The air in the interrogation room turned ice-cold after Chief Merrick’s booming voice thundered through the room.No one dared to move.Officer Langford stood rigidly near the table, his baton still clutched in his tight, shaking hand. His knuckles were white, and sweat had started to bead at his temples. He didn’t seem to know what to do—whether to drop the baton or pretend the last few seconds had never happened. His eyes flicked nervously to the man still cuffed to the chair.“I said—uncuff him,” Chief Merrick said again, this time softer, but the steel in his voice was sharp enough to cut through metal.Langford turned slowly to face him. His jaw was clenched so tight it looked like it might snap. His lips parted with visible struggle, his tone hard.“Chief, with all due respect—this is bigger than following orders. This man—he’s connected to the Bellano family. They—”SMACK.The sound of Chief Merrick’s open palm hitting Langford’s face was so loud it made the young officer in th

“What?” The word left his mouth like a breathless gasp. He blinked, shaking his head slightly. “No… no, that can’t be right. She remembers me, right? Me. She remembers us.” The doctor didn’t answer right away.Ethan took a shaky breath, the doctor’s words rattling around in his skull like broken glass. She’s lost part of her memory.He swallowed the rising panic and forced his legs to move, inching toward the hospital bed as if any sudden movement might shatter her completely. Alice looked so fragile lying there, her pale skin ghostly under the fluorescent lights, her head carefully bandaged. His heart twisted at the sight.The doctor stepped aside silently, giving him space.“Alice?” Ethan said gently, his voice barely more than a whisper. He crouched beside the bed and reached for her hand, hesitant, as though afraid she might vanish if he touched her.Her eyelids fluttered.Then slowly, they opened.Ethan’s heart leapt. “Hey,” he said, trying to smile. “You’re awake.”Alice blink

Following all the recent upheaval, Alice’s reputation had begun to spread among the upper class—some in admiration, some in scandal. And her mother, ever the opportunist, was quick to spin the story.In the lavish drawing room of the Morgan estate, Mrs. Morgan’s voice rang out like a bell of triumph.“Don’t look so surprised, Alice,” she said sweetly, brushing a strand of her perfect chignon back. “Paul here has been immensely helpful behind the scenes. The crises that nearly toppled our family name? All managed—quietly—thanks to him.”Alice’s brows drew together. “Crises?” she murmured, her voice unsure, eyes flitting between the faces in the room. She hated this fog in her mind—names she didn’t recognize, events she couldn’t place, emotions that lingered with no memories to anchor them.Ethan stood in the corner, arms folded, expression unreadable. Then he scoffed. “Managed? That’s a generous word for meddling.”Mrs. Morgan’s smile vanished like a candle snuffed out. “You shameless

After Paul’s dramatic exit, the room’s smug energy began to wane. The air shifted, suddenly brittle with tension.Alice stood still.Her expression darkened, her fingers curling slightly around the edge of the teacup she hadn’t sipped from. Her eyes weren’t on the door Paul had exited through, but somewhere distant—lost in flickering fragments of memory.They always did this. Always tried to marry me off to the highest bidder. A pawn. That’s all I ever was. Claire got choices. Belen got praised. Me? I got deals… dowries… decisions made over cocktails and stock prices.She could almost hear it all again—her mother’s shrill negotiations disguised as conversations, her grandmother’s veiled comments about “good matches,” Claire’s mocking smiles. A whole childhood of being groomed for a contract.But… why Ethan? Why had I ever been engaged to him in the first place?Her mind strained. The memory was there, foggy, buried. She had chosen him. Hadn’t she? Somewhere between survival and rebell

Alice was too stunned to respond at first. Her breath caught, not from fear—but from the sheer weight of finality in Belen’s words. Her mother, however, flew into a panic. “No—no, she didn’t mean that!” Mrs. Morgan said quickly, whirling toward the others in the room. Her eyes darted frantically from Lawrence to her mother-in-law, to Belen, and then back to Alice. “She’s emotional. Overwhelmed. She’s always been dramatic—just like her grandfather, rest his soul.” Alice’s gaze sharpened at the mention of her grandfather. Oh, how they all used his memory as a tool—when convenient. The very man who had trusted her, trained her, who once said, “You are the only one who sees clearly through all this smoke.” And now, they threw her to the wolves because she refused to be tamed. Her mother’s voice cracked with desperation. “Everything we’ve built—our name, our access, our power—it all depends on you, Alice. You’re the key, don’t you see? That’s why we chose you. That’s why we couldn’t l