanks… Mom. It’s nice having you here.”
Juliet beamed.
But Noah’s eyes, just for a second, darkened.
He was going to make them pay—for manipulating him, for tearing him from Anna, and for pretending love could be bought.
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Meanwhile...
Anna was at her mother’s house, sitting with her phone in hand. A part of her wanted to block Noah entirely. But another part—stubborn, aching, loyal—couldn’t bring herself to do it.
Daniel had been distant since the kiss and the fight. She couldn’t blame him. She hadn’t even tried to fix it.
Still, she couldn’t stop thinking about Noah’s face in that hospital bed.
The man she once loved was gone.
Or maybe… he was pretending too.
- Writer
