Chapter 3

The words that followed next, however, plunged me straight into a freezing abyss.

"Levi was the one who reminded me to bring this for you.

"Look at him, always thinking of your well-being. Can't you open your heart and treat him a little better in return?"

I stared down at the scraps floating in the thin broth, a sickening wave of nausea rolling through my stomach.

"Tessa, you're feeding me Levi's leftovers. Do you even have a heart?

"Or what, has it been six years and the Laurent Group is about to go bankrupt? You can't even afford a single bowl of fresh broth?"

Tessa snapped to her feet, her face flushing with furious embarrassment as she splashed the hot broth in my face.

"Why do you have to be so vicious with your words? Are you still holding a grudge because I shoved you back then?

"I was only trying to protect you! If you had actually stabbed Levi, you would have ended up in prison. What was I supposed to do?

"I spent six whole years looking for you! Can't you find it in your heart to forgive me?"

Hearing her hypocritical words made me laugh until tears blurred my vision.

The fishing village where I had been trapped was only thirty miles away from the city.

With the vast resources of the Laurent family, even if she had dragged her feet, she could have tracked me down within a single month if she actually cared.

Yet Tessa let six years pass, leaving me to burn under the harsh seaside sun for two thousand days and nights.

During that time, she erased my existence from the media and threw a massive, public engagement party for Levi.

Back when I still had my amnesia, I had caught a glimpse of them on a digital billboard, a picture-perfect couple smiling back at the world, and felt a strange, piercing ache in my chest.

At the time, I didn't know that specific ache was the agony of losing everything.

I pointed a shaking finger toward the door. "Get out. Get as far away from me as you possibly can!"

Tessa loomed over me, her gaze freezing cold and terrifying.

"Aiden, no matter how much of a tantrum you throw, I’m getting that kidney.

"The doctor already said it. In three days, once your strength is back up, we'll do the surgery!"

Without waiting for my answer, she turned on her heel and stormed out of the room.

A few moments later, cheerful laughter drifted over from the adjoining room.

It was Tessa and Levi, excitedly planning their post-recovery honeymoon vacation.

A violent coughing fit wracked my body, my chest burning as though something inside me were tearing apart.

Suddenly, a warm, metallic taste filled the back of my throat.

I instinctively slapped a hand over my mouth.

When I pulled my hand away, bright crimson blood smeared across my palm.

Instead of panicking, a bitter laugh escaped my lips.

Tessa had no idea that I had been diagnosed with early-stage stomach cancer six years ago.

Back in the fishing village, frequent nosebleeds and stabbing stomach cramps had become my normal.

As my memories were erased and I had no money to seek treatment, I had simply gritted my teeth and pushed through the pain.

After six miserable years without treatment, I knew I had little time left.

…

Waiting until the bodyguards let their guard down, I climbed out of the window, dropped to the ground, and escaped.

The drop from the second floor onto the grassy lawn wasn’t too bad, but it aggravated the old injury in my crippled leg.

With nowhere else to go, I limped all the way back to the house I used to call home.

Mrs. Morgan, the housekeeper who had raised me since I was a child, was still working there.

After all those years apart, her hair had turned noticeably grayer.

The moment she laid eyes on me, she recognized me instantly.

Pulling me into a tight embrace, her eyes welled up with tears.

"Thank God you're back," she choked out. "Let me whip you up something good to eat right now."

Taking advantage of her trip to the kitchen, I slipped upstairs to the second floor.

All of my favorite books had been thrown out long ago, replaced by rows of expensive collector models.

My old art studio had been converted into a personal rock-climbing wall for Levi.

Even my former master bedroom had been completely overhauled into the shared suite for Levi and Tessa.

I pulled open the nightstand drawer and found a crumpled wrapper from an opened box of condoms.

I had known for a long time that they were together.

Yet seeing the undeniable proof with my own eyes still felt like a knife twisting in my chest.