Chapter 2

When I returned to the luxurious villa in Back Bay, Boston, it was completely empty. A hollow shell.

This was the home Claire and I had decorated together.

Back then, she told me she wanted to live in this warm little sanctuary with me for the rest of our lives.

Now, the tableware we picked out, the ornaments, everything related to her—cleared out.

Maybe she was afraid I'd be triggered by the past. Even the soil in the planters on the balcony, where we used to grow flowers together, had been overturned and scattered.

I looked at the empty house, a self-deprecating smirk tugging at my lips.

You were so thorough, Claire. Were you afraid remembering the past would cause me pain, or were you just terrified I'd ruin your wedding with Nolan?

If you knew the antidote didn't exist, that I would never get my memory back, would you still have done this?

I took off my wedding ring and wrote a letter.

I sealed the ring and the letter inside an envelope and wedged it deep into the cracks of the overturned dirt in the balcony planter.

My phone buzzed frantically.

My friend Marcus was silent for a long time before he finally spoke.

"Adrian, I have to tell you something. I think Claire is cheating on you. I'm outside Mass Gen and I just saw her holding another man."

I gave a calm hum of acknowledgment.

"It's fine. Let her be."

Marcus was stunned.

"Adrian, are you... really okay?"

The sheer panic in his voice actually made me chuckle.

"Why wouldn't I be? Claire and I are divorced."

"Divorced?!"

I gave him a brief rundown.

When he heard I had taken the Memory Suppressant, a string of vicious curses exploded through the speaker.

"Those two frauds! She'd really do anything just to marry that bastard."

"Five years ago, you gave up your spot at the research institute just to stay by her side and pull her company back from bankruptcy! Half of everything she has today is yours. And now she's putting you through hell for another man, pretending she's doing it to 'protect' you? Who the hell does she think she is?"

A flicker of pain finally surfaced in my eyes, draining the color from my face.

Five years ago, when Claire was at her lowest, I married her without a second thought.

I leveraged every academic and industry connection I had to stabilize her firm.

Back then, she would hold me every night, whispering against my ear, "You are my forever love."

But over time, things changed.

The man she held in her heart found someone else, and she gradually forgot everything I had done for her.

She demanded that I be considerate, forgiving, and that I excuse her "pity" for Nolan.

Was it really that hard to love one person consistently?

Why was I able to do it?

Marcus kept cursing until he was out of breath. "I guarantee you, once she finds out you never got the antidote, she's going to lose her damn mind with regret."

"But she doesn't know this is exactly what you need to finally let her go."

My gaze drifted to the crevice in the balcony planter.

After living with Claire for so many years, I knew her habits.

Whenever she was stressed or upset, she would stand by the balcony and drink.

If she truly felt regret, she would find that letter.

Late that night, Claire returned and started rummaging through the bedroom.

"What are you looking for?"

She froze, turning around to see me standing in the doorway in my pajamas.

Frowning, she walked over and draped a scarf over my shoulders.

"It's cold tonight. Why are you dressed so thinly?"

I ignored the gesture.

"Are you looking for something?"

"Yeah. I want to borrow your suit. Nolan wants to wear it for the wedding."

She quickly explained, "You might have forgotten again, but it's the custom-tailored suit you wore when we got married."

I stared at her in silence.

Of course I hadn't forgotten.

She had designed that bespoke suit for me herself. From the initial sketches to the final stitching, it took her two whole months.

It was a one-of-a-kind masterpiece crafted by a master tailor, valued at nearly a million dollars on the collector's market.

She did all of it just because I had casually mentioned, "I want a suit that belongs only to me."

Now, she was taking it away to complete another man's wedding.

I suddenly found it hilarious. "Is this suit really that important? Why does it have to be this one?"

Claire's movements faltered.

On the day the suit was finished, she had told me, It will only ever belong to you.

I kept my eyes locked on her.

She hesitated for a split second. "Because it was made by a master tailor. It's the only one of its kind in the world. Nolan loves it, and wearing it to get married is his dying wish."

Seeing me lower my eyes, she added, "Don't worry, I'll return it to you right after the wedding. Whatever you want to make up for it, I'll buy it for you."

The same old lies.

My heart took another brutal hit.

On the day of our wedding, her eyes never left me.

After the ceremony, she carefully stored the suit in the closet.

I had smiled and asked why she was treating it like a fragile artifact.

She looked at me seriously. Because you gave it a unique meaning. I'm going to preserve this memory for the rest of my life.

But now, simply because Nolan said he liked it, Claire was handing it over without a second thought.

This suit, which she once cherished, had become nothing more than a prop to coax a smile out of another man.

"It's getting late. Go to sleep. I have to head out again."

Oblivious to my shifting mood, Claire grabbed the suit and left.

I let the scarf slip from my shoulders to the floor, staring into the empty closet.

"It doesn't matter," I whispered.

"Once she empties this place out, it'll all be over."

It was just abandonment.

Once my memories were completely wiped clean, I would truly be able to let go.

