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You’re Not Going

ผู้เขียน: Atty. Catherine S. Parino
last update วันที่เผยแพร่: 2026-03-21 19:46:34

Adrian doesn’t answer Marcus immediately.

He just stares at the phone.

Jaw tight.

Eyes dark.

Controlled.

Too controlled.

“You’re not responding,” I say carefully.

“I know.”

“Are you going to?”

“Yes.”

“But not the way he expects.”

A chill moves down my spine.

“What does that mean?”

He types something quickly.

Efficient.

Precise.

Then locks the phone and sets it face down on the counter.

“What did you say?”

“That you’re unavailable.”

My chest tightens.

“You didn’t ask me.”

“I didn’t need to.”

Anger sparks instantly.

“That’s not your decision.”

“It is.”

“No, it isn’t.”

He steps closer.

Not aggressive.

Not loud.

But deliberate.

“You’re not going on a date with another man.”

“I’m not another man’s wife in my head.”

His eyes darken.

“You are in every legal sense.”

“That’s technical.”

“That’s binding.”

The word lands heavy.

“Why are you doing this?” I demand.

“Because he doesn’t get access to you while you’re vulnerable.”

“I’m not vulnerable.”

“You don’t remember the last five years.”

“I’m not fragile.”

“I didn’t say you were.”

“You’re treating me like property.”

His jaw flexes.

“I’m protecting what’s mine.”

There it is again.

Mine.

“You don’t own me.”

“No,” he agrees calmly.

“But I refuse to share you.”

My pulse jumps.

“That’s toxic.”

“That’s honest.”

The room feels smaller.

The air heavier.

“You said if I chose him with my memories intact, you’d let me go.”

“Yes.”

“So let me choose.”

“You can.”

“Then why can’t I see him?”

“Because right now,” he says quietly, “you’re choosing from an incomplete picture.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Neither is grief.”

Silence crashes between us.

He steps closer again.

Close enough that my back nearly hits the kitchen island.

“You think I’m afraid?” he asks softly.

“Are you?”

His eyes lock onto mine.

“No.”

“Then what are you?”

His voice lowers.

“I’m patient.”

A shiver runs through me.

“That doesn’t sound comforting.”

“It’s not meant to be.”

My heart is pounding too fast.

“You can’t control everything.”

“No,” he agrees.

“But I can control who walks into my home.”

“This isn’t just your home.”

“It’s ours.”

“I don’t feel that.”

“You will.”

The certainty in his voice is infuriating.

“You’re so sure of me.”

“I am.”

“Why?”

His gaze softens just slightly.

“Because I know what you look like when you love someone.”

The words land differently.

“What does that mean?”

“You don’t look at Marcus the way you used to.”

My stomach flips.

“You noticed that?”

“I notice everything.”

Heat creeps up my neck.

“You were watching me.”

“Yes.”

“That’s unsettling.”

“It’s intentional.”

He doesn’t even pretend otherwise.

“I need space,” I say.

“You have it.”

“Not if you’re deciding who I can see.”

“I’m deciding who enters this apartment.”

“That’s a technicality.”

“It’s a boundary.”

“For who?”

“For him.”

“And what if I leave?”

His expression shifts subtly.

Darker.

“You won’t.”

“That’s arrogant.”

“That’s accurate.”

Anger flares.

“You don’t get to predict my choices.”

“I don’t need to predict them,” he says quietly. “I remember them.”

The air between us crackles.

“You’re manipulating this,” I accuse.

“How?”

“By keeping me here. By blocking Marcus. By controlling the environment.”

He tilts his head slightly.

“Of course I am.”

The blunt honesty stuns me.

“You admit it?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I’d rather you hate me while remembering the truth than love him inside a lie.”

The words hit harder than they should.

“What lie?”

“He wasn’t there.”

My breath catches.

“For what?”

“The worst of it.”

The baby.

The grief.

The breakdown.

“He doesn’t know you the way I do,” Adrian continues quietly.

“And you do?”

“Yes.”

“You think that gives you the right to cage me?”

His eyes darken.

“You’re not caged.”

“It feels like it.”

“Then leave.”

The challenge hangs between us.

Sharp.

Heavy.

My pulse pounds.

“Are you daring me?”

“No.”

His voice drops lower.

“I’m reminding you that you stay because some part of you still wants to.”

That hits too close.

