“Are you trying to punish me? I…I don't know how many times I can apologize even if it wasn't my fault that I almost—” “I never asked you to. You do whatever you want, Niya, and I really don't care. Neither should you bother with what I do.” “You're hurt. You're hurt, Alex, and you're acting out. Don't worry we could talk this through. This isn't you.” I try to reach him again but he shoots me a deadly glare that pierces through my skin like a dagger. “Sure it is. You've just never seen me like this. You don't know what I look like when I'm not in love with you,” his brows grow together. “Now we’ve had enough of your drama. You'll find the papers and enjoy the party or use the fucking door.” He pulls away and my eyes cloud again. My ears and heart find it hard to process what is actually going on. The looks on their faces tell me it is awfully too late—I have already lost everything. “Niya, careful now,” my grandmother slowly tugs at my arm as if that will somehow make everything better. “We have guests. Don’t cause a scene.” A scene? I have literally just seen a whole movie, ma. ************* My name is Niya Kendrick. I’m 25, an author who once believed she had the perfect life. But how quickly can everything I love be stripped away in the blink of an eye? Or worse, what if the life, the family I’ve cherished has always been a blatant lie, a mere fragment of the truth? Now, I’m awake, and reality is far harsher than any dream.
Lihat lebih banyakThe only sound accompanying the rhythmic beeping of the machines that had tethered Niya Kendrick to life for the past month was her breathing. But now, those cords were gone, and she was free to leave—at least physically. Her mind, however, was a haze of fragmented memories and a hollow ache she couldn’t understand.
She slipped into the faded jeans and soft sweater Pony had brought her, before she sat back down on the edge of the bed, crouching forward as her hands brushed her thighs.
“You shouldn’t leave yet,” Pony said, smacking her lips softly. Niya turned to see her best friend leaning against the med cart, though her weight barely rested on it.
Pony’s long blonde hair, streaked with brown roots, was tied in its usual side braid. She wore a plain blue long-sleeved shirt as Niya tried to piece together what made her temples throb. Pony's golden-brown eyes fixed on Niya with a bluntness that was hard to ignore.
“I’ve been here for thirty days, Pony. I’ve rested enough,” Niya croaked, her voice rough from disuse. “Besides, no one has come to see me in two days. I’m tired of staring at these walls.”
Pony hesitated, her mouth opening as if to say something, but then she closed it again. “Do you even remember me?” she finally asked, squinting at her.
Niya chuckled faintly, though it turned into a weak cough that jerked her chest. “Penelope. Barely,” she admitted, running her fingers through her chestnut brown hair before sweeping it into a ponytail. “But I know you’re my best friend. I don’t need my memories to tell me that.”
“I feel like...” Pony sighed, glancing away. “You still need rest.”
“I need my life back,” Niya countered almost immediately. Her gaze drifted to the small window, where sunlight streamed in, tracing golden lines down to her black sandaled toes. “Even if I can barely remember what it was before the accident, I know I had one.”
Pony made a face—something between discomfort and skepticism—but said nothing.
“Fine,” she finally relented. “Let’s get you home.”
The car hummed softly as it rolled through the city streets, sunlight bouncing off the buildings. Niya sat stiffly in the passenger seat, her fingers gripping the edge of the seatbelt. Her chest rose with every bump and turn the car made, but she kept her face blank, unwilling to let her bestfriend see the fear curling her insides.
Pony glanced at her from the driver’s seat with furrowed brows. “Why look like we might have a second round?” she muttered silently.
Niya shot her a glare before her expression softened into worry. Her eyes traced downwards to Pony’s left arm. Beneath the hem of her long sleeve, a white bandage peeked out.
“You were in the accident too,” Niya said in a quiet voice.
Pony nodded.
Niya’s fingers flexed against her seatbelt. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it didn’t matter. The doctor said your memories will come back. Besides, I’m fine. Focus on yourself for once.”
Niya sighed. “I… I couldn’t take it anymore.”
“And you think stepping out into the world with zero memories and a just-realized phobia for drives is a good idea? Great plan, Niya. Solid.”
Niya huffed, leaning her head against the window. “I remember some things,” she said, though the words sounded more hopeful than confident. “I know I had a husband. I know you’re my best friend. And I know… something feels like pieces of a puzzle that don’t fit together anymore.”
“Maybe that’s because the puzzle’s missing half its pieces,” Pony muttered, keeping her eyes on the road.
