All Chapters of AFTER I FORGOT YOU: Chapter 1 - Chapter 4

VALERIEAll my life I had been good at making myself small enough to fit into other people’s lives.I learned it early. After my father died. After my mother stopped being able to get out of bed most days. I learned how to take up less space, ask for less, expect less. It became the only way I knew how to survive. So when Roman Ashford looked at me in college like I was worth something, I held on to that feeling with both hands and never asked for more than he was willing to give.Three years of marriage later, I was still doing the same thing.I stood in front of the mirror in our bedroom, robe tied loosely around my waist, when he came up behind me. His reflection appeared over my shoulder before I felt his hands. He didn’t say anything at first. Just reached around and settled the necklace against my collarbone. The chain was cool and light. His fingers brushed the back of my neck as he fastened the clasp, careful and precise, the way he handled everything that belonged to him.“Ha

VALERIEA week had passed since the accident, and no one knew who I was.Not even me.I woke up to the same soft beeping and the same white ceiling. The nurses had stopped asking me for a name after the first couple of days. There had been nothing on me when they brought me in. My bag was destroyed in the crash. Phone, ID, everything…unreadable. They had no name, no address, no emergency contacts. Just a woman in her mid-twenties with two different colored eyes and no memory of how she got here.They called me Jane for a while. I hated it, but I didn’t have anything better to give them.Every morning I asked the same question.“Has anyone come looking for me?”And every morning the answer was the same.No.This morning the older nurse came in and checked the monitors like usual. She gave me a small smile that didn’t quite hide how worried she still looked.“Miles is here,” she said. “He’s been waiting downstairs for a bit. Would you like to see him?”I nodded.Miles had become the on