THE WIFE WHO FORGOT

CHAPTER 7: HER DESPERATE CHOICE - PART 1

MONDAY EVENING — JASON’S APARTMENT

The door swings open. He steps back, one hand resting on the frame, and just looks at her. Quiet. Polite. No smile. No warmth. Nothing more.

Rose steps across the threshold, her heels sinking into the plush rug. She closes the door behind her, fingers lingering on the handle for a heartbeat. Her heart hammers — fast, bright, terrified in the best way. She’d come straight from Sam’s doctor’s office, still glowing from the news. He’d texted: Come over. We need to talk. Alone. And Rose — hopeful, so deeply, painfully in love — had dressed for the moment. The red dress. The one he’d once said suited her best. Hair down, soft around her shoulders. She’d touched up her lipstick three times in the elevator, her hands shaking. This is it, she’d told herself. Finally.

She walks further into the room, slow, light on her feet, turning slowly as she takes it all in — the dim lighting, the skyline glowing through the floor-to-ceiling glass, the quiet that usually feels like safety but tonight feels… tight. Restless.

Sam’s having a baby, her mind races, spinning, giddy. A high-risk miracle. And we — Jason and I — we’re finally going to be real. I’ll tell him. He’ll be happy. We’ll be happy. Don’t mess this up, Rose. Just breathe.

She stops in the centre of the room, hands clasped loosely in front of her, a soft, radiant smile touching her lips. She waits for him to step closer. To reach for her. To say something — anything — that matches the way her chest feels about to burst.

ROSE — voice warm, bright, alive with it —

“The doctor said it’s high-risk, but she’s okay. The baby’s okay. It’s a miracle, Jason. Sam’s going to be a mum.”

She lifts her eyes to his, beaming, leaning in just a little — expecting a laugh, a hug, a hand reaching out to brush her arm.

Instead — his jaw locks. His eyes darken, hardening like a door slamming shut. The air in the room drops ten degrees.

Inside Jason:

She’s glowing. Laughing. Celebrating. While everything burns. While she lies to the one person who loves her most. Just like Mum. Smile sweet, look innocent, and break everything behind their back. She thinks she’s clever. She thinks I’m blind. But I see it all.

He doesn’t say congratulations. Doesn’t move toward her. He turns on his heel and walks to the side table — long, sharp strides — and picks up a thick, manila folder. He turns back to her, and sets it down on the low table between them with a heavy, final THUD.

JASON — voice flat, cold, stripped of everything —

“Read it. All of it. Then we’ll talk.”

Rose blinks, the smile slipping slowly from her face. She glances down at the folder, then back up at him, confused, hurt already blooming in her chest. She takes a step toward it, then hesitates, her hands twisting together.

ROSE — “Jason? What is this? What’s going on? You’re scaring me.”

JASON — “Sit. Read. We don’t speak until you’re done.”

She sinks onto the edge of the sofa, her knees suddenly weak. She reaches for the folder, her fingers brushing the label — nothing. She opens it. And as she reads, the colour drains from her face. Page after page — contracts, bank transfers, dates, numbers, all highlighted, all marked. She reads it twice. Her hands begin to shake. The papers rattle softly. She sets the folder down slowly, like it’s burning her. She looks up at him, eyes wide, swimming.

ROSE — voice trembling, barely audible —

“This… this can’t be right. Jonathan wouldn’t… not knowingly. He wouldn’t risk Sam. There has to be a mistake — some kind of error in the paperwork, a miscalculation, something—”

JASON — cuts in sharp, loud, stepping forward so fast she flinches —

“Cut the crap, Rose. Don’t play the innocent. It’s all right there in black and white. And I know about you and Jonathan.”

Rose freezes. Her breath catches in her throat. The room spins. She stands up too fast, stumbling back a step until her legs hit the sofa. Her hands fly out to steady herself.

ROSE — “What? What are you saying? Jason, look at me — look at my face — what are you talking about?”

JASON — “I’m saying I know. I’ve seen it. The late nights at the apartment. The way you look at each other. The way you rush to his side the second he’s in the room. While Sam’s pregnant, Rose. While she’s fighting to keep her baby alive — you are with him. Behind her back. While he gambles your shared money away on some fraudulent deal in Asia. While he drags the brand, the building, everything down around all of you — and you’re right there beside him. Every single step.”

