Fragmented Memories

Three days after Ivy Callahan walked out of the Ross penthouse, the executive floor of Ross Enterprises was in a state of absolute disarray.

Nathaniel was seated at the head of the conference table, staring at a series of red performance charts on the main projector screen.

The board of directors was gathered around him, their voices overlapping in frantic, angry shouting.

"We have lost forty million dollars in European market trades since Tuesday!" one senior director yelled, slamming his hand onto the table. "Our primary risk systems are completely locked out! The patent enforcement attorneys from Callahan Capital sent us a cease-and-desist letter yesterday!"

"Who authorized the removal of those licenses?" another board member demanded, looking directly at Nathaniel. "Ivy Callahan built those frameworks from scratch when we were losing money two years ago! Why did you let her resign?"

Nathaniel slammed his pen onto the table, his eyes bloodshot, his face pale. The migraine that had started the night he returned had turned into a permanent, excruciating pain behind his eyes.

"She was an interim manager," Nathaniel said, his voice raspy. "Our legal team is handling the intellectual property dispute."

The company's head legal counsel leaned forward, looking thoroughly uncomfortable. "Mr. Ross, I have reviewed the patent filings personally. The risk architecture belongs exclusively to Ivy Callahan. She funded the development with her personal capital before assuming management. We have no legal standing to use her work."

"Then buy the rights from her!" Nathaniel snapped. "Write her a check!"

"She refused our calls, sir," the attorney murmured, clearing his throat nervously. "And there is another matter. We conducted a deep audit of the corporate registry as you requested. The marriage certificate between you and Ivy Callahan is fully authentic."

The room went dead silent.

Nathaniel froze, his breath catching in his throat. "What did you say?"

"The marriage record was valid, sir," the attorney continued, pulling a set of sealed documents from his briefcase. "It was placed under a temporary administrative seal six weeks ago by an external legal team acting on behalf of your mother, Eleanor Ross. Furthermore, we verified the birth records at the hospital. Leo and Lily Ross are your legal, biological children."

The words reverberated through Nathaniel's mind like a series of thunderclaps. The blood rushed to his ears, a deafening roar that drowned out the voices of the board members.

"Clear the room," Nathaniel commanded, his voice barely a whisper.

"Mr. Ross, we need to address the market losses," a director argued.

"GET OUT!" Nathaniel roared, rising from his chair, his hands slamming down on the glass top with enough force to send a shockwave through the room.

The board members scrambled out of the room, leaving Nathaniel alone with the head attorney.

"Where is she?" Nathaniel asked, his jaw trembling as he stared at the documents on the table. "Where is my wife?"

"We do not know, sir," the attorney replied softly. "After she revoked our licenses, she liquidated her personal assets in the city, closed her accounts, and vanished. She left no forwarding address."

Nathaniel took out his phone and called his personal doctor in Zurich.

“Doctor, tell me the truth. Did anyone interfere with my treatment?”

There was a long silence.

“Yes,” the doctor finally confessed. “Your mother paid me to administer pain relief and memory blockers to you.”

Nathaniel was stunned that his mother could do this to him. Now, it all made sense why he lost his memory after the accident two years ago!

Nathaniel grabbed the papers and sprinted out of the conference room. He ran down the private executive hallway, taking the elevator directly to the underground garage.

He entered his car and drove through the city streets like a madman, pulling up outside his mother's private estate in upstate New York thirty minutes later.

He threw the front doors open, slamming them against the wood paneling. "Eleanor!"

Eleanor Ross walked into the grand foyer, holding a teacup, her expression turning into a frown. "Nathaniel, what is the meaning of this unseemly entry?"

Nathaniel marched up to her, holding the verified birth certificates and marriage records in her face, his eyes wild with rage and heartbreak. "You lied to me! You made me drive my family away!"

Eleanor set her teacup down on a side table, her face turning cold and dismissive. "I saved you from a common girl who wanted to drag our family name into the mud. You were confused after the accident, Nathaniel. I simply guided you back to the path you belonged on."

"You destroyed my life!" Nathaniel shouted, tears of pure agony finally bursting from his eyes. "You erased my memory! I spoke to the doctor in Zurich thirty minutes ago, Eleanor! He confessed everything! You paid him to administer memory blockers under the guise of trauma therapy!"

Eleanor did not flinch. "I did what was necessary for the Ross family legacy. Celeste Ashford is a senator's daughter. Ivy Callahan was nothing."

"Ivy was my life!" Nathaniel screamed, the final wall in his mind shattering completely.

A sudden, terrifying rush of memories flooded his brain all at once. He saw Ivy standing under the sun in Amalfi, smiling as he slipped the ring onto her finger. He saw her holding his hand in the delivery room, weeping with joy as their twins were born. He saw her sitting by his bedside in the hospital, kissing his forehead, whispering that she would love him forever. He remembered everything. Every single detail of his love for her came crashing back into his heart with the force of an avalanche.

Nathaniel fell to his knees on the cold floor of his mother's foyer, clutching his chest as he let out a broken, agonizing cry of pure loss.

"What have I done?" he sobbed, his face buried in his hands. "My God, what have I done to her?"

He stood up, looking at his mother with a hatred so deep it chilled her to the bone. "If I spend every dollar I own, and every day I have left on this earth, I will find her. And I will never look at you again."

He turned and ran out leaving Eleanor standing alone in her silent house.