Chapter 1 Chapter 1

Nathaniel Mercer's first love, Jolene Lanier, was back in the country. He poured a cup of chamomile tea without thinking and passed it to me. "Jo has terminal cancer. She's got only a month to live, and wants me to stay with her until the very end." His face was calm and unreadable. I frowned. "Shouldn't she be with her family? Why you?" Jolene was Nathaniel's childhood sweetheart, and even after they broke up, he always said they were still like family. I'd been jealous of her more than once. And now, here we were, days away from our wedding. Nathaniel ducked his head, his eyes skirting away from mine. "Mr. and Mrs. Lanier died in a car accident recently. Now she's all alone.""You feel sorry for her," I said, catching the note in his voice. "It's just a sad situation. That's all." He shrugged, then tapped my nose playfully. "Are you nervous? You're about to be my bride.""Please." I rolled my eyes. "Not yet.""Soon enough." He smiled, then turned earnest. "You'll be my only wife. I love you forever." Nathaniel was quiet and reserved, never one to pour out romantic words. Even his love confession was understated. He shaped his EEG charts into a heart and showed it to me. But now, out of nowhere, he promised to love me forever. I leaned into him and asked if he'd help me pick our wedding welcome photo. He pulled me in a little tighter and said, "You decide. The wedding's coming up, and I've got to hand off my work at the lab." Nathaniel went to change his clothes. He'd always been careful about his appearance. I used to get lost just watching him. But this time, when he walked out, his shirt was barely tucked in, and his socks didn't even match. I pressed my lips together and kept quiet. I headed downstairs, flagged a cab, and trailed behind him at a distance. His car sailed past the lab without slowing down, heading straight for the hospital. I didn't follow him any further. He was probably going to see Jolene.

Chapter 2 Chapter 2

Nathaniel came home in the middle of the night. The lights were off, and I was curled up on the couch, watching him without a word. He flipped the switch and froze when he saw me sitting there. After a moment, he started walking slowly toward me. "You already knew?" he asked, his throat tight as he swallowed. I nodded. We'd spent five years together, long enough to know each other inside out. The way he blurted out his promise, his shirt half-untucked, told me everything. He was guilty and panicking. To Nathaniel, I'd always been the carefree one. Me, sitting there dead silent in the middle of the night? That wasn't like me at all. We both knew something was wrong. He eased down, leaning against me, and placed a test tube filled with drugs before me. "It breaks my heart to see Jo lying in that hospital bed, all hooked up to tubes," Nathaniel said, looking completely at ease. "I promised Mr. Lanier I'd take care of her." A cold dread seeped into me, stiffening my limbs. "So you're staying with her until the end?" He gave a quiet hum in reply. Silence settled over the room. After a beat, Nathaniel reached out hesitantly, his fingers brushing the test tube. "What's this?" I asked, my voice tight as I met his eyes. He looked away before answering, his tone soft. "Jolene needs me for the next month, Mae, but I know you'd never agree to let me go. I still want to marry you when this is over, so I need you to forget me until then. Once I'm back, we'll have our wedding like we planned." Then I realized. This had to be the memory-wiping drug Nathaniel had recently developed. "You want me to forget you?" I was stunned. The man I loved was leaving to give himself completely to someone else. "No! Mae, I'm not saying you should forget me forever. It's just for a month," Nathaniel said, his voice still gentle, even if the request was absurd. "I'll come back to you after that." I sat there in a daze. The sting at the corners of my eyes betrayed how I felt. Five years together, and this was all I got. With a self-deprecating laugh, I said, "This is a brand-new drug. It hasn't even been tested in clinical trials yet. What if something goes wrong? What if I forget you for more than a month? What if it harms me?" Nathaniel paused for a moment as he worked the test tube cap loose, but soon after, he continued without hesitation. The cap gave way with a soft pop. "My drug is perfect. I'm the top neuroscientist in Halyndra." He held the test tube to my lips. "I'll come back for you in a month. Then we'll get married and be the happiest couple alive." I turned my head away. "Why would I say yes? I'm not some trash bin for garbage. I don't just take whatever filthy thing gets thrown at me. You're clearly cheating, so don't even think about coming back!""I'm not cheating!" Nathaniel said, his agitation rising. "She's suffering! How can you talk about her that way?" The man I loved with all my heart had just crossed a line, choosing to defend another woman instead of me. Nathaniel took a deep breath and held up the test tube. "Mae, everything will be fine in a month." Out of nowhere, he stood and forced me back against the couch. His fingers clamped around my jaw, squeezing my cheeks until my teeth pressed into the inside of my mouth. Then he jammed the cold test tube between my lips. The liquid slid down my throat, sharp and bitter. During the struggle, some of the drug went down the wrong way, and I started coughing hard. But Nathaniel didn't back off. If anything, he pinned me down even harder. I thrashed wildly and drove my foot into his stomach. He grunted, and for just a second, his grip loosened. I tried to turn my head and spit out the drug, but he grabbed my hair and yanked me back, forcing the liquid deeper into my mouth. The test tube cut my tongue, and the metallic tang of blood soon replaced the bitter taste. Tears sprang to my eyes from the pain, blurring Nathaniel's face. The second the last drop was gone, he released me. I shoved my fingers down my throat, trying to make myself throw up, but only bile came up, scorching my throat. Choking, I fought to breathe through ragged, wheezing gasps. I trembled, clutching my head as searing pain pulsed through my skull over and over, like something was trying to burst out of my temples. The agony slowly took over, and my thoughts began to slip away. My limbs went weak, giving out beneath me as my vision turned hazy. The only sound I could make out was Nathaniel's soft voice. "Mae, I really do love you. But Jolene is dying, and no matter what, I have to stay with her until the end. Forget me. Forget… Nathaniel Mercer." His voice faded more and more, drifting out of reach, until I slumped sideways onto the couch. Those last two words lingered in my mind—Nathaniel Mercer. Who was that?

