Chapter 7—Ex-Husband woke up with Amnesia

MONIQUE

Three weeks later.

My luggage was already neatly packed and waiting in Chelsea’s car outside the hospital. She was ready to drive me straight to the airport the moment I stepped out. Leaving the country was my only option now—the best decision I could make after everything that had happened. 

The Lohr family hated me. They wanted me gone. And honestly, I wanted to disappear too.

But before I left, I needed to see him one last time.

I needed to know that Maxwell was still breathing, even though they forbid me from visiting him at the hospital since that night happened.

I just heard he fell into a coma.

My hand trembled as I pushed open the door to his private hospital room. The lights were dim, and the steady beep of the heart monitor filled the heavy silence. There he was—lying motionless on the hospital bed, his once powerful body now covered in bandages and bruises. 

My heart clenched painfully at the sight.

I took a hesitant step forward, wanting to get closer, just to make sure he was really okay, when the door suddenly burst open behind me with a loud bang.

*Slap!*

The sharp sting exploded across my cheek before I could even react.

“How dare you come back here?!” Elise’s shrill voice echoed through the room as she glared at me with pure hatred.

I held my stinging cheek, eyes watering, but I refused to back down. “I just wanted to see him, Elise. I need to make sure he’s fine before I leave for good.”

Elise let out a fake, bitter laugh that sent chills down my spine. “Does he look fine to you?! Huh?!” 

She raised her hand again to strike me, but this time I stepped back quickly, avoiding her slap.

Before things could escalate further, the door opened again. Laurel and Derrick walked in, with little Ambrose clinging to Elise’s leg. The moment their eyes landed on me, their faces twisted with rage.

“What the hell are you still doing here?!” Derrick’s deep voice boomed, his fists clenched at his sides.

Laurel looked like she wanted to lunge at me. “Get out of my son’s room, you ungrateful witch! Haven’t you done enough damage?!”

“I-I’m sorry,” I said, my voice shaking but determined. “I didn’t come here to cause trouble. I’m leaving the country today. I just… I just needed to see with my own eyes that Maxwell is still alive. That’s all. After that, I’ll disappear from his life forever.”

“Disappear?!” Elise screamed. “You should have disappeared the moment you tried to ruin our family! Because of you, Maxwell fell into a coma!”

The argument grew louder, accusations flying from every direction. I tried to explain, but their anger was like a storm I couldn’t escape.

Then, suddenly, everything went silent.

A weak, raspy voice broke through the chaos.

“Mon… baby?”

My heart stopped.

All heads turned toward the hospital bed. Maxwell was slowly trying to sit up, his face contorted in pain from the effort. 

His eyes…those familiar intense eyes were open and searching the room until they landed on me.

Elise gasped loudly and rushed to his side, trying to support him. “Maxwell! Oh my God, you’re awake!”

“Thank God, you're finally awake!”

“Someone call a nurse!”

Laurel and Derrick immediately pushed past me, roughly bumping my shoulders as they hurried to their son’s bedside.

I turned around slowly, my breath caught in my throat. My eyes wide with relief.

Maxwell was really awake. 

Alive. 

Though his handsome face was covered in bruises and bandages, and one of his arms was heavily wrapped, he was breathing. He was here.

He frowned, wincing as he moved his injured arm. “What happened? Where am I?”

Elise and Laurel started answering at the same time, their words tumbling over each other incoherently, tears streaming down their faces in relief.

I stood frozen a few feet away, unshed tears burning in my eyes as overwhelming relief washed over me.

Then Maxwell’s gaze softened when it returned to me. A gentle smile curved his lips—the kind of smile that once made my whole world feel right.

“Babe, what are you doing all the way over there? Come here.”

I flinched, completely stunned.

Babe?

When was the last time he called me that? 

It had been years. 

Back when we were in college—young, carefree, and madly in love—we called each other “babe.” But after we got married, it became “wife” from him and “hubby” from me. 

Hearing that old endearment now felt like a knife twisting in my chest.

Elise’s face turned red with fury. “Don’t!” she snapped, glaring at me. “She’s the reason you’re in this state right now! She has no business being here anymore!”

Maxwell frowned in confusion and weakly pushed Elise away as she tried to cling to him. “What are you doing so close?” he asked her, irritation clear in his tone. 

Then his eyes returned to me, softer. “Babe, I said come here.”

He even patted the empty space on the sheet beside him with his uninjured hand. “Tell me what happened. The last thing I remember was you almost getting hit by that damn biker.”

My heart skipped.

Biker?

Elise answered for me, her voice sharp and bitter. “It wasn’t a biker, Maxwell! It was a damn huge car! Look at you—because of her, look at what happened now!”

I stood there in shock. That accident after our college graduation… the one where a reckless biker almost ran me over and Maxwell saved me, injuring his leg. It had healed in just a couple of weeks. He was mixing up the memories.

Maxwell frowned at Elise. “What are you talking about?”

Then his eyes dropped to little Ambrose, who was hugging Elise’s leg tightly. “Who’s that kid?”

The entire room fell into stunned silence.

“What?” Laurel whispered, voice trembling.

Maxwell tried to sit up further, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. Laurel immediately moved to stop him. “Don’t move yet! D-Derrick, please, call the doctor!”

Maxwell looked at his parents in confusion, then let out a soft chuckle. “Mom, Dad… you both look like you aged so much overnight.” 

His gaze then shifted back to me, that same youthful, carefree smile I used to see every single day lighting up his bruised face. 

“What time is it? We still have our graduation party tonight. Help me get up, babe.”

Elise couldn’t hold it in any longer. She broke down into loud, heartbreaking sobs.

“What is wrong with you?!” she cried, her voice cracking with pain and disbelief.

I stood there, my world spinning, tears finally slipping down my cheeks as I stared at the man I loved—the man who no longer seemed to remember the last few painful years of our lives.

He has an amnesia?