ROSE — face white, stepping back again, shaking her head so hard her hair falls forward —

“Are you insane? Are you actually insane? I would never. Not Sam. Not like that. How dare you — how dare you think that of me? Of us? I would never betray her — never! Not in a million years!”

She wraps her arms tight around herself, suddenly shivering, tears pricking her eyes before she can stop them. I walked in here hoping… hoping for us. Hoping for a future. And all this time? This is what he saw? This is what he believed? Without asking? Without once giving me a chance to speak?

Inside Jason:

Lies. Tears. Denial. Exactly like her. Exactly like Mum. Cry and look hurt and act like I’m the monster. But I’m not Dad. I won’t sit quiet and let her destroy everything. I won’t look away. Not this time.

He steps closer, leaning down, voice dropping low — intense, unyielding, terrifyingly certain.

JASON — “Save it. I don’t want to hear it. You can lie to everyone else. You can lie to yourself. But you’re not lying to me. Not anymore. You’re running out of time — and you’re running out of choices.”

He flips the folder open again, spreading the papers wide, slamming his palm down on the top sheet.

JASON — “Option One. Marry me. Everyone expects it anyway — my family, your family, the board. They’ve been pushing me to settle down, to secure the alliance, to make the business stronger. And since it has to be someone… it may as well be you.”

Rose’s heart cracks wide open. Not because he loves her. Not because he wants her. Because it’s convenient. Because it’s expected. Because it’s practical.

JASON — “We leave for Florida whenever you want. Next week. Tomorrow. I don’t care. I fix the Asia mess. I pay back every penny. I save the building. I save the brand. Sam stays safe — no stress, no fear, no idea any of this ever happened. Everything stays quiet. Everything stays exactly as it should be. You walk away from all of it — safe. Protected.”

He pauses, letting it land — those words hanging between them, cold and final — then his voice drops, harder still.

JASON — “Option Two. I tell Sam. Every last detail. The suppliers. The money. The late nights. The lies. I tell her everything. While she’s high-risk, Rose. While she’s fighting for her life and her baby. And you — you explain to her why you stood by and let it all happen. You explain why you chose him over her. Over us.”

Rose stares at him, and suddenly her knees give out. She sinks back onto the sofa, hands flying to her mouth to muffle the sound that tears out of her. All of it. Every glance, every quiet moment, every time I thought he looked at me like I mattered — it was never real. He never saw me. He never trusted me. I was never Rose. I was just… convenient. A business arrangement. A name to strengthen the family ties.

ROSE — voice breaking, tears spilling over, hot and fast —

“So this… this whole time. You didn’t want me. You just wanted… what was expected. Someone to fit the plan. Something to strengthen the deal. You asked me here tonight — you let me hope — and it was all just… leverage. I was never anything more to you than a suitable match, was I?”

She stands up, trembling from head to toe, anger cutting through the hurt like a knife.

ROSE — “You’re blackmailing me. You’re actually blackmailing me into marrying you. And you knew — you knew I couldn’t risk Sam. That you’d win before I even stepped through the door. That’s not a choice, Jason. That’s a trap. And I walked right into it thinking… thinking it was love.”

JASON — voice rough, like it pains him too —

“I’m giving you a way out. Before he destroys you. Before you destroy yourself. That’s all this is. I’m saving you, Rose. Whether you want it or not.”

Silence. Heavy. Suffocating. Rose looks around the room — at the glass, at the lights, at the man she’d loved her whole life — and feels everything she ever wanted turn to ash. She can’t choose Option Two. Not with Sam. Not with her best friend’s life hanging in the balance. But Option One? Marrying a man who believes the absolute worst of her? Who thinks she’s a liar and a cheater? Who admits she was never more than “it may as well be you”?

It’s no choice at all.

ROSE — quiet, broken, but clear —

“How long? How long have you known? And all this time… you never once asked me. You never once believed me. You just… decided. And I was just… the easiest option. That’s all I ever was.”

She lifts her chin, tears streaming now, but her voice steady.

“When do we start?”