Chapter 3 Chapter 3

My phone chimed. "Hello?" My eyes were barely open, my head still foggy with sleep. "Maeve Yule! What are you doing?" It was Yelena Anderson, my best friend. "I flew seven hours just to be your bridesmaid, and now they won't even let me into the hotel! And the bride is… Jolene Lanier? Who's that? What kind of game are you and Nathaniel playing? Are you messing with me?" I shot upright, suddenly wide awake. "Who's getting married?" Yelena sounded even more shocked than I felt. "What do you mean? Isn't today your wedding with Nathaniel?" A cold sweat broke over me, and I retorted, "Who the hell is Nathaniel? You know I've always been single.""Cut the crap, Maeve! You've been dating him for five years. There's a wedding photo of you two hanging on your damn wall!" Yelena sounded completely fed up. I bolted out of bed and tore through my home, but there was nothing. No sign that a man had ever set foot in here. "It's just a portrait of me on the wall," I snapped. "Seriously, I don't even own a double bed.""No freaking way! Hold on. I'm on my way." Yelena hung up before I could say another word. The second she stormed in, she started yelling at me, convinced I was pretending to have amnesia just to screw with her. But then she looked around, and her face went blank while she kept muttering, "No way.""I'll prove it to you!" Yelena suddenly remembered that she had joined Nathaniel and me at our wedding photo shoot and taken some candid photos that she posted on Instagram. In the photos, I was wearing a white wedding dress, smiling brightly as I held the arm of a good-looking man in a black suit and gold-rimmed glasses. I went completely still. I didn't know the man in the picture. His face meant nothing to me, but for some reason, tears started pouring down my face. I brushed them away, and that was when it hit me. "Leni! Do I have a long-lost twin sister or something? Is my little sister actually the one getting married?" Yelena let out an annoyed sigh. "Are you two fighting again?" I grew agitated. "I mean it! I honestly don't know any Nathaniel." Yelena gave me a long, searching look, her concern deepening. "You're not actually losing your memory, are you? Did you hit your head or something?" She snatched my phone and scrolled through my contacts, but there wasn't any Nathaniel listed. Out of ideas, she called him herself. The line picked up, and a soft voice answered, "Hello?""Nathaniel, what the hell is going on?" Yelena snapped. "Mae says she doesn't know you! And now you're marrying someone else?" Nathaniel paused briefly before asking stiffly, "May I ask… who is this?" Yelena shot to her feet, yelling, "Nathaniel! What kind of bullshit are you trying to pull? Don't act like you don't recognize my voice!""Wrong num—" he started, but a frail woman's voice cut in between harsh coughs. "Who is it, Nate?""It's nothing… Just a wrong number," Nathaniel replied, flustered. Before Yelena could say a word, the line went dead with a series of beeps. Nathaniel had hung up. "This isn't right." Yelena bolted out the door without hesitation. "Stay here. I'll keep you posted." She was determined to figure things out, but I couldn't have cared less. Strangers had never been my thing.