Just as the thought crossed my mind, a violent wave of pain struck again.

A massive chunk of memory vanished from my mind.

I was violently pulled out of my sorrow.

Chapter 2

When I returned to the luxurious villa in Back Bay, Boston, it was completely empty. A hollow shell.

This was the home Claire and I had decorated together.

Back then, she told me she wanted to live in this warm little sanctuary with me for the rest of our lives.

Now, the tableware we picked out, the ornaments, everything related to her—cleared out.

Maybe she was afraid I'd be triggered by the past. Even the soil in the planters on the balcony, where we used to grow flowers together, had been overturned and scattered.

I looked at the empty house, a self-deprecating smirk tugging at my lips.

You were so thorough, Claire. Were you afraid remembering the past would cause me pain, or were you just terrified I'd ruin your wedding with Nolan?

If you knew the antidote didn't exist, that I would never get my memory back, would you still have done this?

I took off my wedding ring and wrote a letter.

I sealed the ring and the letter inside an envelope and wedged it deep into the cracks of the overturned dirt in the balcony planter.

My phone buzzed frantically.

My friend Marcus was silent for a long time before he finally spoke.

"Adrian, I have to tell you something. I think Claire is cheating on you. I'm outside Mass Gen and I just saw her holding another man."

I gave a calm hum of acknowledgment.

"It's fine. Let her be."

Marcus was stunned.

"Adrian, are you... really okay?"

The sheer panic in his voice actually made me chuckle.

"Why wouldn't I be? Claire and I are divorced."

"Divorced?!"

I gave him a brief rundown.

When he heard I had taken the Memory Suppressant, a string of vicious curses exploded through the speaker.

"Those two frauds! She'd really do anything just to marry that bastard."

A flicker of pain finally surfaced in my eyes, draining the color from my face.

Five years ago, when Claire was at her lowest, I married her without a second thought.

I leveraged every academic and industry connection I had to stabilize her firm.

Back then, she would hold me every night, whispering against my ear, "You are my forever love."

But over time, things changed.

The man she held in her heart found someone else, and she gradually forgot everything I had done for her.

She demanded that I be considerate, forgiving, and that I excuse her "pity" for Nolan.

Was it really that hard to love one person consistently?

Why was I able to do it?

Marcus kept cursing until he was out of breath. "I guarantee you, once she finds out you never got the antidote, she's going to lose her damn mind with regret."

"But she doesn't know this is exactly what you need to finally let her go."

My gaze drifted to the crevice in the balcony planter.

After living with Claire for so many years, I knew her habits.

Whenever she was stressed or upset, she would stand by the balcony and drink.

If she truly felt regret, she would find that letter.

Late that night, Claire returned and started rummaging through the bedroom.

"What are you looking for?"

She froze, turning around to see me standing in the doorway in my pajamas.

Frowning, she walked over and draped a scarf over my shoulders.

"It's cold tonight. Why are you dressed so thinly?"

I ignored the gesture.

"Are you looking for something?"

"Yeah. I want to borrow your suit. Nolan wants to wear it for the wedding."

She quickly explained, "You might have forgotten again, but it's the custom-tailored suit you wore when we got married."

I stared at her in silence.

Of course I hadn't forgotten.

She had designed that bespoke suit for me herself. From the initial sketches to the final stitching, it took her two whole months.

It was a one-of-a-kind masterpiece crafted by a master tailor, valued at nearly a million dollars on the collector's market.

She did all of it just because I had casually mentioned, "I want a suit that belongs only to me."

Now, she was taking it away to complete another man's wedding.

I suddenly found it hilarious. "Is this suit really that important? Why does it have to be this one?"

Claire's movements faltered.

On the day the suit was finished, she had told me, It will only ever belong to you.

I kept my eyes locked on her.

She hesitated for a split second. "Because it was made by a master tailor. It's the only one of its kind in the world. Nolan loves it, and wearing it to get married is his dying wish."

Seeing me lower my eyes, she added, "Don't worry, I'll return it to you right after the wedding. Whatever you want to make up for it, I'll buy it for you."

The same old lies.

My heart took another brutal hit.

On the day of our wedding, her eyes never left me.

After the ceremony, she carefully stored the suit in the closet.

I had smiled and asked why she was treating it like a fragile artifact.

She looked at me seriously. Because you gave it a unique meaning. I'm going to preserve this memory for the rest of my life.

But now, simply because Nolan said he liked it, Claire was handing it over without a second thought.

This suit, which she once cherished, had become nothing more than a prop to coax a smile out of another man.

"It's getting late. Go to sleep. I have to head out again."

Oblivious to my shifting mood, Claire grabbed the suit and left.

I let the scarf slip from my shoulders to the floor, staring into the empty closet.

"It doesn't matter," I whispered.

"Once she empties this place out, it'll all be over."

It was just abandonment.

Once my memories were completely wiped clean, I would truly be able to let go.

Just as the thought crossed my mind, a violent wave of pain struck again.

A massive chunk of memory vanished from my mind.

I was violently pulled out of my sorrow.