All Chapters of The Night Before I Knew Him: Chapter 181 - Chapter 183

JuneAs we got to the restaurant, I swing the car door open before either of them can, sidestepping their silent competition. It’s kind of cute in a ridiculous way, watching two grown men hover over who gets to do the simplest thing. My mood swings, though, like a pendulum, because of the text I just got from Lucien. Tomorrow is the last day. The last day I’ll see Hermes if he doesn’t remember me fully.I exhale, pressing a hand to my forehead. The stakes are high, and this “fake” dinner with Ted is now my weapon. I need Hermes to remember everything… especially that he’s going to be a father.At first, Ted’s proposal had thrown me for a loop, but now I see the method in it. And still, I silently pray Hermes doesn’t open his mouth about the… earlier incident. That could ruin the delicate trust I’m building with Ted.I let out a shaky sigh, closing my eyes briefly. When I open them, I see both Ted and Hermes standing right in front of the restaurant door, waiting like two overprotectiv

~Hermes~Darkness.Not the peaceful kind. The heavy, endless kind that presses against my chest and makes breathing feel optional.“Hermes, honey.”Natalya’s voice.I turn sharply, my pulse spiking. “Natalya?” My voice echoes, swallowed whole by the void.That’s impossible.Natalya is dead.The thought lands with a sickening clarity. I know this. I remember this. So why is her voice threading through the dark like a hook in my ribs?“Hermes, honey. Come with me.”The words drift ahead of me, coaxing, familiar, wrong.I take a step forward anyway.If this is death, then it’s cruelly accurate—voices from the past, calling me where I don’t belong.Then—“Marcus, son.”My breath catches.I turn.That voice… no. That voice hasn’t existed for decades.“Mother,” I whisper. My throat tightens painfully. “Mom…”If the dead are calling me by name, then this must be it. I must be gone.Did June not sign the consent form? Did I not survive the surgery? Did I leave her alone with our baby?The tho