“What else am I supposed to do?” Niya turned to look at her through the corners of her dark lashes. “Stay in the hospital and wait for my memories to come back like some kind of magic? I don’t even know why nobody’s visited me in two days.”
Pony hesitated, her fingers drumming nervously on the steering wheel. “It’s... complicated,” she said carefully.
Niya raised an eyebrow. “Complicated?”
“It’s just—look, people have lives, Niya,” Pony rushed her words. “You can’t expect the world to stop because you—” She cut herself off, biting her lower lip hard enough that it almost bled.
“Because I almost died.”
Pony exhaled heavily, “People don’t always know how to handle that. Some people... they just move on.”
Niya sinked back into the seat, her shoulders slumping in defeat. “Right. Move on,” she murmured.
Pony’s grip on the wheel tightened further. “Hey, I didn’t mean it like that. You’re here now, and that’s what matters. You’ve still got me, okay? Even if I’m a pain in the ass.”
“Yeah, you are,” she rolls her eyes.
They drove in silence for a few minutes, saved for the only sounds coming from the car’s engine and the occasional rustle of traffic outside. Niya’s mind drifted.
“Do you think I’ll ever remember everything?” she asked quietly, almost to herself.
The question caused Pony to stiffen, her shoulders tensing. She swallowed hard. “I think… some things are better off forgotten.”
Niya frowned, faint lines pulling her brows together. “What does that mean?”
Pony shrugged, her expression unreadable. “Just that sometimes the past is messy, you know? Maybe it’s a good thing you get to start fresh. Not everyone gets that chance.”
Niya didn’t respond.
When they arrived, the sight of her grandmother’s manor stopped her short. It was a modest place, old but well-kept, the once white paint now fading into a dull cream, with a front lawn that had more weeds than grass. Yet today, it was…different, if Niya could recall that.
Streamers hung from the porch, their faded colors swaying in the gentle breeze. Soft music spilled through the open windows, blending with the echoes of laughter and chatter coming from inside.
Niya turned to Pony, her brow furrowing. “What’s going on?”
Pony shrugged. “Your house, not mine,” she replied flatly, her golden-brown eyes avoiding Niya’s questioning gaze.
Niya scoffed and turned away into the hallway as the wooden floor creaked underneath her weight. The hallway was decorated with banners, their bright colors clashing awkwardly with the old wooden walls. Stranger faces laughing and chatting as though this were a grand celebration.
Niya froze just inside the doorway, her eyes scanning the crowd like a radar on overdrive. Her heart thudded in her chest as she searched for someone—anyone—she recognized, like a child scanning a room full of adults for a familiar face to cling to.
“This isn’t for me,” she murmured, her voice barely audible over the noise. She turned, half expecting Pony to be standing stiffly behind her, ready to offer some sarcastic remark. But Pony wasn’t there.
Niya's eyes flitted over the scene—an older man with a receding hairline gesturing wildly, a group of women laughing a little too loudly near the refreshments, a waiter weaving through the crowd with a tray of drinks. Her grandmother's house had indeed been transformed.
And then she saw him. It was his smile that stopped her heart—a genuine, easy smile that lit up his face in a way that made him seem almost…human.
