Amnesia Took Her Love from Me

After a car accident leaves my girlfriend, Selene Voss, with temporary amnesia, she wakes up convinced that my best friend, Evander Thorne, is her fiance. Afraid that telling her the truth might worsen her condition, I agree to switch places with him. The arrangement is simple. We only pretend. Nothing more. Once Selene gets her memory back, everything goes back to normal. But six months have passed, and she shows no sign of remembering anything. Then one day, I stumble across a post online from someone in our city. "I lost my memory after a car accident and mistook another guy for my boyfriend. Now I've actually fallen in love with him. How do I explain this to my real boyfriend?" The top comment offers a simple solution. "Just keep pretending you have amnesia. You can't lose. If things work out with the new guy, great. If you regret it later, just say your memory finally came back." The author has liked the comment. I look up just as Selene and Evander walk through the door. She trails behind him with several shopping bags in her hands, and when she looks at him, the love in her eyes is impossible to miss. So, that's how it is. Somewhere along the way, Selene stops pretending. For her, this relationship has already become real. Chapter 1 Kieran's POV "Kieran, you're home early today. Selene and I just got back from the grocery store. We picked up everything for chicken and wild rice soup. How does that sound? It's your favorite." Selene Voss followed Evander Thorne inside. She gave me a polite nod before heading straight into the kitchen. Ever since Selene lost her memory, I'd been stuck in an absurd situation just so I wouldn't have to leave her. I, Kieran Ashford, was her boyfriend. Yet somehow, I'd ended up living in the home she shared with Evander, treated as little more than a guest. And every day, I had to swallow my jealousy as I watched my girlfriend give another man all the love and attention that should have been mine. Every time I saw Selene and Evander holding hands or wrapping their arms around each other right in front of me, it tore me apart. The only thing that kept me going was the same promise I repeated to myself over and over. Selene would remember. And when she did, she'd remember me. Everything would finally go back to the way it was supposed to be. I clung to that hope for six agonizing months. But Selene's memories never came back. Instead, I got the one piece of news I'd been dreading most. She was falling for Evander. Evander followed my gaze to where Selene was busy in the kitchen. He leaned closer, lowering his voice so she wouldn't hear. "I'm sorry, Kieran. I really thought she'd have her memory back by now. I wish there were more I could do." I looked down with a bitter smile. He didn't know the truth. Selene wasn't struggling to find her way back to the past. She was choosing to leave it behind. "But don't worry," Evander added. "I've got your back. I'll make sure no other guy gets the chance to move in on her." "Thanks," I murmured. The irony was almost unbearable. The only man I had ever needed to worry about was standing right beside me. "I only came back to grab something. I have to head out again in a minute." Just then, Selene called for Evander to help her in the kitchen. He immediately turned to me. "Then you'd better get going. Dinner should be ready by the time you're back." From the doorway, I watched Evander steal a piece of chicken from the cutting board. Selene caught him and smacked his hand away, but he only laughed and reached for another. "You're impossible," she said. "And yet you still put up with me." Selene smiled and bumped her shoulder against his. "Unfortunately." Evander grinned, and a second later, they were laughing together again. The easy teasing. The casual touches. The way they moved around each other as though they'd done this a thousand times before. Anyone looking through that kitchen doorway would have assumed they were a couple. And for one painful moment, they looked exactly like one to me too. The scene in front of me was everything I'd once imagined married life with Selene would be. Cooking dinner together. Teasing each other over nothing. Laughing in the kitchen at the end of the day. It was exactly the life I'd wanted. Except someone else had taken my place in it. Maybe Selene thought I'd already left, because her next question came without warning. "Kieran's been staying with us for six months now. Hasn't he found his own place yet?" Evander went still. "Uh... No. Not yet." He hesitated, clearly scrambling for an explanation. "Rent around here is ridiculous, and he doesn't make that much. Getting his own place would eat up most of his paycheck. Besides, it's a lot easier for him to get to work from here. "Why? Has he been bothering you?" Selene was chopping vegetables for dinner, her voice firm. "I think Kieran needs to move out. The three of us living together like this just isn't working. I can't even walk around in a tank top and shorts without remembering there's some guy I barely know in the house. "And forget about having any privacy with you. I don't want you constantly putting yourself second because of him, either. "You said we were making honey-glazed pork chops and roasted vegetables tonight because you love them. But the second Kieran walked through the door, you