Chapter 1

Vivian Grant and I grew up together, yet we spent a lifetime resenting each other.

I resented her for breaking her promise to love me forever, falling for another man after losing her memory.

She resented me for forcing her to remember, a decision that drove her lover, Nolan, to suicide.

But when I was diagnosed with terminal ALS and everyone told her to let me go, Vivian scoured the globe for medical miracles. She drained her entire fortune just to keep me alive.

On my deathbed, she sat by my side and whispered.

"Evan, I've done everything a wife should do. If there is a next life, please don't force me to find my memories. Let Nolan and me have a different ending."

A tear slipped from my eye.

I finally understood that my childhood love should never have been the rope that bound her for life.

When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day I found the amnesiac Vivian.

This time, I chose to let her forget me forever.

*

"Ms. Grant has lost her memory and refuses to return to the estate with us. However, we've already contacted the Memory Disorders and Neuropsychiatry Team at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. They can evaluate her condition and propose a trauma rehabilitation plan."

The exact same words. Identical to the moment I found the missing Vivian in my previous life. But this time, I felt no surge of relief. No desperate urgency. I simply shook my head and did two things.

First, I went to the hospital for a comprehensive neuromuscular examination. Second, carrying my confirmed ALS diagnosis and the specialist's evaluation, I went to see her parents, Richard and Elaine Grant.

I asked to formally break off my engagement to Vivian.

Elaine gripped my hands, her eyes red as she shook her head repeatedly. "Evan, I don't want you to make this decision. Vivian has always loved you. I refuse to believe that if she gets her memory back, she would choose anyone else."

I didn't argue. I just handed them a photograph. In the picture, Vivian stood outside an exhibit at the New York Aquarium, gazing at a performer in an immersive mermaid show. Her eyes were so tender they bordered on obsessive.

"Instead of forcing her to marry a dying man, it's better to let her stay with the person she loves." I paused. "I don't want to drag her down with me."

In my past life, after Vivian went missing, I spent five years searching for her. When I finally found her, she was living in a cramped rental apartment in Brooklyn, taken in by Nolan. She was still trapped by her trauma and amnesia, repeatedly insisting she didn't want any treatment aimed at recovering her past. But her parents and I forced the issue. We brought in hypnotherapy experts to awaken her memories.

The day she remembered everything, Nolan killed himself.

From that moment on, an uncrossable chasm opened between Vivian and me. For ten years of marriage, we lived together like strangers. Until I developed ALS. Vivian honored her marriage vows and cared for me for seven years. She fed me, bathed me, and accompanied me to every agonizing treatment. But I knew she stayed by my side out of duty, not love.

I fought back my tears, my voice turning hoarse. "Vivian and I have no future."

In this life, I refused to repeat the same mistake.

After leaving the Grant Estate, I went to find Nolan. The moment he saw me, he sent Vivian away. His face drained of color.

"I didn't hide Vivian on purpose."

"You know exactly what you did."

He stared at me, realizing he couldn't lie his way out of this. His lips pressed into a thin, pale line. Finally, he dropped the act and spat out the ugly truth.

"Evan, I know she only ever had you in her heart. The second she gets her memory back, she'll leave me. But I've liked her since the first time I saw her in high school. I loved her for so many years, and she never gave me a second glance. I finally got this chance... I just wanted to keep her by my side for a few days. Just a few days."

By the end, his voice was choking with sobs.

I didn't answer immediately. My gaze drifted past him, landing on Vivian in the background. She stood there, her eyes terrifyingly dark, her entire body coiled tight like a storm waiting to break. The girl who used to cling to my side was now Nolan's most vigilant guard dog; if I showed even a hint of hostility, she would throw herself in front of him.

I couldn't describe the bitter taste in my mouth. I only knew that in this life, I couldn't selfishly keep her.

I offered Nolan a faint smile. "Don't be afraid. I'm not here to tear you apart."

He froze.

"I'm here to take you both back to the Grant Estate."

"Us?"

"Yes," I nodded. "You're the man she loves. If I leave you here, she won't come with us. Pack your things. You're coming back with Vivian."

My tone was perfectly calm. "Mr. and Mrs. Grant know about you. They won't stop you from being with her."

Nolan looked as if he had been struck by a massive lottery win. He grabbed Vivian's hand, smiling so hard he nearly lost control, and immediately turned to pack his bags.

Only then did Vivian lower her guard. She pressed her lips together, her tone softening slightly. "I apologize. I thought you were going to hurt Nolan."

Her every mood, every reaction, was entirely tethered to him. No one remembered that back when Nolan used to pester her, she would get so annoyed she would bury herself in my arms, scrunch up her face, and boss me around.

"You have to tell them I'm yours." She would lean in close, dropping her voice to a whisper. "Be my official boyfriend. I want everyone to know I'm taken." She would even put on a fiercely protective face and demand I mimic her tone. In the end, we would always collapse into a fit of laughter, wrestling on the sofa until we couldn't breathe.

It was a pity. Vivian Grant would never belong to me again.

I brought them back to the Grant Estate. When it came time to introduce me, everyone in the room hesitated.

I spoke up: "I'm an old friend you grew up with. I used to look out for you, and you even promised to set me up with a girlfriend one day."

Vivian didn't suspect a thing. She even smiled and played along. "Sure. Once things settle down, I'll definitely set that up for you."

Everyone in the room who knew the truth looked at us with heavy, complicated expressions.