Three Chances for the Amnesiac Don Chapter 02

Three Chances for the Amnesiac Don Chapter 02

Cordelia’s pov

Mother blocked the doorway, her features contorted with undisguised revulsion.

“You tipped the FBI off to Seraphina’s location, didn’t you?” she snarled.

“And you coerced Phineas into sending her that breakup message, didn’t you?”

“How could you so shameless? Why do you insist on stealing your stepsister’s love?”

I stared vacantly at the woman standing before me. Steal my stepsister’s love?

I was the one who met Phineas first.

Back when we were still at school, he would climb over the boundary fence each night, solely to bring me warm lobster ravioli.

Even after marathon family board meetings, he’d drive dozens of miles just to catch a fleeting look at me.

Seven long years we’d held fast, weathering every temptation and every bitter quarrel.

I never imagined my stepsister would tear us apart and neither did I foresee the mother who abandoned me to wed into the Lancaster family turning against me.

That day is burned permanently into my memory.

This woman, who’d always treated me like unwanted luggage, had tucked explicit photos of Phineas and Seraphina in bed inside the very first birthday cake she’d ever given me.

“Seraphina has set her heart on this man. You have no grounds to compete with her.”

It was agony, as though a blunt knife were sawing into my flesh again and again.

I steadied my ragged breathing and let out a hollow, mirthless laugh. “Fine. I’m shameless, I’m foolish—foolish enough to fall for the same lie twice.Rest assured, I’ll never make that mistake again.”

I brushed the tears from my cheeks and hauled my suitcase toward the door.

Phineas staggered upright, his bloodied knees barely able to support his weight, and stumbled after me. “Cordelia, hear me out. It’s not what it looks like…”

“Phineas, what do you think you’re doing?!”The mother hauled him backward. She pulled a sheet of paper from her handbag and struck him across the face with it.

“Have you forgotten your promise from this very morning? You swore you’d never let Seraphina down again!Do you realise she’s threatening suicide over that text you sent?”

The sheet fluttered to the floor, the bold heading “Guarantee” blazing up at me from the paper.

“I hereby guarantee I shall never forget Seraphina, nor shall I ever make her shed another tear…”

Phineas glanced from the mother to me, tongue-tied and at a complete loss.

“Mrs. Lancaster, I…”

“Or have you forgotten? Seraphina is carrying your baby.”

I whipped my head toward Phineas, every drop of colour draining from my face. Shock and horror were etched identically onto his features.

A satisfied smirk tugged at the mother’s lips.

My heart constricted sharply; the bitter irony threatened to choke me.

Phineas and I had clashed violently countless times over the years.Immediately after the crash, I’d suspected his amnesia was nothing but a lie, a vicious ploy so he could stay with Seraphina.

I pushed him away relentlessly, subjecting him to every harsh test I could devise.

Yet he never left, loving me just as he had back when we were destitute, that teenage boy who split a stale bread roll with me down the middle.

I lowered my guard, pretended all was well, and let myself fall for him once more.

Yet his tangled affair with Seraphina had never truly ceased.

“It isn’t like that, Cordelia. I never lied to you,”Phineas croaked, his throat raw and scratchy.

“I truly did lose my memory. I admit I slept with Seraphina, but I had no idea she was carrying my child.”

“Cordelia, did you truly believe a bout of amnesia would make him erase her from his heart?” the mother cut in, staring down at me contemptuously.

“You will never beat Seraphina.She is the beloved princess of the Lancaster household and what exactly are you?”

The air turned dense and oppressive, and my head throbbed as though it might split apart at any moment.

I crumpled to the floor, consumed by humiliation and utter despair.

Then a strange warmth unfurled between my legs, and I realised blood was trickling slowly down my inner thigh.