changed the whole plan and decided to make his favorite soup instead. "This is your home too. So, why are you always the one acting like a guest in it?" Evander fell silent. For a few seconds, he simply stared at her. Then he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Chapter 2 That kiss hurt more than I wanted to admit. Evander had promised me from the beginning that he would keep his distance from Selene. And for a while, he had. Whenever I was around, he'd been careful about every touch, every look, every moment that might cross a line. But somewhere along the way, that had changed. I couldn't even remember when it started. All I knew was that Evander could kiss my girlfriend now without a second thought, as naturally as if she had always been his. "I know you're only looking out for me," Evander said. "But let's not rush into anything. Finding a decent apartment isn't exactly easy right now. Apparently, Selene had already thought of that. "I asked a friend to help me look a few days ago. She found two places that might work. They're both close to here and not far from Kieran's office." Evander had run out of excuses. After a brief pause, he finally nodded. "Alright. I'll talk to Kieran when he gets back." My eyes burned, but I refused to let the tears fall. Instead, I looked around the house one last time, taking in every detail. I'd chosen the furniture. Hung the pictures. Picked out the curtains and the dishes and all the little things that had slowly turned an empty house into a home. This was supposed to be ours. The home Selene and I had planned to share after we got married. Then she lost her memory, and somehow, overnight, I'd gone from belonging here to being a guest. Everything I owned had been packed away and moved into the tiny spare bedroom. And in just six months, Evander had filled every space I'd left behind until there was almost nothing left to show that I'd ever lived here at all. Now Selene wanted the last piece of me gone too. Laughter drifted out from the kitchen. I couldn't bear to listen anymore. I drew in a slow breath, turned away, and slipped quietly out the front door. I didn't go to work. Instead, I drove straight to the hospital, clinging to one last shred of hope. Maybe Selene hadn't written that post after all. Maybe she really hadn't gotten her memory back. Maybe the only reason she'd grown so attached to Evander was that, somewhere in her confused memories, she'd mistaken him for me. I held on to every desperate possibility until the doctor finally found Selene's name in her records. "Selene Voss?" Dr. Jake Calloway scanned the file, then looked up at me. "I called her about three months ago to schedule a follow-up, but she told me her memory had already returned." My heart stopped. The doctor thought for a moment. "I remember because it was Thanksgiving. I even told her she couldn't have picked a better day to get her memories back. Just in time to spend the holiday with the people she loved." I froze. Thanksgiving. I remembered that day. Evander's parents had come to visit, bringing homemade pies, casseroles, and enough food for a small army. Selene had driven all the way to the airport herself to pick them up, then welcomed them into the house as if they were already family. My parents had come to town that same day. They'd shown up carrying bags of food and gifts, expecting to spend Thanksgiving with us. Selene didn't even let them through the gate. She'd insisted she didn't know them and called security to have them escorted off the property. I'd hidden the truth from my parents for as long as I could, but after that, there was no hiding it anymore. I finally had to tell them that Selene had been in an accident. And that she'd lost every memory she had of them and of me. Mom had only sighed and tried to comfort me. "She's alive. That's what matters. The doctors said it's only a matter of time before her memory comes back. I suppose the wedding will just have to wait a little longer. I know that's hard on you, sweetheart." I'd believed her, but Selene already had her memories back then. She knew she wasn't Evander's girlfriend. She knew I was the man she'd loved for four years, the man she was supposed to marry. And still, she'd gone to the airport to pick up Evander's parents and welcomed them into our home. Still, she'd had security turn my parents away at the gate. All while I stood there making excuses for her, believing she simply couldn't remember us. But she could. She remembered everything. She had simply decided to keep pretending she didn't. And if I'd never found out the truth, she might have kept up the lie forever. Dr. Calloway must have noticed the look on my face. "Is something wrong? Has Selene been having any new symptoms?" I shook my head. "No. I just wanted to make sure everything had healed properly. I was worried there might still be complications from the accident." He smiled, trying to reassure me. "Nothing to worry about. She came in for another checkup afterward, and everything looked perfectly normal. "She's completely recovered. Whatever wedding plans you two put on hold, you're free to pick them right back up. Medically speaking, nothing is standing in your way anymore." After the accident, Selene had been unconscious for an entire week. I took time off work and barely left her bedside for seven straight