Chapter 3

Richard and Elaine never liked Nolan. But Vivian insisted, and for their daughter's sake, they had no choice but to fund a high-profile engagement party. The event was held at a private club in Manhattan.

Guests kept throwing glances my way. Hushed whispers drifted through the room.

"Evan has it the worst. He tracks down his missing fiancée, and she ends up getting engaged to someone else."

"Their families have always been close, equal in status, and they were publicly engaged. Everyone thought they'd end up together."

"If it were me, I'd drag those two out in front of everyone and demand an explanation."

Nolan, dressed in a top-tier bespoke suit, walked slowly to the center of the banquet hall. Vivian held his hand, the soft light in her eyes impossible to hide.

"Everyone," she cleared her throat, her voice losing its usual aloofness. "I want to formally introduce..."

The lights flickered twice before the entire banquet hall plunged into absolute darkness. The room instantly descended into chaos—crashing chairs, shattering glass, and terrified screams merging into one deafening roar. I instinctively backed into a corner, but a heavy hand clamped down hard on my wrist. In the dark, someone pinned my arms behind my back and dragged me into the service corridor. A sharp pain pierced the back of my neck. I struggled to look up, only catching a glimpse of an unfamiliar silhouette before a sedative was jammed into my arm. My consciousness began to sink.

I don't know how much time passed before I heard Nolan's hushed, furious voice cutting through the haze.

"Damn it, who told you to make a move at the engagement party? I only told you to take me and pin it on Evan. Who told you to grab him too? Idiots. Forget about the final payment. You ruined my entire plan!"

My mind slowly cleared. I understood immediately. It was another one of Nolan's setups. Only this time, things had spiraled completely out of his control. The people who took us weren't the cheap street thugs he had hired. I recognized the voice of the man leading them. Gavin Mercer. The head of Mercer Holdings, a man Vivian had recently driven to the brink of bankruptcy in a ruthless corporate takeover.

A long time later, an encrypted video ransom call connected. On the screen, Vivian looked pale but was forcing herself to remain composed.

Gavin laughed. "Ms. Grant. One is the ex-fiancé you grew up with, and the other is the man you claim to love after losing your memory. Who do you want to save?"

Vivian's eyes locked onto the bruises on Nolan's face, and her composure shattered instantly. "If you touch Nolan again, I swear I'll wipe Mercer Holdings off the map."

I closed my eyes. My eyes burned, and tears slipped silently down my face. I shouldn't have expected anything else. I already knew exactly who she would choose.

Gavin suddenly burst out laughing. "You really thought I was giving you a choice?"

Before he even finished speaking, Nolan and I were dragged into a transparent underwater submersion cage. Inside the pod was a single emergency glass-breaking hammer. The cage was shoved off the edge of a private pier on the North Shore of Long Island, heavy weights dragging it rapidly down into the freezing bay.

I grabbed the hammer and smashed it desperately against the transparent glass. Seawater violently flooded in, the shattered shards slicing into my arms and legs. Gritting my teeth, I dragged the unconscious Nolan out of the pod and swam frantically toward the surface. By the time we broke the water, I was completely exhausted. But I still managed to shove Nolan onto a piece of floating driftwood, my fingers lightly brushing against his.

"Stay alive. As long as you're alive, her heart will have a home."

I tried to push the driftwood toward the shore. But the prolonged lack of oxygen, the freezing cold, and the extreme physical exertion caused the muscle weakness from my ALS to flare up violently. My arms instantly lost all sensation. Powerless, I began to sink back into the dark depths.

The surface of the water shimmered with distorted light. I slowly closed my eyes. Forget it. Let it end like this.

Right before my consciousness completely faded, I hallucinated someone desperately reaching their hand out toward me in the water. Was it just an illusion?