Half A Stranger

My name is Serena Sterling, and four years ago, my husband tried to kill me.

It had been four years since the last time I saw Zane, but as I sat across the street and watched him, it was obvious that his ruthlessness hadn’t left him. Zane Carter was holding interviews to find a nanny for his daughter today, and I’d been watching as applicant after applicant came out of the cafe looking like they’d just experienced the devil himself. Some even had tears running down their faces. And after a very long thirty minutes, it was finally my turn.

“Leave. I’m done interviewing people.” Zane said the moment I entered the small cafe. He didn’t even bother looking up from his coffee.

Ignoring his words, I kept walking till I was at his table.

“I said I’m done.” His jaw ticked with obvious irritation. “Don’t you understand sim—” He’d looked up as he was yelling, and I could see the exact moment his face went white as a ghost.

“Sophia?” He gasped, wide eyed.

My heart hammered in my chest as recognition filled his face, but this was it… this was the moment I’d been preparing for all these years. So I kept my face blank as I looked sideways like I was checking to see if he was referring to someone else. “I’m sorry?”

“What?” He lifted an eyebrow, his features a perfect display of shock. “It’s you, it’s really you.”

My eyebrows scrunched. “Mr Carter, I think you’re mista—”

“No, I’m not.” He shot back, visibly getting more irritated by the second.

I tried my best to maintain my ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about’ face, knowing it would tip him off the edge.

And just as I expected, Zane went red. “Don’t!” His voice dropped, low and sharp. He looked insulted. “Don’t you dare stand there and act like you don’t know me.”

“I really think you have the wrong person, Mr Carter.”

“The wrong person?” He let out a short, humorless laugh, slamming his fists on the glass table so hard, I was convinced it would shatter. “You have some nerve, showing your face here after what you did.”

His reaction earned a gasp out of the barista, but I paid her no mind.

I blinked at Zane, letting confusion settle over my expression like a mask I’d worn a hundred times before. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. My name is Serena. Serena Sterling. I’m here about the nanny position?”

“Stop it.” His jaw clenched. “Stop playing games with me, Sophia. You think you can show up here four years later acting like nothing happened? After you abandoned me? After you abandoned us!?.”

“Mr Carter, I’m not playing anything.” I kept my voice even. “My name is Serena Sterling, and I have no idea what you’re talking about. You can check my file, everything about me is in there.”

He snatched the folder from me like it was his only chance to prove he was right. I watched him flip it open, scanning rapidly with his eyes, already hunting for the lie he was sure he’d find.

But I already knew what he’d find.

Serena Sterling. That was the name typed across the top.

His eyes narrowed as he read, flicking up at me, then back down to the page — until he reached the second sheet that held my entire medical history.

I watched something shift in his face. The anger was still there, but it had company now — confusion, disbelief, and something closer to fear.

“Retrograde amnesia? This is fake,” he said, but it didn’t come out as certain as he wanted it to.

“It’s not.” I sat down across from him without being invited. “Mr Carter, I know you said you’re done taking interviews, but I have a right to be here. I’ve been preparing for this all week, I got here on time and we’re going to have this interview. If you believe I am not a perfect fit, then I will walk away, but not without the interview happening.”

His eyes were still stuck on the piece of paper, going back and forth between the words. I could see him fighting with himself as he sat down, and I knew I had him right where I wanted.

“How— how did you lose your memory?” He leaned back in his chair, no doubt trying to gain back control of the situation.

Zane Carter had always been an attractive man, and his green eyes looked even sexier now that he was staring daggers at me. He had a face that was specially carved by gods, and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t one of the things that first drew me to him.

“I don’t see how that pertains to the job, sir.”

His jaw ticked. Zane never really had a short temper, but something had changed those last couple weeks of our marriage. “If you get this job, you’ll be working very closely with my child. It is important that I know everything about you.”

“Very well,” I replied. “I had an accident years ago. It was pretty bad and I got multiple head injuries. I don’t remember anything before the accident. Nothing. No childhood, no family, no—” I paused, like the words cost me something. “Whoever I was before, I don’t know her. All I have is the last three years since I woke up.”

He was quiet for a long moment, staring at me like he was trying to find Sophia hiding somewhere behind my eyes.

“Three years,” he repeated slowly.

“I was in a coma for almost a year before that.” I let my voice soften, just enough to sound pitiful. “My family was there when I woke up. They had to teach me my entire life again… who I was and everything I had, which wasn’t much. I lived a pretty unremarkable life before my accident.”

He flinched like I’d hit him. “You don’t have a family.”

I sighed deeply. “Mr Carter, I’m sorry for whatever might’ve happened to you, but I can assure you that I’m not whoever you think I am. I might look like her, but I’m Serena. I have a mother and a sister who’ve been by my side through everything. We lived in Australia all my life, you must have noticed the accent, and I moved here to Dallas to try to rebuild my life. I saw your ad and thought it would be a good place to start.”

His hand tightened around the folder. “You expect me to believe that bullshit?”

“I don’t expect anything from you.” I met his eyes and didn’t look away. “I just need a job, Mr. Carter. If my face is a problem for you, I understand. I’ll leave.”

I made a show of standing up.

“Sit down.” The words came out rough, almost against his will.

I sat.

“Why do you want this job?”

“As you can tell from my file, my life has gotten pretty unstable after my accident. Moving to Dallas was a big risk, but it was something I needed to do. But I’m currently without a job, and I’m living out of my suitcase in a motel. Your ad said this was a live-in position, and I’ll admit accommodation is something I need right now, but I also love kids. I worked at a daycare in Australia before I moved here… it’s all in my file.

He was quiet for a moment before he spoke again. I could see him fighting himself before he spoke.

“You’re right... I mistook you for someone else.” He looked down at the papers again. “Your credentials look good enough, but it’s important that you know how serious of a job this is. My life is one that requires utmost discretion, something I’m sure you’ll understand in due time. And I’ll need professionalism at all times. My daughter is the most important person in my life, and I need to know you’ll have her care and safety in mind all the time.”

I almost smiled. I knew I would get the job, but I had to admit there was a part of me that remained scared. Zane could be unpredictable sometimes, and I worried that his anger and resentment might ruin my plans.

“Serena?”

“Yes.” I looked up. “Of course, Mr Carter.”

He nodded once, already standing up. “I’ll have my assistant send over the NDA and employment contract to you first thing in the morning. Congratulations Miss Sterling.”

I smiled and shook his outstretched hand, which immediately sent electricity through my veins. All these years, and he still had an effect on me. I hated it.

“Thank you Mr Carter, I look forward to working with you.”