days. Then, of all the moments she could have woken up, she chose the few minutes I was downstairs taking care of the hospital paperwork. I'd asked Evander to stay with her until I got back. By the time I returned, Selene was awake, and she was convinced Evander was her boyfriend. Nothing I said could change her mind. Dr. Calloway warned me not to push her. She'd suffered a serious head injury, and forcing her to confront memories she couldn't access could only cause her more distress. Back then, he'd tried to reassure me too. "Give her time. With the progress she's making, there's every reason to hope her memory will return within the next few months. You may have to postpone the wedding, but don't give up on it yet." I'd held on to those words for six months. I'd waited for her to remember me and for us to get our life back. All this time, I'd thought the accident was what stood between us and the altar. Now I knew better. There might never be a wedding at all. Chapter 3 On the elevator down, I couldn't stop thinking about Selene and everything she'd done over the past three months. Looking back, the signs had been embarrassingly obvious. She hadn't even been particularly good at pretending. I'd just been too willing to believe her. I'd explained every strange look, every slip, and every moment that didn't quite add up with the same excuse. She had amnesia. I was so lost in thought that when the people beside me stepped off the elevator, I followed them without thinking. It took me a moment to realize I was on the Women's Health floor. I'd already made it halfway down the hall before I noticed and turned to head back toward the elevator. Then I stopped. Someone familiar was standing farther down the corridor. Someone who had no reason to be there. Selene. I stared at her, confused. She was supposed to be at home making dinner with Evander. Without meaning to, I stopped just outside the examination room and heard the doctor speak. "You're pregnant. About eight weeks along. Have you decided whether you want to continue the pregnancy?" Evander didn't even get the chance to answer. "Yes," Selene said immediately. "Absolutely." Through the partially open door, I saw the ultrasound printout trembling slightly in her hand. Then she turned to Evander and threw her arms around him. "Did you hear that? We're having a baby." She was already talking about what came next. "We should get married before I start showing. I'll call my parents tomorrow and tell them. It doesn't give us much time to plan, so you'd better make it special. I'm not letting you use the short notice as an excuse to give me some rushed little wedding." Selene had her back to the door, but Evander didn't. His eyes met mine over her shoulder. The color drained from his face. He shoved Selene away so abruptly that she stumbled. Confused, she followed his stare and turned toward the doorway. The instant she saw me, panic flickered across her face. It vanished almost immediately, but I'd seen it. "Kieran?" she blurted out. "I thought you went to work. What are you doing here?" I ignored her question. My eyes stayed fixed on Evander. "Selene's pregnant?" I already knew the answer. I just wanted to hear him say it. Evander dropped his gaze, shame written all over his face. He couldn't even look at me. Selene frowned and immediately stepped between us. "We're engaged, Kieran. We weren't exactly planning for a baby, but these things happen." A quiet, bitter laugh escaped me. I wasn't sure whether I was answering her or finally admitting the truth to myself. "Right. You two are the ones getting married now." Evander didn't say a word the entire drive home. He kept both hands on the wheel and his eyes fixed on the road, as if looking at me would somehow make everything worse. Selene, meanwhile, sat rigidly in the passenger seat with one hand resting protectively over her stomach. Every few minutes, her eyes flicked warily toward me in the rearview mirror. As if she genuinely believed I might do something to Evander or to the baby she was carrying. I didn't say a word, simply lowered my gaze to my phone, and opened the message I'd received from HR. There was an overseas position they'd been trying to fill—an engineering role at the company's office in Valeria. I'd turned it down before. This time, I typed my reply without hesitation. "I'll take the transfer to Valeria." At the company's midyear meeting, senior management had announced plans to expand into Valeria. They were putting together a team of engineers from offices across the country to help get the new operation off the ground. As it happened, I was the only engineer in my branch who spoke Valerian. I'd studied it as a second major in college. That made me an obvious choice. I'd still turned them down. Even before Selene's accident, I knew I couldn't handle a relationship from opposite sides of the world. When I'd been forced to choose between a major career opportunity and a future with Selene, I'd chosen her. I wouldn't make that choice again. From now on, the future I planned would be my own. It wasn't until we got home that I learned what had happened. While making dinner, Selene had suddenly gotten so nauseous that she'd started throwing up. Evander had assumed something was wrong and rushed her to the hospital. Maybe he didn't want the smell of food making her sick again, or