The Day My Husband Called Me His Sister Chapter 02

The Day My Husband Called Me His Sister Chapter 02

I turned around and left.

Whatever this was—game, role-play, sick joke—I was done.

All I had to do was go home. The wedding photo was right there, hanging above our bed.

Me in a white gown, grinning so hard my eyes were half shut. Adrian in his suit, looking at me like nothing else in the room existed.

Then I’d pull the file box from the closet.

And I’d figure out how to walk away from this marriage with my dignity intact.

Back in my room, I grabbed my coat. I was halfway to the door when I looked up.

Adrian was standing in the doorway.

“Where are you going?”

“Home.”

“Do you remember where home is?”

I choked.

“Paige, did you remember something?” Adrian’s eyes locked on mine. “Or… did you never forget in the first place?”

I wanted to tell the truth.

I wanted to say, I never lost my memory. I’m your wife, not your sister.

I wanted to ask, if my amnesia had been real, would you have just stood there and let me believe another woman was your wife?

I wanted to ask, Adrian, we’ve been married for three years. Have I ever actually seen the real you?

But I bit every word back before it left my mouth.

Why should I tell the truth?

If I admitted I’d been faking it, then I was the one who lied first. His deception would suddenly become a reaction to mine.

One lie cancels out another. And somehow, all of it would end up being my fault.

But my lie had been nothing. A joke. All I’d wanted was to see how he’d react.

If he’d panicked even a little, I would’ve thrown my arms around his neck and told him everything.

“I was kidding, dummy. Like I could ever forget you.”

And he would’ve smiled. That smile, the one he only gave me when I was being ridiculous and he loved me anyway.

His eyes always crinkled at the corners when he smiled like that.

That was the thing that always made me feel safe.

It was supposed to be a silly game between us. I never imagined it would be the crack that let another woman in.

And why was Adrian playing along with her?

So I kept pretending. Sooner or later, the truth would show itself.

“…I wish I hadn’t forgotten.”

I dropped my gaze, blinking hard.

“I don’t remember you. I don’t remember having a sister-in-law. And neither of you can even show me a single wedding photo.” I forced a shaky laugh. “How do I know you’re actually married? How do I know you’re really my brother? For all I know, you’re both trying to kidnap me.”

Adrian watched me for a long moment.

Then he sighed.

He pulled his phone from his jacket pocket.

He opened his photos and tapped on one.

In the photo, I was grinning like a fool, giving Adrian bunny ears.

He swiped. The next one was Adrian in front of Cresthaven University, standing next to a guy with short platinum-blond hair.

Adrian swiped past it fast.

The next one was me, asleep on the couch with drool on my chin, while one of his hands tucked a blanket around me.

“See? This is you. This is me.” His voice went quiet as he looked at the screen. “We’re family.”

He looked up from the phone and met my eyes. Something shifted in his face.

“Evelyn… she’s sick. Lung cancer.”

“The doctors say she has a few months. At most.”

My head snapped up.

“Evelyn’s father saved my life.”

“When I was a kid, it was just me and my grandmother. We lived in this falling-apart cabin up in the mountains. She cleaned houses for other people to keep food on the table. Then she got diagnosed with kidney failure, and the dialysis… the medical bills were brutal.”

“Mr. Hawthorne covered everything. And after my grandmother passed, he took me in. Gave me a home, put me through school, showed me what a real life could look like.” Adrian’s jaw tightened. “He told me, ‘Adrian, work hard. You’re going to leave these mountains someday. You weren’t meant to stay here.'”

“Without him, I would’ve died in that cabin. Everything I have, all of it, is because of him.”

“But life came for him too. Mr. Hawthorne got sick, fast. Before he died, he grabbed my hand and said, ‘The only person I can’t leave behind is my daughter. Promise me you’ll take care of her.'”

Adrian had promised.

He looked exhausted. Gutted. “I owe that man everything. I can’t just walk away from her.”

“Evelyn doesn’t have long. I just want to be there for her until the end. It’s the least I can do for him.”

And just like that, everything clicked.

Two years of dating. Three years of marriage.

Adrian was the kind of professor students developed crushes on. More than once, women stopped him on campus to ask for his number.

He always shut it down, and he always told me about it the second he got home. Total transparency. Or so I thought.

But not once, not a single time, had he ever mentioned the name Evelyn.

She was the one thing he’d kept perfectly hidden.

I thought back to the accident.

After the wedding, Adrian was the one who brought up the idea of me staying home. He said I didn’t need to work. He’d take care of everything because he wanted to.

But after long enough, staying home started to make me feel like I was disappearing. So I’d started sending out resumes.

The afternoon of the accident, Adrian was supposed to pick me up after my interview. But he called at the last minute.

He said one of his students was in trouble again. He had to get to the hospital.

He’d mentioned this student before. A grad student he supervised.

The kid couldn’t get over his ex. Texted her constantly, called every day, begging her to take him back.

Eventually he spiraled. Ended up threatening to jump from the roof of his building more than once. Every time, Adrian was the only one he’d answer the phone for when campus security called.

I’d always figured Adrian was just that kind of professor, the one who actually cared. I never thought twice about any of it.

This time was no different.

“What happened this time?” I asked.

“He swallowed an entire bottle of sleep medication. They’re pumping his stomach.”

Adrian sounded wrecked.

“Paige, can you grab a cab home? I’ll make that slow-cooked pot roast you love tonight.”

So I called a cab, perfectly content.

And then I got rear-ended.

Now I realized, the student had never existed.

That afternoon, the person he rushed to the hospital for was Evelyn.

And every one of those stories, the obsessive texts, the breakdowns, the rooftop scares, they were all real. Just with the genders flipped.

Adrian and Evelyn had been together once. And after they ended it, she’d never moved on.

Even after he married me, she held on. The depression, the threats, all of it was her.

How long had he been hiding this?

Maybe he’d been living a double life since the day we started dating.

On one side, the daughter of the man who saved him. On the other, me.

Trying to take care of both of us. Drowning in guilt over both of us.

Holding the whole thing together with his bare hands.

So when I woke up and decided to fake amnesia…

What had Adrian felt?

I knew. Relief.

He’d finally found a loophole.

He could stay by Evelyn’s side without sneaking around.

And it wouldn’t technically be cheating.

Because I still didn’t “know” I was his wife.

How clever, Professor Hartwell.

He pushed me out the door himself and still thought I’d be waiting on the other side.

I lifted my chin. My eyes burned, but they were dry. No more tears.

“Wow. That’s actually really sweet. I totally believe you two are married now.” I forced a smile. “Adrian, you’re so good to her. Honestly? When I find a boyfriend someday, I want someone exactly like you.”

I was still grinning when I reached for his phone.

I swiped back to the photo of the guy with platinum-blond hair and sharp, pretty eyes.

“Oh, by the way. Who’s this? He’s gorgeous.” I looked up at Adrian. “A friend of yours? You should introduce us.”

Adrian stopped breathing.