woke up in bed, head pounding, light already pouring through the curtains. Afternoon. Great.
Addison’s arm was draped over me. I shoved it off and sat up, rubbing my forehead. Everything about last night felt like a bad dream I hadn’t quite woken up from.
What the hell was I thinking?”
I didn’t mean for it to happen. Kaia had been so cold and distant that it had messed up my head. I lost control.
And now here I was, lying next to Addison like I hadn’t just betrayed the only woman I ever really gave a damn about.”
Still… maybe this was for the best. Addison had said it was her final wish. I gave her that.”
Now it was over. Done.N
I could finally turn the page, go back to Kaia, and focus on fixing everything I broke.]
I got out of bed, threw on my coat, and headed for the door. I didn’t owe Addison anything more. But then she launched herself at me from behind, arms wrapped tight around my waist.
“Brian, you’re leaving me already?”
I rolled my eyes and pushed her off, impatient. “Addison, I did what I promised. You should go abroad as soon as possible. The medical care’s better there.”
Addison pouted, like she thought I was trying to escape her because I couldn’t handle her dying.
Then she suddenly smiled, bright and giddy, like she was about to announce we’d won the lottery.”
“Brian! I have good news! The hospital made a mistake. It’s not cancer. It’s benign. I’m not going to die. I can stay with you forever!”
I just stared at her, frozen.”
What?
No. No, that couldn’t be right.
My stomach turned as the weight of her words sank in.
She had lied. Lied about dying. Lied about everything.
I didn’t even think. I shoved her off me hard, disgusted.”
Brian’s POV
“What the fuck did you just say?“}
I stared at Addison, trying to keep my voice steady, but it came out tight. She couldn’t have just said what I thought she said. “You’ve been lying this whole time about being sick?“}
Addison didn’t even blink. She just smiled like this was some romantic confession.
“Brian, I only did it because I wanted you to understand how you really feel about me finally,” she said, her tone so sweet it made my skin crawl. “You were devastated when you thought I was dying. You couldn’t even handle the idea of losing me. Doesn’t that tell you something?”
She looked straight at me, eyes shining like she thought this was some fairytale moment.”
“You’ve always loved me. Admit it. I’m yours now. Maybe there’s already a baby growing inside me. So… when are we gonna tell Mom and Dad?”
Addison was so deep in her fantasy that it was almost pathetic. No, scratch that. It was pathetic.
Without thinking, I slapped her. Hard.
“Addison, are you out of your goddamn mind?”
Her hand flew to her cheek, stunned. Tears sprang up immediately, but I didn’t feel an ounce of guilt.
My eyes stayed locked on hers with sheer disgust.
“Jesus, all you ever do is cry. Aren’t you tired of it? You’re so damn manipulative. It’s disgusting! I’ve told you–again and again–my feelings for you aren’t romantic. They never were. You’re like a sister to me. That’s it.”
My voice rose, sharper now. “I sent you abroad so we could both breathe. So you could stop with this obsession. But you couldn’t let go. Even when I was with Kaia, you kept popping up, digging up childhood memories like that would change anything. You even tried to drag me overseas with you.”
I shook my head, the weight of it all crashing down. “And now this? Faking a terminal illness to screw with my head and to ruin things with Kaia? You pushed me to hurt her, Addison. You made me-“”
I stopped myself before I said too much. Not that it mattered.}
I turned away, done with the conversation. She didn’t get it. She never would.
Yeah, I cared about her. But not the way she wanted. It was a pity. Familiarity.
It’s a sense of responsibility towards someone who shared the same home, different from romantic love, nothing like what I experienced with Kaia.
Then Addison lunged forward and grabbed me, practically hanging off me.
“You’re lying!” she sobbed. “You do love me. Last night, you wanted me over and over again. You said you’d never leave me!”
1 froze
Her words hit like a brick to the chest. My stomach turned. I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
And then, I threw up.
Right there. Bent over and retching.
Addison went silent. The sight must’ve broken something in her.
She never thought i’d be disgusted by her.
I shoved her so hard she flew back and slammed into the bedframe. The crack of her head hitting wood was loud. A second later, blood trickled down her forehead.
I didn’t flinch.
“Go home, Addison. Go back where you came from, and don’t come near me again. If I see you around here, I swear you’ll regret it.”\ I turned to leave.
But at the door, something made me pause and glance back.
There she was, forehead bleeding, still slumped on the floor, looking up at me with hope in her eyes, like maybe I’d changed my mind. I hadn’t.
I looked right through her as I flatly said to my bodyguard, “Make sure she takes a few more of those morning–after pills. Keep an eye on her. Don’t let her throw them up.”
The guard gave a quick nod and stepped toward her.
Addison’s scream split the room. “Brian, no! You can’t do this to me! Brian!”
But I was already walking down the hall, muttering curses under my breath. I smacked myself in the face, trying to jolt some sense back into my brain.
What the hell was I even doing?
Kaia’s hand…!
God, her hand was still injured. And I’d left her locked up like she didn’t matter.”
I took off running. My heart hammered in my chest as I reached the door to her room and yanked it open.
The place was trashed. The furniture was overturned, the projector was smashed, and the bed was empty.” Kaia was gone.
My stomach dropped.
I fumbled for my phone and tried to call her.
[No signal.]
The call wouldn’t go through.
I sent a text.
[This number is not in your contacts.])
The message bounced back instantly.
An iron grip tightened around my chest.”
Kaia was gone. And this time, I had this awful feeling that she wasn’t coming back.
I forced myself to focus, told my assistant to get me everything–every contact she might’ve reached out to, anywhere she could’ve gone. Then I dropped to the floor.
Maybe she just panicked and ran.
After all, she didn’t remember me. Not really.
And after the last few days? After what I’d done?!
Yeah, she probably deleted me.
Still, if I could find her, if I could get her to take the memory–recovery pills, maybe she’d remember how much she loved me. Perhaps she’d forget all of this.
Maybe we could fix it.
Maybe.
Kaia’s POVE
The car door clicked shut behind me, and Hayes Stanton gave me a sideways glance from the driver’s seat.
I could only imagine what I looked like, hair a total wreck, face pale, dried blood staining my sleeve.
Hayes raised an eyebrow, totally unfazed. “Tsk. What the hell kind of mess did you get yourself into this time, Kaia Ellington?”
I stared at him, the guy I’d practically known my entire life.
God, he was still the same smug smartass.
