All Chapters of The Man I Used to Forget Love: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Standing at the threshold of the flat that she had sacrificed all her extra hours, missed meals and hard work to purchase was Rica Bloom when the only future that she had made for herself in five years came crumbling down right in front of her.Lights in the living room were dimly lit. The soft notes of jazz music flowed from the speaker system that she had handpicked after many days of listening. On the couch where the scent of fabric protection spray lingered, the hands of her fiancé were entangled in the hair of another woman while he kissed her neck. Diamond bracelet on her wrists shone in the light – just like the one that Rica had secretly admired in the jewelry shop window but decided that they couldn’t afford.“Liam.”Her voice broke the silence in the flat as if throwing a stone in a pond. He instantly got up, followed by Jessica, his secretary from his office who always brought him coffee with too much cream. Liam’s shirt was unbuttoned and the belt undone. There was no guil

Rica’s pulse kicked hard against her throat. The room seemed to tilt a fraction. “I’m your temporary assistant.”“You’re the woman who left Liam Hartley three weeks before he was supposed to marry you.” His voice stayed level, almost bored, as if he were reading from a file he had already memorized. “The same Liam Hartley who is currently attempting to undercut my bid on the Chen acquisition with information he should not have. I also know you paid for his graduate degree. I know you covered most of the rent on that apartment on the Upper West Side. I know the diamond bracelet he gave his secretary was purchased the same week he told you the partnership bonus would cover your wedding.”The words landed one after another, precise and merciless. Rica felt the blood leave her face. “How..”“I make it my business to know the weaknesses of men who try to steal from me.” He finally sat, leaning forward just enough to close the distance without touching. The movement brought the faint scent

But then there was the time that Derrick had ripped some poor soul apart in a particularly vicious boardroom meeting with Rica’s help, and he had come home gruff and taciturn. He was in their study in their penthouse flat with a glass of whisky that he had forgotten about, and the city lights reflecting in his eyes like coins.“Derrick, you don’t have to prove yourself to me,” she said from where she stood in the door frame.“Do you think I’m proving myself?” he asked without looking at her.And she walked toward him. He set down his glass with care. And when she touched him, he roughly pulled her into his lap. It was too blunt for all of their polished touches before the world. He nuzzled her neck. The chair creaked. She could feel his mouth moving over her pulse. They never even made it to the bed. And then later, with her head on his chest, he spoke.“My father trusted the wrong people. And that’s how he lost everything the company, the house, the reputation that took him thirty ye

“Good.” He thrust harder, deeper, the water cascading over them both. “Because I’m done pretending I can walk away clean either. You got under my skin the first day you briefed me without flinching. And every night since, you’ve been rewriting the terms without even trying.”She came hard, shaking, nails scoring his shoulders. He followed seconds later, forehead pressed to hers, a low, guttural sound torn from his chest as he buried himself to the hilt.Afterward he held her under the falling water, one hand splayed protectively at the small of her back, the other cradling the back of her head.“Still trembling,” he murmured against her wet hair.“Not from fear,” she answered, voice unsteady. “From the fact that I meant every word. Contract be damned.”“Good,” he repeated, softer this time. “Because the next words out of my mouth are going to change everything.”They dressed in soft clothes and sat at the long kitchen island with coffee and the thin file Jessica’s information had forc

“Tomorrow night,” he said finally, voice still rough, “we walk into that club together. You will wear the black dress that makes every man forget how to speak. You will keep your hand on my arm like you have every right to be there. And when Hartley looks at you, I want him to see exactly what he threw away and exactly who caught it.”Rica lifted her head. “And if he tries to speak to me?”“Then you look him in the eye and tell him the truth.” Derrick’s gaze hardened into something lethal. “Tell him the woman he discarded no longer exists. Tell him the woman who remains belongs to someone who knows how to keep what is his. And if he so much as reaches for you, I will end the conversation permanently.”A shiver ran through her that had nothing to do with fear. “You’re possessive.”“I warned you.” His thumb brushed her lower lip. “I do not share. I do not forgive. And I do not leave unfinished business for the next man. Hartley is unfinished business. Marcus is unfinished business. By t