Who Will Grow Old With Me?

Nathaniel Scott had no idea how he'd made it out of the hospital.

As he crossed the street, a car nearly hit him, startling both him and the driver.

But his mind was too muddled to think straight.

He and Jessica Sullivan had been together since middle school. From school uniforms to wedding gowns, they had spent fifteen years together, through every season of life.

Everyone around them knew how hopelessly in love Jessica was with Nathaniel.

In the split second before the crash, Jessica chose to push Nathaniel out of the car. The car plunged over the cliff with her still inside.

York Lawrence was the one who rescued her at the foot of the cliff.

After the accident, Jessica lost her memory, and York took her home and cared for her for six months.

Six months later, her memories finally returned, and she went back to Nathaniel.

She still loved him just as much as ever. The moment she saw him, she rushed into his arms, her eyes red with tears.

"Nathaniel, I thought I'd never see you again."

Nathaniel was deeply grateful to York for taking care of Jessica during those six months. He treated him with the utmost respect.

He had even transferred seven hundred thousand dollars to York and bought several homes for York's family in downtown Hawthorne as a token of his gratitude.

Nathaniel had asked Jessica that before, too.

"You were with York while you had amnesia, weren't you?"

Jessica simply wrapped her arms around him and kissed him tenderly.

"That was all when I'd lost my memory. Now that I have it back, you're the only one in my heart."

At first, Nathaniel was still skeptical.

That was until the day Jessica sent York and his entire family overseas.

She even went to a tattoo parlor and had the words "Belongs to Nathaniel Scott" tattooed over her heart.

She was allergic to the tattoo ink, and that night, she developed a high fever that wouldn't break.

Half-conscious, Jessica held Nathaniel's hand and murmured softly, "I'm fine. I just want you to feel secure. If I ever lose my memory again, all I have to do is look at this tattoo to remember that I'm married. My husband's name is Nathaniel Scott, and I love him so, so much."

Nathaniel broke down in tears, and at last, he believed her completely.

Whether it was a class reunion or a business dinner, they always attended together, inseparable.

Her friends would tease her every time. "Jessica, you're so clingy! You can't even stand being away from your husband for a little while."

Jessica, meanwhile, seemed to revel in it. "You're all just jealous that I married such an amazing husband."

Nathaniel had always believed theirs was a happy marriage.

One night, he suddenly had severe stomach pain. Jessica rushed him to the hospital and told him he had acute appendicitis and needed surgery to have his appendix removed.

He never suspected a thing. He watched as she signed the surgical consent form before he was wheeled into the operating room.

But the truth was, his appendix hadn't been removed at all. He had been given a vasectomy instead.

By the time Nathaniel got home, it was already dark.

He had barely opened the door when he heard Jessica talking on the phone.

"Okay, I'll come over tonight and keep you company. Don't worry, I’m fine, and the baby is fine, too.

"Nathaniel doesn't know yet. I'll tell him I'm pregnant in a few days. He'll probably be over the moon.

"I gave him my love and openly acknowledged him as my husband. You're the baby's biological father, yet you have to remain in the shadows. I'm sorry you've had to put up with that.

"Once the baby is born, I'll tell him I want the baby to take my last name. He loves me so much, he'll definitely agree.

"Don't worry. I won't let your child take his last name.

"He'll never find out. Not ever."

Nathaniel stood frozen outside the door, every last bit of warmth draining from his body.

So Jessica had never forgotten York at all.

She wanted to make it up to York, so she was having his baby. And to make him feel secure, she had tricked Nathaniel into getting a vasectomy.

At first, Nathaniel had clung to the hope that the doctor had made a mistake, or that there just happened to be people with the same names as Jessica Sullivan and York Lawrence.

But wishful thinking was still just wishful thinking. Sooner or later, reality would shatter it.

Whatever they'd shared in the past was gone, and Nathaniel no longer wanted to be part of Jessica's game of loving two men at once.

He turned and walked away, then hailed a cab.