Chapter 3

A few days passed in a strange, quiet routine.

Chloe was gentle, attentive in a reserved way.

She' d make me coffee in the morning, ask if I needed anything.

We ate meals mostly in silence.

I kept up the amnesia act, watching, listening.

I needed to understand what Jess was playing at.

One afternoon, I was resting on the couch, pretending to be asleep.

My head still felt a bit fuzzy, so it wasn' t hard to fake.

Chloe was in her small kitchen, and I heard her phone buzz with a video call.

It was Jess. Her voice was loud, carrying easily.

"So, how' s our patient?" Jess asked, a laugh in her tone.

"He' s... quiet," Chloe replied, her voice low. "Resting mostly."

"Good. God, Chloe, you' re a lifesaver. I just couldn' t deal with him right now."

My eyes remained closed, but I was fully awake, every nerve ending listening.

"He' s been so clingy lately, so boring," Jess went on, her voice dripping with disdain. "I needed a break, you know? And this amnesia thing? Perfect timing."

A cold knot formed in my chest. Boring? Clingy?

"He' s completely devoted, though," Jess continued, almost bragging. "He' ll take me back in a heartbeat, no matter what. But a few weeks of peace? Priceless."

Chloe murmured something I couldn' t catch.

"And you, Chloe, you' re perfect for this. He' ll be fine with you. It' s not like you even like him, right?" Jess laughed again. "You always thought he was too serious for me."

My breath caught. Jess thought Chloe disliked me?

Was that why she picked Chloe for this charade? Because she thought Chloe wouldn' t get attached, wouldn' t care?

"Jess, I don' t think..." Chloe started, but Jess cut her off.

"Oh, don' t worry about it. Just play along. It' ll be over soon. I' m actually meeting Mark for drinks later. He' s so much more exciting."

Mark. Her old flame. The flashy, arrogant guy she sometimes mentioned when she was feeling restless.

My jaw tightened.

"Just keep Ethan occupied, okay? Don' t let him get any ideas about, you know, us," Jess said.

"Okay, Jess," Chloe said, her voice flat.

The call ended.

I lay there, silent, the overheard words echoing in my head.

Boring. Clingy. Needed a break. Pushed onto Chloe because Chloe supposedly disliked me.

It wasn' t a prank gone sideways anymore.

It was a deliberate, cruel dismissal.

Jess wasn' t just trying to get out of caring for me while I was injured.

She was trying to get out of me.

And she was using Chloe to do it.

The pain was sharp, a raw ache in my chest that had nothing to do with the concussion.

I opened my eyes slowly.

The apartment felt different now, colder.

Chloe came out of the kitchen, saw I was "awake."

"Did you have a good rest?" she asked, her usual quiet kindness in her voice.

But now I saw the strain around her eyes, the slight tremor in her hands as she picked up a book.

She was trapped in this too.

And Jess clearly had no idea about Chloe' s real feelings, whatever they were.

My resolve hardened.

If Jess wanted a break, I' d give her one.

But it would be on my terms.

And I needed to figure out Chloe' s part in all this.

Why was she protecting Jess' s lie at her own expense?