They Billed Me For Eighteen Years Of Love And I Sold Every Memory Chapter 06

Maren tore the records out of the rep’s hands.

“No. That’s not possible.”

“She only sold a few throwaway moments.”

“She’s too smart for this. There’s no way she actually forgot us.”

The rep didn’t argue. She flipped to the first page.

“First transaction. Mother-daughter emotional memories.”

“At fifteen months old, Evelyn said ‘Mom’ for the first time.”

“Appraised at $20,000. Sold permanently.”

Maren went white.

Her eyes kept moving down the page.

When I was three and burning with fever, she’d held me all night and refused to put me down.

When I was five, she’d sat in the front row at my kindergarten show, clapping for me.

At seven, when my fever spiked, she’d kissed my forehead and promised she’d never leave me.

And there were the 3,421 nights she’d soothed me to sleep, tucked the blankets around me, and held my hand

in the dark.

Every single one of them was stamped SOLD.

Maren’s tears dripped onto the page.

“Evie, how could you? How could you sell these?”

“I only wanted you to grow up a little.”

“I never meant for you to sell off your own mother!”

She lunged toward me, then caught herself at the blank look on my face.

The rep turned the page.

“Father-daughter emotional memories,”

“Age seven. Mr. Whitmore carried her through the rain to the hospital.”

“Age eleven. Mr. Whitmore skipped a meeting to make her parent-teacher conference.”

“Age fifteen. Mr. Whitmore promised her half the family trust would always be hers.”

Graham staggered.

Now he remembered the file he’d shoved aside at the dinner table without a second thought.

His assistant and the bank rep had practically begged him to look at the details.

He hadn’t opened it once.

He’d been so sure I’d never let myself get burned.

“Next page. Brother-sister memories.”

Bennett slammed his hand down on the records.

“Shut up. Don’t read it.”

The rep met his eyes.

“Scared now, Mr. Whitmore?”

Bennett’s knuckles went white.

That page held the whole summer he’d spent teaching me to ride.

The first time I fell, he called me an idiot, then carried me more than a mile home.

When kids at school picked on me, he got into a fight with them and got in trouble for it.

For my twelfth birthday, he blew a whole year of saved-up allowance on the camera I’d been dying for.

He’d almost forgotten those things himself.

I’d held on to every one of them for years.

And in the end, I’d sold them all.

Bennett scooped the bike key off the floor.

“Evie, I’ll teach you again.”

“So what if you forgot?”

“We’ll start from scratch. I’ll be right there with you, same as before.”

His eyes were wet. I had no idea why,

“I already know how to ride a bike.”

“And if I didn’t, I’d pay someone to teach me.”

“Why would I bother a stranger with it?”

Bennett stood rooted to the spot.

The rep flipped to the last few pages.

“Romantic memories.”

It was all there. The sycamore where he’d confessed, the first time we held hands, the way he’d held me at our engagement party, and every time Adrian had promised me forever.

Altogether, they’d been appraised at $98,000.

Every one of them was gone for good.

Adrian ripped the records away.

“No. That’s impossible.”

“She was crazy about me. How could she do this?”

He turned to me, and for the first time, I heard panic in his voice.

“Evie. Look at me.”

“You swore you’d never leave me. No matter what.”

My voice stayed even.

“If I loved you that much, why did you stand by and let me sell it all?”

Adrian’s mouth opened, but the words died in his throat.

My gaze swept the room and landed on Tessa.

“So let me get this straight. You all forced me to sell every memory I had of you.”

“And now you expect me to remember you?”

“And apologize to her on top of it?”

Graham’s face hardened,

“It was supposed to be a test.”

I gave a small nod.

“Well, it’s over.”

“And it turns out I don’t know a single one of you.”