What the Fake Amnesia Revealed

I'd fallen from the top of the stairs and ended up in the hospital.Standing in the doorway with a fruit basket in hand were my husband, Dwayne Arnault, and our son, Carl Arnault. The sight of them brought back something Carl had complained about once, "Mom, why are you always so serious? It's boring."I'd fallen because Carl had scattered a handful of glass marbles at the top of the stairs while he was playing around. So when he and Dwayne walked in, I put on a look of confusion and asked, "Who are you?"I'd expected to see panic on their faces, maybe some worry. What I got instead wasn't anything close.Dwayne went quiet for a moment, then said, "My son and I are here to see my wife. Sorry, we must have the wrong room."I looked at Carl next. He was young, and no matter how hard he tried to hide it, I could still see a flicker of pure delight on his face.I froze.Carl tugged at Dwayne's sleeve and motioned for him to bend down, then whispered something in his ear. His voice w

When I got home, I found Dwayne and Carl already there, with Laurel at their side.They were seated at the dining table, a spread of extravagant dishes laid out in front of them. The moment I stepped inside, I saw Dwayne and Carl served Laurel.I let out a cold laugh.The instant they saw me, the smiles vanished from their faces. The air turned tense, like I was some unwelcome intruder who'd wandered in off the street.Dwayne frowned. "Why did you come back?" he asked, clearly annoyed.Hearing the accusation in his voice, all I wanted to do was laugh. I ignored him, changed out of my shoes, and climbed the stairs. Then I looked down at all three of them from above. "This is my house. Why wouldn't I come back?"Laurel spoke up, sounding uneasy. "Mrs. Arnault, Dwayne and Carl just feel bad that I'm pregnant, so they wanted to look after me. There's nothing more to it."I looked at her. Honestly, I didn't hate Laurel. If anything, I owed her something like gratitude — she was the o

At my words, Dwayne gave me a cold look. "Janine, have you had enough of this? Laurel's pregnant. She needs to be taken care of properly. Could you please stop causing scenes?"My eyes drifted, without meaning to, toward the spot where I'd fallen. It had been cleaned spotless by now, and the glass marbles that had nearly killed me were long gone, thrown out by the butler.But I remembered exactly what he'd shown me on the security footage.I'd watched Carl scatter a handful of glass marbles across the top of the stairs, then lean over the railing with a malicious little smirk and shriek, "Mom, my head hurts so bad!"I'd watched him stand there after I tumbled down the stairs, watched him look at me lying unconscious on the floor without so much as calling for help — not until the housekeeper and the maid he'd sent away came back and found me, and only then did he throw himself at me, looking suitably terrified.Those images were burned into my mind. Just thinking about them made m

I tossed the paperwork at Dwayne and left.On my way out, I told the butler to sell the villa. I'd expected it to hurt — Dwayne and I had lived there for seven years, after all. Even after the fire, I hadn't been able to let go of the place. I'd spent a fortune restoring it to exactly how it used to be.But now, all I felt was lightness, like a set of shackles had finally come off.I didn't have to orbit anyone else's life anymore. I could have a life of my own. I wasn't anyone's wife. I wasn't anyone's mother. I was just me.For years, love had kept me locked in a cage of my own making. I'd spent every day chasing after affection that was never mine to have, unable to break free, watching helplessly as I turned into a walking corpse.Now, finally, I was free.Finally, I could live for myself.I packed up everything that belonged to me, and only then did I realize how out of date all my bags and accessories were. I hadn't bought myself anything new in years.I told the butler t

The day I finished the divorce procedures, the weather turned out beautiful, though Dwayne looked like he was in mourning. I knew exactly what had him so miserable — nothing but trouble on the business side of things.He looked at me, his expression complicated, and said quietly, "Janine, we're divorced now, but if you ever need help with anything, I'll still help if I can."I let out a cold snort. "Then go get reborn into a better life first, and maybe I'll consider asking you for help. Worry about yourself instead. Don't come to me later looking for child support money for Carl."Dwayne was furious. He glared at me several times, working hard to swallow his temper before finally walking off, pretending none of it had bothered him.As for my family— once they saw the security footage of Carl harming me, several pieces of antique porcelain ended up shattered on the floor that same night. It was only thanks to the old family butler working up his courage to drag them all to the boxi