2025-06-18 23:53:33
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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
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Paul, still beaming with pride, didn’t flinch. Instead, he chuckled — low, confident, patronizing. “Nice speech, pauper Ethan. Really,” he said, adjusting his lapel as though he’d just accepted an award. “Very dramatic. Do you rehearse these monologues in front of a mirror? Because that one had all the fire of a rejected soap opera audition.”Mrs. Morgan laughed sharply beside him. “Oh, please. Ethan, must you always be so theatrical? The Bellanos finished? Don’t be ridiculous. That’s a fantasy you tell yourself to sleep better in your shoebox apartment.”Snickers followed. Claire smirked. Belen raised her wine glass in mock salute. Even Alice’s grandmother gave a condescending chuckle as she stirred her tea. Her father Lawrence exhaled heavily, muttering, “This again?” while her uncles exchanged unimpressed glances.Ethan simply shook his head, calm as ever. “You’re all clapping for a circus that’s already gone up in flames.”Then suddenly — buzz.Paul’s phone vibrated in his pocket.
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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
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Alice agreed to let Ethan accompany her back to the family estate. She didn’t say much, just a quiet nod and a murmured, “You can come,” but that was enough for Ethan. His heart clung to that thread of hope as they left the hospital together, her small hand resting lightly in his.They were barely ten minutes into the ride when Alice’s phone began buzzing nonstop on the seat beside her.She blinked down at it. “It’s my mom.”The phone kept ringing—again and again. Alice frowned and finally picked it up.“Hello?”“Alice Morgan!” her mother’s voice blasted through the speaker, sharp and shrill. “Where on earth have you been?! Do you have any idea what time it is?!”“I… I was in the hospital—” Alice began, but her mother cut her off.“You think I give a fuck about where you were? And now you’re running off without telling anyone?! The entire household is in chaos! We have guests, Alice. Important guests. You need to get home right now!”Alice flinched and looked at Ethan helplessly. He r
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“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
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Langford’s pride shattered.The officer’s knees buckled, and he dropped with a heavy thud to the cold concrete floor. He crawled forward, hands clasped together in a desperate plea.“Ethan—please,” Langford begged, voice cracking, eyes wide and glassy. “I—I was following orders. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I swear! I was just—just doing what I thought was right.”Ethan didn’t even glance at him.Langford pressed his forehead to the floor.“I’ve got a family. Two kids. A wife. Please—please, Ethan! Don’t let this be the end for me. Don’t let the Perez family come after me. I’ll do anything. I’ll talk. I’ll confess. Just—just say the word.”Nothing.Ethan walked past him like he didn’t exist. Silent. Composed. Focused on one thing.Alice.He didn’t look back—not even when Langford started sobbing, pounding the floor with his fists in humiliation. Merrick didn’t stop him either. The chief simply watched Ethan go, then turned and gave Langford a look of pure disgust.Ten minutes later, he
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