Chapter 1

At the hospital, my husband slipped off his wedding ring and introduced me as his sister.

Mark sat on the edge of the hospital bed. Tessa's fingers were laced through his.

"My fiance's right here," Tessa was saying to the nurse. Then she saw me. Her brow furrowed. "Mark? Who's that?"

I waited for the obvious answer. I was his wife. He would say it, and we would deal with whatever happened next together.

Mark opened his mouth, but Tessa noticed the ring on his left hand. Her fingers tightened around his. "You're wearing a ring. Mark, did you leave me?"

Her mother moved closer to the bed. "Mark, please. The doctor said we need to keep her calm."

Mark looked at me. Then he pulled his hand free, slid off his wedding band, and put it in his pocket.

"This is Elise," he said. "My sister."

A few hours earlier, he had kissed me in our kitchen before leaving for the hospital. He had reminded me to lock the door if he got home late.

"Your sister?" I asked.

Mark led me into the hallway. Once the door closed, he took both my hands and rubbed his thumbs over my knuckles. He always did that when I was upset.

For a second, I moved closer, ready to let him hold me and explain.

"Her memory is stuck ten years in the past," he said. "She thinks we're still engaged. The doctor wants us to keep her calm until they know what's going on."

He squeezed my fingers. "This is temporary. You are my wife."

"Then take me back inside and tell her."

Mark shook his head. "I can't do that right now."

"You just told her I'm your sister."

"I know." His grip tightened. "I hate this too, Elise, but she was in a serious accident. Give me a few days."

I pulled my hands away. "Why was she coming to see you?"

Mark glanced at the closed door. "She called this morning and asked me to come over. I told her I was busy. She got in her car to find me, and another driver ran a red light."

"So this is because you feel guilty."

"She wouldn't have been on that road if I had gone to her." He looked at me again. "I owe her this."

Before I could answer, Tessa's mother stepped into the hallway. "She won't come home with me. She keeps asking for the blue house on Cedar Lane. It's the only place she remembers."

The blue house had been Mark's childhood home. Mark and I had spent five years repairing it together and turning it into ours.

"Okay," Mark said. "Bring her there."

He didn't ask me. He turned to me after Tessa's mother went back into the room.

"You can use the guest room for a few days," he said. "Tessa needs the master bedroom. That's the room she remembers."

Our first night in the blue house, the master bedroom had been full of unopened boxes. Mark and I sat on the floor eating takeout because we hadn't unpacked the plates.

He put his arm around me and said the house only felt like home because I was there.

Now he was giving that room to her.

"And if she wants the guest room tomorrow?" I asked. "Where do I go?"

"Elise, please." Mark looked back at the hospital door. "I need you to be reasonable. Work with me here."

I stopped arguing and walked away.

Inside my car, my hands shook so badly that I missed the ignition twice. I sat there watching the hospital doors, waiting for Mark to come after me.

He didn't.

I searched for divorce lawyers on my phone. I read the word divorce twice before I pressed call.

A woman answered. "How can I help you?"

I looked at the hospital doors one last time.

"I need to end my marriage."