Elizabeth

Elizabeth

I was sitting on my bed, quietly flipping through the instruction folder I had received after being hired as the personal maid.

Yesterday, the doctor had done a few tests—and apparently, I passed with flying colours.

I chuckled to myself.

Sure, let’s call it a win. “Passed”… they simply couldn’t find a cause, and there was nothing visibly wrong with me. Thank the goddess Cassy and Ethan waited until the tests were over and brought me home afterward. In the car, I had asked if they knew exactly what had happened the day before. Cassy looked like she wanted to say something, but while he was driving, Ethan put his hand on her leg.

“Oh Lizzy, the doctor told us not to fill in the blanks for you,” she said.

I was so disappointed they followed that advice. All they could tell me was that I had been unconscious for about an hour and a half and that, as far as Cassy knew, they were my only visitors.

I sighed and put the instruction folder aside. I rubbed my temples—everything suddenly felt overwhelming again. I heard a clinking sound on my wrist. Huh? What was that? I looked down and saw a silver bracelet around my wrist. I examined it closely—it was a simple chain with a small engraved plate. “Property of Mike T.” was carved into it.

Wow. How could Mike have thought this was a romantic gift?

I had texted him this morning but still hadn’t received a reply. “Luna, I don’t know anymore… is he really our true mate?” I asked my wolf. Luna looked angry and started growling.

“How dare you doubt our mate? He’s just busy, that’s all.” I so badly wanted Luna to be right, but my gut was saying something else. I vaguely remembered Mike sitting next to me in the hospital, touching my arm—but that had to have been a dream. I jumped off my bed and walked to the bag on my desk.

My uniform was inside: a simple short-sleeved white blouse, a black pencil skirt about 15 cm above the knee, and black patent shoes.

I was so relieved to see I wouldn’t have to spend the entire day in heels but could wear neat, flat shoes instead.

I glanced at my phone again as I walked back to my bed. Twenty-one messages from Cassy, all basically asking how I was doing. One from Ethan, saying I could ignore Cassy.

I laughed—those two were so different but fit each other perfectly. I wondered if others saw me and Mike that way too.

Just as I set my phone down and reached for the instruction folder again, it started ringing. My heart skipped a beat—Mike.

“Hey,” I answered as neutrally as possible.

“Lizzy?” he asked, surprised. “Yes, Mike,” I replied, slightly irritated.

“Is something wrong? Why do you sound upset? I told you why I had to leave yesterday, didn’t I? And why did you have Cassy call me five times right after I went back to work?”

Oof, Mike sounded more confused than I expected. So he really didn’t know I had spent time in the hospital.

“Cassy was trying to reach you because I had to go to the hospital… in an ambulance. I thought you knew.” My voice was dripping with insecurity.

“Ambulance? Hospital? Goddess, Lizzy, what happened? How come I didn’t know? Couldn’t they have sent a message?”

I sighed. He had a point. If Cassy couldn’t reach him by phone, she could’ve at least texted some info. “You’re right, Mike. Cassy didn’t handle it very well,” I admitted, biting my lip.

“It’s okay, Liz,” Mike sighed. “You can’t control the choices Cassy makes. But you really scared me. What happened? Why did you need to go to the hospital?”

“I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t remember the whole day,” I said, staring at the bracelet again. I was wearing it, so that must mean I liked the gift… right?

“Did you give me the bracelet I’m wearing?” There was a long pause. Eventually, I heard Mike sigh. “Yes, I gave it to you at our date in the pub—for our one-year anniversary. It wasn’t what you really wanted, but you understood why I chose it... You really don’t remember anything? Not at all?”

“N-n-no,” I stammered.

“Oh babe… it was such a special day.”

Mike started telling me everything we had supposedly done yesterday—how we spent the whole day together, had a picnic in the park, a romantic candlelit dinner, and ended the day at the pub. I wanted to tell him that the doctor had advised against sharing the missing memories—to avoid planting false ones—but I couldn’t stop him. He spoke so passionately—it sounded like a fairy tale. Even if I didn’t remember, couldn’t I still enjoy the story? Luna listened, too, full of excitement.

“Oh Mike, that sounds like such a beautiful day,” I said. My heart swelled again. I loved him so much—and clearly, he loved me too.

We spoke on the phone for over an hour and a half before we said goodbye. Mike said he’d try to come by tonight but couldn’t promise—he still had a lot of documentation work to finish by morning. His reports had to be perfect—he wanted to prove to the new Head of the Council that he deserved to be their official notetaker. A month ago, he’d learned that the new Head wanted to bring in his own staff. That news had crushed him—months of hard work, seemingly for nothing. But he continued on, determined to prove himself.

It’s one of the traits I admire most about my true mate—he never gives up, no matter what.

Still floating a little from the magical day I was told we had, I went back to the instruction folder. The directions were clear:

I had to enter through a different entrance in a different building.

I wasn’t allowed to wear my uniform visibly outside the Council building.

There was also a confidentiality agreement I still needed to read before signing.

My thoughts kept circling back to how Cassy hadn’t even tried to message Mike. I grabbed my phone and took a deep breath. I typed out a message—polite but firm. I knew Cassy would see it as an attack, and maybe it was. She had never liked that Mike turned out to be my mate. She always had something negative to say about him—even admitted she didn’t trust him. I had always ignored it, but now it was time to say something.

Later that evening, I had reviewed the instructions five times. I knew nearly everything I was expected to know. I’d also gone over the confidentiality agreement several times—just hadn’t signed it yet. I began to doubt myself. Did I even want the job if I couldn’t tell Mike I was working in the same building?

The only reason I had applied was to be closer to him. But according to the instructions, I wouldn’t even see him at work. The Head of the Council had redesigned everything so his staff would work on a separate floor—only his office would be accessible. That I could live with—not seeing Mike during the day was fine. But not even being able to talk about it with him? I had hoped it would give us more to talk about. Maybe even make me a more worthy conversation partner for him. Maybe I could still become that—without ever revealing I work for the Head of the Council. It was an opportunity not everyone gets.

Sure, it was just a maid position—mostly cleaning, serving, and managing supplies—but the folder said if I proved myself, I could gain more responsibilities.

Like managing the Head’s calendar.

The maid role could evolve into an assistant position.

I glanced at Luna. When she nodded, I knew what I had to do.

Sign the confidentiality agreement—and do everything I could to earn that promotion.