He Thought I’d Never Leave, Until I Forgot Who He Was Chapter 03

He Thought I’d Never Leave, Until I Forgot Who He Was Chapter 03

I stared at him in shock.

Julian stepped forward, wrapped an arm around my waist, and kissed me.

“I’ve got something to do today, so I can’t spend our anniversary with you. I’ll have my buddy Miles come keep you company.”

I grabbed his arm.

“Where are you going?”

He gave a soft laugh.

“You know where. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow. Today I need to go with her to her prenatal appointment.”

I looked at him in confusion.

Take who?

He laughed again.

“See? Yesterday you were demanding a divorce. Today you’re already the one who can’t let go.”

“Stop being so dramatic. If you leave me, you’ll be the first one who can’t handle it.”

I had no idea what he was talking about.

All I knew was that he called Miles.

“Yeah, divorce is off. She’s faking memory loss. She handed me an excuse to back down, so why wouldn’t I take it?”

Miles’s voice came through the phone.

“That whole hex thing is just make-believe for kids. And even if she really forgot, I’m from the same Appalachian community. Couldn’t I just break the hex for her?”

“Honestly, I hope she did forget.”

Julian set a bowl of oatmeal on the table for me.

“Maybe she’ll love me a little less for a while. Then, once I’ve had my fun and come back, she can remember me again. Gives me some breathing room.”

Miles laughed and told him he was dreaming.

There was no spell that could make me forget or remember whenever Julian pleased.

Before leaving, Julian reminded Mrs. Carter to go easy on the sugar in my oatmeal because I didn’t like sweets.

I watched all of it and slowly understood.

I must have lost some of my memories.

But the curse would only start taking my memories of Julian if he’d betrayed me.

He had betrayed me.

I was still thinking about it when Miles opened the front door and walked in.

“Evie, I brought your favorite blackberry moonshine.”

I came downstairs.

Miles had always been good at reading a room, so he immediately started telling me things he thought I wanted to hear.

“Back when you and Julian were broke, you two crashed wherever you could. You worked three jobs to help him build his company. When you were exhausted, you’d always reach for a sip of blackberry moonshine.”

He poured me a glass.

“Same old flavor. The old distiller retired years ago, and Julian paid him tens of thousands of dollars just to teach him how to make it himself.”

I took a sip, and the harsh burn immediately sent me into a coughing fit.

“He didn’t retire. The man probably went out of business because no one wanted to drink this.”

Miles froze.

“What did you say?”

His eyes widened.

“Evie, you used to love this stuff. You said it always brought back so many memories.”

“And stop making me sound like some tragic heroine.”

I glared at him.

“Julian is loaded. Are you seriously telling me we used to sleep in shelters?”

Miles’s eyes widened even further. He looked stunned.

“You didn’t have money when you started. Julian didn’t make it big until ten years ago. And the first thing he did once he’d made it was marry you.”

I looked at him with a casual smile.

“Julian and I have only been married five years. Where are you getting ten?”

“Anyway, I need to go to the hospital.”

“No. Wait. This isn’t right.”

Miles blocked my path.

“Evie, you really don’t remember.”

I slipped on my shoes.

“Sure. I remember everything. Happy? I have a physical.”

I ignored the panic in his eyes and left.

I’d barely gotten into the car when my client Sienna sent me a series of photos.

In the photos, a man was supporting her outside the maternity clinic, where she’d gone for prenatal testing.

At first I was about to congratulate her.

Then I noticed the man’s hands.

Something about them looked familiar.

A message followed.

Sienna: [He says you’re like a dead fish in bed. Guess your age is finally catching up with you. He says he can’t even get hard when he looks at you anymore.]

Then another message came through.

Sienna: [Heard today’s your anniversary. Happy anniversary. I’m borrowing your husband.]

The blood in my body seemed to turn to ice.

I raced to the hospital.

The moment I saw the familiar figure, something inside me went cold.

Sienna nestled in Julian’s arms like a docile little kitten.

“Aren’t you worried she’ll see us and divorce you?”

Julian took the pen a nurse handed him and signed his name in the father-information section of the clinic paperwork.

“We’ve been together twenty years. We’ve gotten so used to each other. If she leaves me, where would she even go?”

Sienna tugged on his tie.

“If you’ve loved her for twenty years, why cheat?”

Julian pinched her cheek.

“How many times do you need to hear it? She got older. Her looks have faded. Just looking at her doesn’t turn me on anymore.”

“But I’m not divorcing her. I still love her.”

Sienna thumped his chest.

“Men really do want everything. They want a young woman’s beauty and energy, but they also want the lasting companionship of someone who’s stood by them for years.”

“So don’t flaunt our affair in her face. It’s better for both of us.”

He kissed Sienna lightly on the lips.

She pouted.

Julian opened his mouth to comfort her, but when he looked up, his gaze landed on me.

He froze.

“Evie?”

“I heard everything.”

Tears streamed down my face.

“You’re having a baby with another woman. You cheated on me. You betrayed me.”

Julian hurried over and grabbed my hand.

“Listen to me. Don’t make a scene.”

I wiped my tears away and tore my hand free.

“Julian, I want a divorce.”

To my surprise, he didn’t look afraid.

He simply looked at me, his expression cold.

“Is this fun for you?”

“What?”

He advanced on me until he’d backed me into a corner.

“I’m asking you—is it fun to keep threatening me with divorce?”

He gripped my chin and forced me to tilt my head back and look up at him.

“You’re not young anymore. Stop acting out just to get attention. Today you demand a divorce, tomorrow you regret it, and then what? You pretend you forgot again?”

“Julian!”

Miles’s voice suddenly rang out behind us.

He rushed over, breathless, and pulled us apart.

“Evie… something’s wrong with Evie.”

Julian said nothing.

He just motioned for Miles to continue.

“I think she really is forgetting.”