Chapter 4 Chapter 4

When Yelena got back, I'd already ordered a huge bag of snacks and was happily munching away while watching a show. "Hey, Leni, want some? They're maple bacon-flavored potato sticks." She shoved my hand away and yelled, "Are you serious? You're still eating? Nathaniel is a total bastard! He cheated on you!" All she got in response was the sound of me crunching on potato sticks. Yelena went on. "That woman coughing in the background was his first love! And the bride from today's wedding! Apparently, she has cancer." I kept chewing, louder than before. Then I held out another stick to her. "Damn, that's crazy. What else happened?" Yelena automatically took it and started chewing before suddenly stopping. "Wait, your fiancé cheated on you! And you're not even freaking out?" I kept munching away. "Wow, dramatic," I said, popping two more potato sticks into my mouth. "Cancer, first love, a bride swap—this is straight out of a soap opera. But I don't even know the guy. He can marry whoever he wants for all I care." Yelena didn't bother responding and just dove deeper into gossip mode, having already dug up every last detail. Apparently, Nathaniel and Jolene were planning to tour every country on the Esvera continent for their honeymoon. Everyone was calling him a hopeless romantic, the ultimate devoted man. Yelena scowled. "So you're just letting him off the hook?""Of course I am. I don't even remember him. He doesn't make me feel anything. Why wouldn't I let a stranger do whatever he wants?" Yelena had nothing to say to that, but that didn't stop her from digging up even more about Nathaniel. She bought the wedding surveillance footage of him and Jolene from the hotel manager. In the video, they walked hand in hand through a dreamy sea of flowers, whispered loving vows, and sealed their promises with a kiss. The flowers were absolutely stunning. Yelena screamed in fury. She pointed out that they were calla lilies, symbols of faithful love. She'd spent two weeks helping me pick them out, analyzing every bloom for its deeper meaning before we finally settled on the perfect ones. She brought up how I'd spent countless nights designing those floral arrangements, that the final result wouldn't have been so breathtaking without all that effort. Slouched on the couch, Yelena started ranting about Nathaniel. "What kind of psycho does this? You forget all about him, and the next thing you know, he's marrying someone else that same damn day. You'd have to scour the whole planet to find a man worse than him!" I just shrugged. "How romantic. His childhood sweetheart's dying of cancer, and the lovesick fool still won't leave her side." Yelena kept digging for updates, and the latest news was that Nathaniel had taken Jolene on a trip to the coastal cliffs of Veylmar, right to the Edge of the World. I clapped my hands like a seal. "Wow, how romantic. I've heard Veylmar even has the Garden of Dawn. You know, where the first man and woman were supposed to have fallen in love." Yelena was furious at my carefree attitude, but there was nothing she could do except drop it. She stopped mentioning them altogether because Nathaniel and Jolene were heading off on another romantic getaway to the countries in the Esvera continent, which meant she had no way of tracking down the wandering lovers. After that, I didn't hear another word about them. They vanished from my life without a trace, while I carried on happily, watching TV, working, and snacking. But sometimes, Yelena's words would pop into my head while I was on the job. I'd stop cold, my chest throbbing with pain. Even though my mind was blank, tears would just start falling out of nowhere. It felt like something inside me had rotted, and the bad part had been cleanly cut out. It was strange. Whatever. I brushed it off and forced myself to focus on work. I couldn't even remember anything clearly. It didn't matter now anyway. … A month later, I was sorting through data when my phone suddenly started buzzing nonstop. It was flooded with so many text messages that it almost froze. I tapped to open them and saw they were all photos—lavish wedding portraits, sweeping landscapes, casual everyday moments. In every single one, Nathaniel had his arms around a pale, delicate-looking woman. They looked like any other happy newlyweds, totally wrapped up in each other. Then came a text along with the photos. "Thanks for bowing out, Mae. Nathaniel went straight to your place as soon as he got off the plane. I didn't have time to print the photos for him, so I'll let you handle that." I was completely stunned. This was insane. Was I some pawn in their twisted little game? I couldn't resist firing off a text. "Was the doctor's exam not thorough enough? Maybe you should get evaluated by a psychiatrist." The files she'd sent were complete garbage. My hand was cramping from deleting all of them. I typed out the address for the city's main psychiatric hospital. "600 Virenswood Avenue, Selthorne, Virenia." Nathaniel and Jolene could use a nice, long visit there together. My inner critic was running wild, so I quickly took a screenshot and sent it to Yelena, asking her to join me in ripping these delusional idiots apart. We were right in the middle of our rant when the door burst open with a loud bang. And there, standing right before me, was the man I'd just been trashing.

