Chapter 2

Ignoring his grim expression, I led Riley straight back to our room. She was crying her heart out. I gently soothed her while packing away the photo on our nightstand that pictured Mandy, Ethan, and me.

Ten years ago, when Ethan and I first met, they could barely stand each other. It all stemmed from a car accident during our childhood.

Back then, our parents only had time to shield me in the back seat and couldn’t save Mandy, who had insisted on sitting in the front passenger seat. Because of that, she ended up with ten steel plates fitted in her body, and from that day on, she hated me with a passion.

To make it up to her, our parents constantly neglected me. They always left me cold leftovers, enrolled me in community college, and never offered any help with my career.

Every time something like that happened, Ethan would shield me behind him and argue with them until he was red in the face. Yet somehow, somewhere along the way, all that arguing led him right into Mandy’s bed.

Just then, there was a knock at the door, and Mandy walked in carrying a plate of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

“Faye, you used to love this. I made one especially for you. Eat it while it’s fresh.”

I looked down and stared at the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I was severely allergic to peanuts, and Mandy knew it.

Seeing that I hadn’t moved, she urged me softly, “What’s wrong, Faye? Why aren’t you eating? Did you remember something?”

I smiled, picked up the plate, and stuffed it all into my mouth. A familiar sharp pain quickly came from my throat, followed by a dizzying spin as the world spun around me.

Before my consciousness faded, I saw Ethan rushing over in a panic. When I woke up, I was staring at the stark white ceiling of a hospital room.

Beside me, I heard Ethan speaking in a hushed voice, “She doesn’t remember anything! What are you trying to test her for? What if something terrible actually happened to her?”

Mandy sobbed as she ran out of the room.

Seeing that I was awake, Ethan quickly reached out, wanting to help me sit up. However, I turned away and dodged his hand.

“Thank you, Ethan, but I can move on my own.”

His hand hung in the air for a second before he stiffly pulled it back.

The doctor mentioned my symptoms weren’t severe because I was brought in promptly. So, after getting an IV drip, we returned home.

The moment we pushed the door open, we heard Riley crying loudly. I rushed inside and spotted a chubby little boy holding a baseball bat and swinging it, shattering everything around him into pieces.

At a glance, I recognized what they were: the trophies Ethan and I had won together in competitions five years ago. Back then, I cherished them so much that I would wipe them clean every day.

When he saw us, the chubby boy threw a tantrum on the floor.

“Daddy! She wouldn’t give me her toys! Make her give them to me!”

Mandy raised an eyebrow and ground her heel into the shattered fragments.

“Faye, since you don’t remember anything from the past anyway, it’s useless keeping these. Why don’t you give them to Benjamin to play with? That way, it can still serve some purpose.”

I didn’t answer her. Instead, I carefully checked Riley from top to bottom, and only after making sure she was unharmed did I let out a sigh of relief.

“Sweetheart, they’re just things. I don’t care about them at all. I only care about your safety. Do you understand?”

After seeing Riley nod, I looked up at Mandy and said calmly, “Mandy, is there anything else in here that you’d like? I’ll give them all to you.”

Mandy’s smile froze for a moment. Then, mumbling that I was no fun, she grabbed the chubby little boy and turned to leave.

For some unknown reason, however, Ethan suddenly lost his temper. He whipped out a thick stack of photos from his coat and hurled them right at me.

“How can you give everything away so easily? In that case, can you give yourself away too? These are all potential marriage partners we’ve selected for you. Pick one.”