I Thought I Was The Joke, I Was The Punishment Chapter 09

I Thought I Was The Joke, I Was The Punishment Chapter 09

Celeste rolled her eyes.

“Wow. She’s really putting on a convincing act.”

Adrian leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

“Come on, enough already. Are you two still getting married tomorrow or not?”

Greer sat beside Merritt’s bed and tried to reason with her.

“Merritt, stop this. Look how worried your parents are…”

Tessa nodded along.

“Merritt, what exactly are you trying to do?”

“Are you pretending to back off just so you can use Callan’s guilt to keep him from leaving you?”

Merritt looked around at them in confusion.

“What are you talking about? I don’t understand any of this.”

Everyone exchanged skeptical looks. None of them believed she’d really lost her memory.

Only Callan could tell it was real. There wasn’t even a trace of the love she’d once had for him in her eyes.

She really had forgotten every single one of them.

The doctor cut them off in a stern voice.

“Ms. Voss is experiencing significant memory loss. She needs a calm environment and time to rest and

recover.”

“Unless there’s something urgent, I’d like all of you to leave as soon as possible.”

The others started toward the door.

Celeste muttered under her breath, “She really has amnesia? Doesn’t that make her basically useless?”

Adrian immediately chimed in.

“Then the wedding’s definitely off, right?”

“Callan, if you ask me, you should just take this chance to marry Sabine instead.”

“She’s waited for you all this time. She’s better than Merritt in every way, and we all love her.”

Greer sighed.

“Exactly. If you marry Merritt now, you’ll just be taking on a burden. What’s the point?”

Callan said nothing. Callan’s gaze turned cold.

“Shut up.”

“All of you, get the hell out.”

Everyone flinched and hurried out of the room.

Once the hallway finally fell quiet, Callan went back inside.

He crouched in front of Merritt, gently took her hand, and pressed it to his cheek.

“Merritt, don’t be afraid. From now on, I’ll stay with you.”

Callan quit his job and spent every day taking Merritt back to places they’d once gone together.

The library on their college campus, the café where they’d had their first date, and the willow tree where

they’d shared their first kiss.

Their days were peaceful and happy. Sometimes Callan found himself a little dazed by how peaceful and

happy their life had become.

He even began to think that maybe it would be better if Merritt never remembered.

They could leave everything that had happened behind them and start over.

Then, late one night as they slept wrapped in each other’s arms, Merritt suddenly pulled free of his embrace.

She didn’t say anything, but Callan knew at once that she remembered.

That day had finally come.

Panic crept into Callan’s voice as he apologized.

“Merritt, I’m sorry. I can explain everything that happened before. Please, don’t leave me.”

“At least we’ve been happy lately, haven’t we?”

“Can’t we pretend none of it ever happened and just start over?”

He reached for her, wanting to pull her back into his arms, but Merritt moved away.

“Happy?”

“All of that happiness was built on a lie. I remember everything now.”

“I remember the pain you put me through, the lies you told me, and the way you betrayed me.”

“So tell me, Callan. How am I supposed to remember all of that and still start over with you?”

Callan knelt in front of her and clutched at her pant leg.

“I’m sorry. This was all my fault. Please give me a chance to make it up to you.”

“Ten years, twenty years, the rest of my life. Whatever you want from me, I’ll do it…”

Merritt pried his fingers loose one by one.

“I don’t need you to.”

“Your heart has already strayed. You can piece a broken mirror back together, but the cracks will still be

there.”

“If you have any conscience left at all, let me go. Don’t make me hate you.”

With that, she walked away without looking back.

Callan remained on his knees long after she’d gone.

The next day, he left without telling anyone and vanished from all their lives.

Celeste and Adrian were frantic, but no matter how many times they tried, they couldn’t reach him.

No one knew where he’d gone, and no one knew why he’d disappeared.

Meanwhile, Merritt began a completely new life in Northmarsh, Maine.

She opened a little flower shop, took in several stray cats, and let her days settle into a quiet, steady rhythm.

Still, she sometimes felt as though someone was quietly watching over her.

Every month, someone ordered a bouquet from her shop and had it delivered to her.

She never tried to find out who was behind it. Whether it was him or someone else didn’t matter anymore.

Some stories didn’t need an ending.

Some roads simply ended here.