Chapter 7 - THE MAN WHO KNEW I WAS MARRIED
We decided not to expose my memory immediately.
For the first time, Julian and I agreed on something.
Whoever believed I had amnesia might make another mistake.
The mistake came the next morning.
Victor Hale arrived at the hospital carrying white roses.
He was sixty-three, silver-haired, polished, and warm in the terrifying way powerful men sometimes are when they expect everyone in the room to obey.
“Jessica,” he said.
I tilted my head.
“You know me?”
Victor smiled.
“I know the entire family.”
Julian stood rigid beside the window.
Victor kissed Clara’s forehead.
Then he turned toward me.
“I’m sorry about your accident.”
“Thank you.”
“And about your memory.”
I smiled innocently.
“What memory?”
Victor laughed.
Perfect performance.
But as he passed me, he murmured something only I could hear.
“You always were stubborn, Mrs. Sterling.”
My pulse stopped.
According to Julian’s fake story, Victor should have believed I was Julian’s sister.
Yet he had called me Mrs. Sterling.
I followed him into the hallway.
“You called me something strange.”
Victor stopped.
“What?”
“Mrs. Sterling.”
His smile slowly disappeared.
Then returned.
“A slip of the tongue.”
He leaned closer.
“Memory is unreliable after trauma.”
“So people keep telling me.”
His eyes hardened.
“Sometimes forgetting is a blessing.”
He walked away.
Thirty seconds later, my phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
There was no message.
Only a photograph.
It showed Julian standing outside our townhouse the previous night.
Someone had drawn a red circle around his head.
May you like
Below the picture were three words:
ASK YOUR HUSBAND WHY.
