The Dress I Never Wore

Lena's POV

"What if Lena remembers everything someday and ends up hating us?"

"Don't worry, Dad."

Ellis Townley's voice was as steady as ever. "The doctor said that even if Lena gets her memory back, she'll most likely forget everything from the time she had amnesia. We'll just smooth things over with her then. She won't hold a grudge."

"How could she dare hold a grudge?" Mom said irritably. "Alyssa has stayed by your side all these years without ever being acknowledged, and look how much she's had to put up with. Lena's the younger sister. What's so wrong with her stepping aside for her older sister for once?"

A bitter ache rose in my throat.

It turned out it had not been an accident.

The car crash that nearly killed me had been a trap that my closest family and the man I loved had set together. All of it was just to keep me in line so I would not get in the way of Alyssa Corrigan and Ellis' wedding.

I braced myself against the wall to stand and started back toward my room, only to run straight into my brother, Kevin Corrigan.

He glanced in the direction I had come from and frowned, a barely noticeable trace of panic in his voice. "Where did you run off to? You have amnesia, and you're wandering around on your own. What if you got lost?"

I could not tell whether his concern was real.

When we were little, whenever someone picked on me, he was always the first to rush in and shield me. He never let me suffer even the slightest bit of mistreatment.

Maybe it was because Alyssa was his older sister too. She was my half-sister through Dad, yet she had always been easier for Kevin to love than me, even though I was his full sister.

Mom, who shared no blood with her at all, favored her, while my brother, who shared only half of it, protected her too.

"It's none of your business."

I stepped around him and went straight back to my room.

Kevin stood frozen in place, staring after me in a daze. I had always clung to him and played the spoiled little sister, and I had never once been this cold to him. He pushed down the strange feeling in his chest and chalked it up to amnesia.

After closing the door, I went straight into the bathroom.

Only when the hot water poured over me did I finally start to shake. My tears fell onto the tiles without a sound.

Three days ago, Ellis had still been holding me with his chin resting on top of my head, his voice soft and tender. "Lena, just wait a little longer. I'm going to give you the most spectacular wedding anyone has ever seen."

I had believed him.

The spectacular wedding was real. The bride just was not me.

I had barely stepped out, wrapped in a towel, when the door to my room swung open.

Ellis came in first, and his gaze settled on me, impossible to read.

Alyssa followed close behind him. The moment she saw me, her eyes went red, and she spoke just loudly enough for everyone in the hallway to hear. "Lena, why would you come out dressed like that? Didn't you promise me you wouldn't try to take Ellis from me anymore?"

Whispers immediately rose in the hallway.

"So that's the younger Corrigan daughter? She's going after her own brother-in-law?"

"Even amnesia can't keep her in line. Dressing like that on purpose to seduce him? She has no shame at all."

"No wonder she ended up in that car accident. I heard she did it to herself after she couldn't pressure him into marrying her..."

I looked at Ellis without thinking.

His eyes were lowered as he idly toyed with Alyssa's fingers, completely unmoved.

It suddenly reminded me of high school, when someone spread a rumor that I had only gotten into the advanced competition class because of my looks.

Without a word, Ellis cornered the guy in an alley and beat him up, then came back with red eyes and told me, "My Lena's as honest as they come. If anyone else spreads garbage about you, I'll beat them up too."

He had promised he would never let me go through anything like that again. It turned out his forever had only lasted this long.

I forced a smile and looked at Alyssa, my tone flat. "You're overthinking it. There are plenty of men out there. Why would I need to go after my brother-in-law?"

"Brother-in-law?"

Ellis repeated the word under his breath and finally raised his eyes to look at me, a flicker of scrutiny crossing his face.

In the end, he said nothing and left with his arm around Alyssa.