Chapter 2

Rowan sat on the bed, his arm wrapped loosely around Evelyn.

Evelyn stood close, too close, and Rowan leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Like he had done it a hundred times.

Like it belonged there.

“Stop!”

The word tore out of Shannon before she could think.

Both of them turned.

Evelyn’s eyes widened.

Rowan’s brows furrowed.

But Shannon didn’t care.

All she saw was wrong.

Wrong hands. Wrong closeness. Wrong woman.

She rushed forward, strength surging from somewhere she didn’t understand, and shoved Evelyn away from him.

“Get away from him!” she snapped, her voice trembling. “What are you doing?!”

Evelyn staggered back, startled.

“How dare you?” Rowan’s mother shot up, her face twisting in anger. “Who do you think you are to push Evelyn like that?!”

But Shannon didn’t hear her. Her entire world had narrowed to one person.

Rowan.

Her Rowan.

“Rowan…” her voice softened instantly, breaking at the edges as she reached for him. “Are you okay? I was so worried. I just woke up and they said you were...”

She didn’t get to finish because Rowan moved away.

His expression twisted into confusion then irritation. “Who the hell are you?”

The words didn’t just hit they landed, like something had been ripped out of her chest and thrown to the ground.

Shannon froze. “What?”

His gaze dropped briefly to where her hand had almost touched him, like even that small contact offended him.

“Why are you touching me?” he continued coldly. “And why are you barging into my room like that?”

Something inside Shannon cracked. “Rowan…” she whispered, her lips trembling. “It’s me…”

He frowned. “I don’t know you.”

The world stopped for Shannon. Everything, sound, air, time, collapsed into that single sentence.

Her fingers curled slowly into her palms. “No…”

“My girlfriend is right here,” Rowan said, pulling Evelyn closer without hesitation. “So whatever this is, you need to stop.”

Girlfriend.

Shannon’s chest tightened painfully. Her mind scrambled, desperate, searching for something, anything that could prove this wasn’t real.

This wasn’t possible.

“Your… girlfriend?” she repeated faintly. Her voice sounded distant not even like her own.

She stared at him.

At the man who had once memorized the way she laughed.

The man who used to text her “Did you eat?” five times a day like it was a ritual.

The man who once said, “Even if I lose everything, I’ll never lose you.”

And now he didn’t even know her.

“Yes,” Rowan said coldly. “My girlfriend.”

Each word pressed harder into her chest.

“And whoever you are, you need to get out.”

Shannon’s breath hitched.

“Rowan, stop this,” she said, shaking her head slowly. “You’re confused. You’re hurt. Maybe the accident affected you, but you’re mistaken. Evelyn is not your girlfriend.”

Evelyn let out a soft, fake gasp. But Shannon didn’t even look at her.

She took a step forward. “I am your wife.”

Silence fell.

Rowan’s expression shifted, “Oh, so this is you?”

That sentence hit differently.

Shannon froze. “This is me?”

“Yes, Rowan,” his mother cut in sharply. “That is her. The gold digger we told you about. The one who forced her way into your life. The one who ruined everything between you and Evelyn.”

Each word chipped away at Shannon’s reality.

“No,” Shannon said quickly, turning back to Rowan, panic rising. “Don’t listen to her. Please. We’ve been married for three years. Three years, Rowan. You chose me. You stood against your family for me. You built everything from scratch for me.”

Her voice trembled.

“Yesterday,” she whispered. “We were on our way to our wedding. You were holding my hand. You told me not to be nervous. You said..” Her voice broke. “You said you couldn’t wait to see me walk down the aisle.”

Rowan stared at her, for one second something flickered in his eyes but then Evelyn moved and it disappeared.

“She’s lying already,” Evelyn said softly.

Rowan’s expression hardened again.

“That's enough,” Shannon snapped, turning toward Evelyn, her voice shaking now. “Stop speaking.”

Rowan’s gaze darkened instantly. “Don’t speak to her like that.”

The protectiveness in his tone struck deeper than any insult.

For a second, Shannon couldn’t breathe, because that tone was how he used to defend her.

She stepped forward again, ignoring the way her body protested, her fingers trembling as she reached for him.

“Rowan, please,” she said, her voice breaking now. “Look at me properly. Just look at me. You’re confused, that’s all. The accident, something must have affected your memory. But we’re married. We’ve been married for three years.”

Her voice softened, almost pleading with his soul rather than his ears.

“You chose me,” she whispered. “Even when everyone was against us you chose me.”

Rowan’s jaw tightened. “I don’t remember any of that,”

Shannon shook her head, faster now, panic rising.

“You will,” she insisted. “You just need time. Think about it. Think about yesterday..”

“Yesterday…” Rowan cut in sharply.

“Yes,” she said quickly. “We were in the car. On our way to the wedding. You were...”

“Stop.” His voice dropped. “I was in this hospital with Evelyn.”

“Then the day before yesterday. The accident. Rowan, we were both there. Look at me.”

She gestured to herself desperately, her hospital gown, the bruises still faintly visible, the weakness she hadn’t even recovered from.

“I just woke up. I came straight here. Why would I lie about that?”

Evelyn sighed softly, stepping closer to Rowan, her fingers curling gently around his arm. “She’ll say anything anything to get your attention. I’m sorry, Rowan. I really am. I didn’t think she would go this far.”

Rowan’s expression hardened further. “What exactly are you trying to do?” he asked Shannon, irritation rising. “You think making up stories will make me believe you?”

“It’s not a story!” Shannon cried. “It’s our life!”

“Our life?” Rowan let out a short, humorless laugh. “You expect me to believe I married someone I can’t even recognize?”

Shannon’s chest tightened painfully. “That’s because something is wrong,” she said desperately. “Not because it didn’t happen.”

Rowan’s patience snapped. “There’s nothing wrong with me.”

“There is!” she insisted. “You just don’t remember.”

“My accident happened three months ago.”

Shannon blinked. “What?”

“I said,” Rowan repeated, slower this time, watching her carefully, “my accident happened three months ago.”

“No…” she whispered. “No, that’s not possible.”

Her eyes darted around the room, searching for something, anything that would ground her. Then she turned to the nurse. “That’s not true, right?”

The nurse hesitated.

And that hesitation said everything.

“Miss Shannon, you’ve been in a coma for three months.”