Chapter 5 Chapter 5

Nathaniel's breaths were ragged, his forehead glistening with sweat that dampened his bangs. Alarm surged through me. "What are you doing here? How did you even get in?" I should've known better than to talk trash about someone behind their back. Right after I'd called him a lunatic, he popped up like some kind of jinx. "Mae, I'm home." His arms locked around me, squeezing me against his chest. The scent of his lemon cologne—the one I used to love—filled my nose. I shoved him away, my body recoiling from his touch. "Get out! Or I swear I'm calling the cops!" I snapped. A whirlwind of emotions exploded inside me—rage, disgust, the raw instinct to defend myself. Nathaniel staggered slightly when I shoved him, then dropped his gaze to his watch. "It's been long enough. The drug should be out of your system by now," he muttered. "Get out of my house!" I pulled out my phone to call the police, but he rushed forward and ripped it from my grip. "Mae, relax. It's me, Nathaniel. I'm not some stranger. You just don't remember because of the memory loss, but it'll come back. Give it five more minutes." I wasn't listening to his bullshit. Looking at him made my skin crawl, and my stomach twisted with disgust. I wasn't dumb enough to fight him directly. I knew I wouldn't win if this turned into a physical struggle. So I played along, stalling for time while hoping he'd give me my phone back. Nathaniel relaxed when he realized I was finally willing to talk to him. He handed me the phone, and the second it was in my hand, I dialed the emergency number to call the police. "Why don't you believe me, Mae?" His face twisted with hurt when he saw what I was doing. "Don't blame me for this." Before I could react, he pulled a test tube from his pocket, uncapped it, and forced whatever was inside into my mouth. "What the hell is this?" I fought back, but he was too strong. In a panic, I grabbed the heavy vase beside me and swung it straight at his head. He'd broken into my home and tried to drug me. How could he be this brazen? Even if the police showed up, this was obviously self-defense. Nathaniel's head was split open and bleeding, but he didn't loosen his grip. He forced most of the drug down my throat. I dropped to my hands and knees, gagging, my body convulsing as I tried to throw it up. Blood dripped from his forehead, but Nathaniel's eyes burned with something like hope. "Stop! Stay away from me! The cops are coming!" I shouted, my voice ragged with fury. He forced himself to stay calm and took a step back when he saw the jagged piece of ceramic in my raised hand. But even then, he held out the drug again. His expression was shattered, his voice desperate and pleading. "Please, Mae, just a little more. You're almost there. You'll remember me soon." He was almost out of his mind, his eyes bloodshot as he added, "I don't get how we ended up like this, Mae. We've been in love for five years. We were supposed to get married—""Shut up!" I cut him off. "I already know everything. You cheated with your first love, and now you're pretending you still care?" Nothing he said would change things. It was over between us. But Nathaniel wouldn't stop. His voice kept echoing in my head until everything went fuzzy. The last thing I saw before I passed out was the delighted surprise in his eyes. … I opened my eyes to a plain white ceiling. The sharp smell of disinfectant hung in the air, and Yelena's voice buzzed around me. Apparently, the emergency call had gone through. The dispatcher heard my fight with Nathaniel and sent the police right away. By the time they arrived, I was already out cold on the floor. The officers rushed me to the hospital to get my stomach pumped. "Seriously? Nathaniel is such a scumbag! He's completely heartless! How could he force you to drink some sketchy drink?" Yelena yelled from the side. At the same time, the officer next to us asked if I wanted to handle things out of court, since going after Nathaniel legally would be tough. He used a key to get in, so there was no evidence of breaking and entering. The drug he gave me was tested, and it didn't have any harmful substances. In fact, it was full of nutrients that help brain cells regenerate. On top of that, it was a legally approved memory-recovery drug that had already gone through clinical trials. Taking him to court would be really difficult. This whole thing was a wake-up call. I'd thought I could just ignore them since we had no connection, but now I knew I had to stay far away from him and Jolene. I had an offer for an assistant professorship at Aetherbury University, so I went ahead and accepted it. I also agreed to the officer's suggestion to settle things out of court. … On the day of the mediation, Nathaniel looked at me with hopeful eyes. "Mae, do you remember me now? I'm your fiancé. Something happened, and our wedding was canceled. I'm sorry for pushing too hard. I just wanted you to remember me again." He held me tight, like he was afraid I'd disappear. Before I could even respond, Yelena lost it. She started yelling curses at him, jabbing her finger in his direction. An officer jumped in right away, pulling Nathaniel back and warning him to stay away from me. His voice broke, thick with tears and pain. "It's been a whole month. The drug should've worn off by now. Why can't you remember me?" I looked away, avoiding his eyes. "I really don't know who you are. If you don't stop, I'll have to call the cops again." Determination hardened his expression. He only said one thing before walking away. "Mae, we'll have an even bigger wedding someday."