maybe he was simply looking for an excuse to get me alone. Either way, Evander volunteered the two of us for kitchen duty. Selene glanced at me skeptically. "Kieran? He doesn't even know how to cook." Evander guided her toward the couch and helped her sit down. "Then he can learn. There are two perfectly capable men in this house. We're not making you cook dinner when you're pregnant." The word hit harder than it should have. Pregnant. I turned away before either of them could read my face and headed into the kitchen. I was rinsing vegetables at the sink when Evander came in behind me. The door clicked shut. Then came the unmistakable sound of the lock turning. I looked over my shoulder. Before I could ask what he was doing, Evander dropped to his knees in front of me. Chapter 4 "Kieran, I'm so sorry. What I did to you was unforgivable." Evander's voice cracked. "You can hit me or yell at me all you want. I won't stop you. I deserve it." I just looked at him. "When did it happen?" That was all I wanted to know. Evander's face crumpled with guilt. "That night Selene and I got drunk. One thing led to another, and we slept together. We used protection, and afterward we took extra precautions. I swear to you, Kieran, we never thought she could end up pregnant. "I don't know what went wrong. Maybe something failed. Maybe we were just unbelievably unlucky. But she's pregnant anyway." He hadn't told me a single word about any of it. All this time, I'd been the fool. I'd kept telling myself Selene was still the same woman I loved, trapped behind memories she couldn't reach. I'd trusted Evander just as blindly. He was my best friend. The one person I never thought I'd have to worry about. Whatever happened, I'd believed he would never betray me. Now I finally understood how wrong I'd been. The excuses. The hope. The faith I'd placed in both of them. I'd been the only one still holding on to any of it. While I was waiting for everything to go back to normal, Selene and Evander had already crossed a line there was no coming back from. Evander suddenly struck himself across the face. "I'm a terrible friend. I betrayed you. I betrayed everything I ever promised you. I screwed up, Kieran. I made one selfish, unforgivable mistake. "Just say the word. I'll talk to Selene tomorrow. I'll tell her we can't have this baby." "No." Evander stopped and looked at me in disbelief. "No, I'll do it tonight. I'll go talk to her right now and… Wait, what did you say?" "I said no." I pulled his hand away from where he'd been clutching at my jeans. "The baby didn't do anything wrong." Evander's eyes widened. For several seconds, he just stared at me, unable to make sense of my answer. "But what about you, Kieran?" Selene walked in at the worst possible moment. She stopped in the doorway, her eyes immediately dropping to Evander kneeling at my feet. Evander scrambled upright. "Selene, wait. This isn't what it looks like. I tripped, that's all. Kieran was just helping me up." Selene wasn't listening. Her gaze landed on the red mark across Evander's cheek, and something in her snapped. She grabbed a nearby stool and swung it into the glass panel of the kitchen door. The glass shattered with a deafening crash. Then she stepped in front of Evander, shielding him from me as though I were some kind of threat. "Do you seriously think I'm stupid enough to believe that?" She glared at me. "Kieran Ashford, you've been living under my roof for six months. You haven't paid rent. You've eaten our food. Evander has bent over backward trying to help you. "And this is how you repay him? By hurting him? Were you hoping you'd hurt me too? Hurt my baby?" Something inside me broke. I lowered my head before Selene could see my eyes beginning to burn. When I spoke, I somehow managed to keep my voice steady. "You're imagining things. Evander's my best friend. If the two of you are happy together, then I'm happy for you." Selene didn't answer immediately. Her gaze lingered on me for a moment, sharp and searching. At the time, I couldn't be certain what she was looking for. Now I understood. She was trying to figure out how much I knew. Whether I'd discovered that her memory had returned months ago. Evander quickly stepped between us. "Selene, seriously. Kieran didn't do anything. Don't blame him." Selene took a moment to collect herself before speaking again. "Fine. I'll let what just happened go. But I want you out of this house tonight. "I'm pregnant now. I don't want someone who isn't family living here anymore." Evander went rigid. He turned toward me cautiously, watching my face as if he expected me to argue. I didn't. "Okay." The answer came easily. I turned around, walked to the spare bedroom, and started packing. Evander followed me all the way to the front door. "Don't worry, Kieran. I'll talk to Selene tonight. I'll convince her to let you come back." "Don't bother." I didn't give him a chance to argue. I wheeled my suitcase out the door, pulled out my phone, and called a realtor I'd worked with before. "I need to put a house on the market as soon as possible." Selene had spent so long pretending she'd forgotten our life together that apparently she'd forgotten one rather important detail too. The house she'd just ordered me out of was mine. My parents had bought it for me as a wedding gift. And my name was the one on the deed.