I Pretended To Be His Crush For Three Years Chapter 14

I Pretended To Be His Crush For Three Years Chapter 14

Nora froze.

That voice. The one from her nightmares for three years. Now it was real-echoing through the Milan

twilight, word by word, cutting into her like a dull blade sawing through flesh.

[8, 7, 6…]

“Reid…” Her voice shook. “What is this?”

He looked down at her. His eyes were red, but he was smiling-a quiet, steady smile that made her chest

ache.

That smile seized her heart. It wasn’t relief. It wasn’t resignation. It was a quiet certainty-the smile of

someone who’d already made every preparation and accepted what was coming.

“Nora. Listen to me.” He took her hands. His palms were burning, his knuckles digging into her skin until it

hurt. “This is why I broke up with you. I thought if I left, I could protect you from this.”

“But after you left-I realized I couldn’t live without you.”

“I tried to find a way to stop this. I couldn’t.”

“Once this program starts, no one can stop it.”

“Three minutes from now, I’ll forget everything.”

“No.” She shook her head, tears flying everywhere. “No, no, no-”

“Let me finish!” His voice was sharp, desperate. His grip tightened, squeezing until she felt the ache in her

bones. “I wrote a journal.”

“Everything is in there. The day we met. The first time I held your hand. Your coffee order. How you always squeeze paint onto the left side of your palette first-”

[5, 4…]

“Where is it?” she cried.

“Inside pocket of my jacket.” He let go with one hand and patted his black hoodie. “Brown cover. Your name

on the front.”

She reached for it. Her fingers found the edge of a hardcover notebook.

“Nora, I need you to promise me something.”

[3…]

“What?”

“After I forget…” His voice dropped to almost nothing-so faint it seemed like the wind could scatter it. “Don’t

let me go.”

She looked up at him through tears.

“The system will reset my ‘target,” he said. “It’ll push me toward Nyssa. But I’m begging you-don’t let that

happen.”

“I don’t know how to stop it-” Her voice shattered into pieces.

“Tie me up,” he said. “Lock me in a room. Chain me to you. Do whatever it takes. Just don’t let me leave you.”

[2…]

“Reid, that’s insane-”

“I’m not insane!” His voice cracked, shot up. His eyes were completely bloodshot. “Nora, if the system makes me forget, I’ll just fall for you again. If it pushes me toward someone else, you pull me back. You fight for

me.”

“But I can’t fight the system-”

“You can fight me,” he said. “Because no matter how many times it resets me, my heart doesn’t change. It

can erase my memories, but it can’t change who I love.”

[1…]

His body went rigid. The light in his eyes went out like a switch had been flipped.

His hands slipped from hers.

He stood there before her, eyes open, but empty. Like a mirror that had been wiped clean.

“Reid?” She called his name, her voice trembling.

He blinked.

He looked at her.

And she knew-he didn’t know who she was. A chill ran down her spine.

That look-it was the same way you’d look at a tree, or a cloud, or a crack in the sidewalk.

“Who are you?” he asked.