“I don’t want you,” I snap.

A muscle in his jaw flexes.

“Then why are you shaking?”

I freeze.

Because I am.

My fingers tremble slightly against the counter.

“Stop analyzing me.”

“I don’t need to analyze you.”

“Then what are you doing?”

His gaze drops to my lips.

Slow.

Measured.

“Waiting.”

“For what?”

“For you to remember how you looked at me.”

The tension becomes unbearable.

“You’re not going to keep Marcus away forever,” I say.

“No.”

“When?”

“When you can look at him without looking over your shoulder.”

The words send a strange chill through me.

“Why would I look over my shoulder?”

“Because you always did.”

My chest tightens.

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“It will.”

Silence stretches.

Then—

His phone buzzes again.

He glances at it.

Marcus.

He answers this time.

On speaker.

“Reyes,” Marcus says coldly.

“De La Torre,” Adrian replies evenly.

“I’d like to take Alessa out.”

“She’s not available.”

“That’s not your decision.”

“It is.”

I inhale sharply.

Marcus’s voice tightens.

“She doesn’t remember you.”

“She doesn’t need to.”

“Afraid she’ll choose me?”

Adrian’s expression doesn’t change.

“No.”

“Then let her.”

A beat.

Then Adrian says something that makes my heart stutter.

“I already did.”

Silence.

Heavy.

Marcus exhales slowly.

“This isn’t over.”

“No,” Adrian agrees calmly. “It’s not.”

He ends the call.

The room feels charged.

“You’re provoking him,” I whisper.

“No.”

“Yes, you are.”

He turns to face me fully.

“I’m reminding him.”

“Of what?”

“That you didn’t forget because you stopped loving me.”

My chest tightens.

“You don’t know that.”

“I do.”

“You’re so sure.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

His eyes darken in a way that makes my pulse spike.

“Because you didn’t ask for a divorce until after you found out what he did.”

The words slam into me.

“What?”

Silence.

“You’re not telling me everything,” I whisper.

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re not ready.”

“For what?”

“For the part of the story that changes how you see him.”

My heart pounds violently.

“What did Marcus do?”

Adrian steps closer.

Close enough that I can feel the heat radiating from him.

“He betrayed you.”

The word detonates in my chest.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“You’ll remember.”

“That’s not an answer!”

“It’s the only one I’m giving you tonight.”

Rage and fear twist together inside me.

“You don’t get to decide what I can handle.”

“I do when it protects you.”

“I don’t need protection.”

“You needed it then.”

The finality in his voice shakes me.

“What happened?” I demand.

His expression hardens slightly.

“You collapsed in this apartment two weeks before the accident.”

My breath catches.

“Why?”

“Because you finally understood something.”

“What?”

He holds my gaze.

Unblinking.

“That Marcus didn’t lose you.”

The air feels thin.

“He pushed you.”

————-

Before I can respond—

The memory hits.

Not rain.

Not love.

Not grief.

But a voice.

Marcus’s voice.

Saying something that makes my stomach drop.

And suddenly—

I’m not sure he’s the safe one anymore.

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  • UNTIL YOU REMEMBER ME   The Man Who Stayed

    The rain hasn’t stopped since afternoon.It drums against the tall windows of the Reyes penthouse, turning the city outside into a blur of gray lights and restless shadows. The sound is relentless, like the city itself is reminding me that storms don’t end just because you want them to.I stand near the window with my arms wrapped around myself. My phone screen glows faintly in my hand.The message.The video.The humiliation.Marcus Dela Torre and I.In a parking garage.Too close.Too intimate.Too convincing.Anyone watching it would believe the same thing. That I betrayed Adrian Reyes.My stomach twists.I should leave.That thought has been circling my mind for the last hour. Leave before Adrian sees it. Leave before he looks at me with disappointment. Leave before he confirms what everyone already believes.The elevator door opens behind me.My breath stops.Adrian has arrived.I don’t turn around. I can hear his footsteps crossing the marble floor. Slow. Measured. Calm. Always