Niya crawled to Ma Phil’s side, her knees scraping the floor. Her fingers trembled when she reached out, but the second Ma Phil turned her face toward her, she backed away, her knees hitting the ground with a soft thud, and the cold tile climbed into her bones.What she saw in her eyes wasn’t grief.Or it was. But not only that.Her grandmother’s eyes were red and hollowed with pain. They shone darker like they'd been burned with acid. Hatred and love all at once, and Niya didn’t have to be told who each emotion belonged to.“Don’t get any close!” Ma Phil’s voice cracked through the air like a whip, and Niya swallowed a gasp, recoiling.Ma Phil returned her eyes to May’s lifeless body and held her tighter, rocking her like a baby who’d just fallen asleep. “Oh, baby… oh, baby girl,” she sobbed, over and over.Niya's hands met the floor as she tried to understand what was happening. How this happened and how it could possibly be her fault.Just as if Ma Phil had heard her thoughts, “Fin
Josh had started dating May two weeks after their final exams. “He likes me more,” Maybelle had said with that same syrupy shrug. “Boys don’t like mystery when they can have certainty.”She remembered how Alex barely spoke to May back in high school and how his caretaker only ever saw May when she looked her way. How May would press a possessive hand on her belly, laugh at inside jokes with Alex's caretaker whenever she visited Alex in school. The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never came from your enemies but from the ones who kiss your cheek while carving out your spine. And May had carved her deep so she didn’t even bleed anymore. She was now hollowed.And Raphael wasn’t just complicit. He was willing. And he was worse because he made her feel seen before he vanished behind the same curtain of lies.Niya wasn't going to take the fair and honest road anymore. That road had betrayed and chewed her up, then spat her out with scraped knees and trembling hands. So she was don
Was it that obvious to him and everyone? Had they all witnessed it before she did, that she'd fallen for a lie? That as they watched, her little heart, sweet and foolish, had been hanging in the open?Was that the reason why Silas never stopped staring at her? If he really knew, why didn't it tell her? Her thoughts were dragging through gravel like a body, and her eyes were glassy.Silas was never on her side. He'd watched Raphael fool her. After being duped once and twice, Niya was no longer even sure what she wanted.Death or paradise? Did it even matter. Both sounded like an escape from the pain clawing at her ribs.It was her own damn fault. She should’ve known better that men like Raphael didn’t fall for girls like her.The ache shot through her. May was carrying Alex’s child. That much she’d known. And yet she was sleeping with Raphael? What kind of twisted, soul-rotting circus had she walked into?Was it permitted? She was aware that it was a contract marriage, but she didn't
Her brows pinched as she dragged her thumb across the screen. The lock screen was open with no passcode, just messages stacked one beneath the other.It wasn't her intention to open the phone or even read on, but the picture before her had made the quiet night around her went silent, while a million drums beat noisily inside her head. She wanted to be sure she saw it right the first time. ~ ‘I miss the way your lips taste after wine. Next time, don’t wait for me to undress you.’The messages were new, only from tonight. It looked like the conversation went far beyond this, and whatever came before had been wiped clean carefully. All but these last few confessed desires left behind, like the sender hadn’t expected someone else to see. Or maybe they wanted to be caught. The photo icon beside the name was blank. She tapped on it anyway, praying it would lie to her. But no, it opened to the default contact page. The number was plain and simple, without any frills or initials.But it w
Niya couldn’t make sense of her feelings. It felt like she had liked Alex for a long time – maybe she’d even loved him. When she first woke up, she remembered they were married. That they were in love. But the accident had happened barely two weeks after the contract agreement… if that. Which meant it would’ve been impossible for Alex to have loved her back in that short time.Or maybe it was just her foolish imagination playing tricks on her.Thinking that Alexander McKenzie would ever like her – let alone love her – was insane.She shook her head, her jaw setting. No more Alex. Let him stay caught up in whatever shallow world he’d carved for himself. She didn’t care anymore, especially when her body was still marked by Raphael’s touch. She was going to give herself to Raphael and show him the parts of her she had been bottling up for years.At the kitchen sink, she downed a glass of cold water, letting it cool the heat running down her thighs. What could she give him in return?Woul
Even before her lashes fluttered apart, Niya felt the dull ache blooming deep between her legs, a reminder of what she’d begged for hours ago. As she moved, every muscle in her body ached and every nerve lit like candle wax.Her eyes peeled open slowly to a room dimly washed in pre-dawn blue. She didn’t need to turn fully to know he was still there. His slow, warm breath skimmed the side of her neck, earning soft heat over her skin.He was sprawled around her, and carved in moonlight. His chestnut hair had come loose, falling over his damp forehead in feathered strands. His thick, dark lashes were motionless, fanned across his cheeks. A faint mustache framed the curve of his full, cupid’s bow mouth which was still slightly parted and looked too swollen to be innocent. A faded beard darkened the hollows of his cheeks and sculpted his chiseled jawline, and beneath it all, his face held a calmness that wasn’t sleep. It was something else. Something untouched.Niya couldn’t look away. His
Welcome to GoodNovel world of fiction. If you like this novel, or you are an idealist hoping to explore a perfect world, and also want to become an original novel author online to increase income, you can join our family to read or create various types of books, such as romance novel, epic reading, werewolf novel, fantasy novel, history novel and so on. If you are a reader, high quality novels can be selected here. If you are an author, you can obtain more inspiration from others to create more brilliant works, what's more, your works on our platform will catch more attention and win more admiration from readers.
Komen