Chapter 1
Chapter 1
I never imagined seeing Ronan Quinn again like this.
There he was, arm locked around Sylvia’s waist, their bodies practically fused together as they shared a lingering kiss that drew rowdy cheers from everyone around them.
When they finally broke apart, Sylvia melted against him, her cheeks burning crimson. “Okay, I give up,” she playfully whined. “I can barely breathe after that! You’re such a beast! I’m not speaking to you anymore!”
Ronan nuzzled her neck. “A beast? That’s not what you called me last night when you were begging for-”
The VIP room erupted in even louder whistles and hoots, everyone playfully addressing Sylvia as their “future Mrs. Quinn.”
Sylvía made a half–hearted attempt to cover his mouth but essentially collapsed against him like a rag doll.
“Hey, Ronan,” called out Blake, his childhood friend, “it’s been five years. Is Anya really history now?”
Ronan lazily sank back into the sofa and shrugged with complete indifference. “History? Not quite yet. I’m just having too much fun. Once Sylvia and I tie the knot, I’ll miraculously recover my memory.”
“Everyone knows Anya worshipped the ground you walked on,” Tyler, another friend, snickered. “When she finds out you’re actually alive, she’ll probably be back on her knees praying to every saint for your well–being like she did before.”
“God, I still crack up thinking about how pathetically she threw herself at you,” laughed Mason, swirling his whiskey. “Talk about desperate. Heard she’s been living like a pauper in London these past five years–completely fell apart without you.”
The laughter in the room was so loud it could’ve brought the ceiling down.
I was about to slip away when Mason spotted me.
“Anya!” His face instantly fell, the same guy who’d just called me pathetic now scrambling to explain. “Look, Ronan’s alive but we didn’t tell you because he lost his memory and started seeing someone else. We were just worried how you’d take it.”
“Yeah, exactly,” Blake jumped in. “We all know you were the one he truly loved, but he doesn’t remember you. Even if you made a scene now, he’d just think you were some crazy stalker.”
Before I could say anything, Ronan let out a scornful laugh. “So you’re supposedly the ex who was so pathetically in love with me?”
His eyes swept contemptuously over my simple outfit. “Without me, you’ve really let yourself go. Is your existence that empty without me in it?”
Ronan was still Ronan–arrogant and insufferable as ever.
10:27
Addio To The Stand In Past, This Time I Chose To Reclaim My Own Life
17.5%
Chapter 1
After five years, watching the smug satisfaction in his eyes, any feelings I once had were completely dead.
All that remained was revulsion.
I’d just stepped off a transatlantic flight and hadn’t even recovered from the jet låg.
I only came to this hotel because they made the strawberry mousse my daughter couldn’t stop talking about.
Seeing my silence, he lazily pulled Sylvia closer and gave her a quick but intense French kiss right in front of me, a thread of saliva connecting their lips as they pulled apart.
“Babe, stop it!” Sylvia giggled. “My sister is watching us!”
I pressed my lips together, physically nauseated.
Ronan misread my disgust as jealousy and smiled with satisfaction. “Don’t worry. You can be Mrs. Quinn too–just the unofficial version. If you still want to be with me, you’ll need to get used to this arrangement.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Considering you’ve faithfully waited for me these five years, I’m willing to keep you on the side. I’ll be with Sylvia Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. You get Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. And Sunday?
You can serve us both.”
His friends immediately backed him up.
“Look at that, Anya!” Tyler exclaimed. “Even with amnesia, Ronan still cares enough to give you three days a week.”
“Seriously!” Mason added. “Look what these five years without him have done to you. Been washing dishes and scrubbing toilets in London, huh? Better take the deal before he changes his mind. If that happens, even groveling won’t get you five minutes with him.”
Sylvia tightened her grip on Ronan’s arm, marking her territory while giving me a challenging look. “Sister, I didn’t want thi
either, but Ronan only loves me now. You’ll just have to settle for being his dirty little secret.”
“She’d be lucky to be even that,” Ronan smirked. “Without me, she’d probably off herself if I told her to.”
Something sharp pierced my heart.
Five years ago, during that car accident, he’d used his own body to shield me.
In his final conscious moments, he’d held my trembling hand, weakly reassuring me over and over: “Don’t be scared, baby. I’m tough, I’ll pull through. Remember what I promised? I’ll be your protector for life. No one will ever hurt you.”
Could someone who loved me that deeply really change so completely just because of memory loss?
Pushing down the bitterness rising inside me, I took a deep breath, smiled slightly, and said, “I’m sorry, but you’ve got the wrong person.”
10-27