  • UNTIL YOU REMEMBER ME   An Offer of Alignment

    The words refuse to settle.The call came from inside Reyes Holdings.I stare at Adrian’s phone as if the message might change if I look long enough. But it doesn’t. The investigation team’s report remains on the screen.Call origin traced to internal Reyes Holdings routing hub.My pulse beats harder.“That’s impossible,” I say quietly.Adrian doesn’t respond immediately. “Is it?” he asks.I look up sharply. “You think someone inside your company tried to run me off the road?”“I think someone inside the building used our network.”“That’s not the same thing.”“No.”“But it narrows the field.”The room feels colder suddenly.“How narrow?” I ask.Adrian picks up the phone again. “Daniel’s team is tracing which internal access point routed the call.”“How many people have access to those systems?”“Hundreds.”“That’s not narrow.”“It will be.”“How?”“Security badge logs.”The realization creeps slowly into place.“You’re checking who was in the building that night.”“Yes.”“And compari

  • UNTIL YOU REMEMBER ME   Lines Of Loyalty

    The words sit between us like a crack in glass.The driver works for your father.For a moment, I’m not sure I heard Adrian correctly. The penthouse office feels suddenly smaller, the air tighter, the silence louder.“My father,” I repeat slowly.“Yes.”Adrian’s voice remains calm, but there’s something measured in it now. Careful. Controlled.I walk slowly toward the desk. “Who exactly?”He turns the phone toward me. A name fills the screen.Rafael MendozaExecutive Security – Valez Urban DevelopmentMy stomach tightens.“That’s… not possible.”“You recognize him?”“I’ve seen him before.”“Where?”“At my father’s corporate events.”The memory is faint but clear enough: tall, quiet, always standing near the exits with an earpiece. Security. Not an executive. Security.“That doesn’t mean he was acting under orders,” Adrian says.“I know.”But the possibility presses heavily against my ribs.“What does he do exactly?” I ask.“Head of executive transport security.”“So he manages company

  • UNTIL YOU REMEMBER ME   The Space Between Us

    Sleep refuses to come.The city is quieter tonight, but my mind refuses to follow its rhythm. Every time I close my eyes, I see the same thing:Headlights.Rain on the windshield.A dark SUV closing the distance behind my car.And then—Nothing.A missing moment. A piece of time someone erased.I exhale slowly and sit up in bed. The digital clock beside the nightstand glows 2:13 AM.Across the penthouse, a faint strip of light spills from beneath Adrian’s office door.Of course he’s awake.I slip out of bed and pull on a soft sweater before walking quietly through the living area. The penthouse feels different at night—less like a luxurious space and more like a quiet observatory suspended above the city.Adrian’s office door is half open.Inside, he sits behind his desk, sleeves rolled to his forearms, a tablet glowing in front of him. Several printed documents are spread across the dark wood surface. Investigation reports.He looks up the moment he hears me.“You should be asleep,”

  • UNTIL YOU REMEMBER ME   Pressure Points

    By the time we leave the boardroom floor, the building already feels different.Tighter.Charged.Word travels fast inside Reyes Holdings, and nothing travels faster than fear. Directors who avoided looking at me earlier now glance quickly when I pass, their curiosity barely concealed.My accident.The footage.The possibility that someone tried to force my car off the road.Rumors spread like electricity through glass hallways.Adrian walks beside me, calm as ever, his stride measured and unhurried. If he feels the shift in atmosphere, he doesn’t show it. But I know him a little better now. Enough to recognize the signs. He’s already planning three moves ahead.---The InvestigationHis office is larger than I expected.Minimalist. Dark wood, steel accents, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Hudson. The room feels less like an office and more like a command center.Adrian closes the door behind us. Then he picks up his phone.“Daniel,” he says calmly.A pause.“Yes. I want the

  • UNTIL YOU REMEMBER ME   The Aftermath

    The boardroom empties slowly.One chair scrapes against the marble floor. Another director gathers his tablet with deliberate calm, as though the room has not just watched a video suggesting my accident might have been deliberate.No one looks directly at me.Not out of respect.Out of calculation.Board members file out in quiet clusters, murmuring low enough that their words dissolve into the hum of the air-conditioning system. Their footsteps echo along the glass corridor outside, fading one by one until the heavy doors swing shut.Silence finally settles.Only Adrian and I remain.The city spreads behind him through the floor-to-ceiling windows, Manhattan glowing under the late afternoon sun. Traffic moves in slow silver lines below. From this height everything looks controlled. Ordered. Predictable.Nothing like the chaos inside my mind.Adrian stands at the head of the table, one hand resting against the polished obsidian surface, the other in his pocket. His posture is composed

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