Chapter 4

In the days that followed, the world began to come into focus. It was like a thick fog was slowly burning off, revealing a landscape I hadn't seen in years. Colors seemed brighter, sounds sharper. The tingle I' d felt after taking the pills had been the start of it-an awakening.

My memories were still patchy, but I felt a new clarity, a sharpness of thought that was both exhilarating and terrifying. I stopped taking the pills Ethan gave me, pretending to swallow them before hiding them under my tongue.

One afternoon, I was sitting in the sunroom, scrolling idly on a tablet Ethan had given me. A news headline caught my eye. "Tech Giant Hayes Corp Nears Final Merger Deal." I clicked on it. The article was about Ethan' s family company. It mentioned him as the heir apparent, a brilliant but private man who had overcome a difficult past.

And then, in the comments section, someone had posted a link.

"Isn't this the same Ethan Hayes who was involved in that Northgate Prep scandal years ago?" the comment read. "Whatever happened to that poor girl?"

My finger trembled as I clicked the link.

It took me to an old gossip blog. And there it was. The video.

The grainy footage filled the screen. A young girl-me-slumped in a filthy alley, her dress torn, her face slack and confused. She was mumbling incoherently. The camera zoomed in, merciless and cruel. I could hear faint laughter from behind the camera.

It was like a dam breaking.

Five years of suppressed memories came flooding back, a brutal, overwhelming torrent. The conservatory pact. The dinner. The pills Ethan gave me. The alley. His whisper: I'm sorry, Chloe. The text message to my father. My mother's face, twisted in disgust. You are dead to me.

The pain was so immense, so physical, it knocked the air from my lungs. I dropped the tablet, and it clattered to the floor. I let out a sound, a raw, guttural scream that came from the deepest part of my soul.

It was all him. He hadn't found me by accident. He hadn't been saving me. He had been curating my misery, keeping me in a gilded cage, a drugged and broken pet he could "care for." My pregnancy wasn't a new beginning; it was the final lock on my cage.

I collapsed to the floor, sobbing, shaking uncontrollably. The grief and the rage were a storm inside me, tearing me apart. I clawed at my own arms, desperate to make the pain stop.

The door flew open and Ethan rushed in. "Chloe! What is it? What's wrong?"

He tried to gather me in his arms, to soothe me like he always did. But this time, his touch was fire. It was poison.

"Get away from me!" I shrieked, scrambling backward, away from him. "Don't touch me!"

He froze, his face a picture of confusion and hurt. "Chloe, it's me. It's Ethan. Let me help you."

"You," I sobbed, the word choked with hatred. "It was you. It was always you."

The intensity of the emotional flood was too much. My vision tunneled, the world went black, and I fainted.

I woke up in my bed. The room was dark. Ben was sitting in a chair in the corner, watching me.

"You're awake," he said softly.

I sat up, my head throbbing. The memories were still there, but the storm had passed, leaving behind a cold, hard clarity. I was no longer the frightened, confused woman I had been. I was awake.

"How much do you remember?" Ben asked.

"Everything," I said, my voice flat and empty.

He nodded slowly, a look of profound sadness on his face. "I'm sorry, Chloe. I tried to warn you."

A little while later, Ethan came in. He looked exhausted, his eyes red-rimmed. He stood at the foot of my bed, looking hesitant.

"Ben told me you had a... a memory episode," he said carefully. "He thinks the stress of the pregnancy might be causing it."

I just stared at him, my expression a blank wall. I didn't say a word. I let him believe what he wanted. I let him think I was still broken.

Later that night, I heard him talking to Ben again in the hallway.

"She looked at me like she didn't know me," Ethan said, his voice strained. "Or worse, like she hated me. Maybe you were right. Maybe the medication isn't enough anymore."

"What are you going to do, Ethan?"

There was a long pause.

"I'm going to marry her," Ethan said, his voice filled with a chilling resolve. "I'm going to give her my name, my child, my fortune. I'm going to love her so much that she forgets everything else. I will fix what I broke."

I lay in the dark, listening, and a cold smile touched my lips. He thought he was fixing me. He had no idea I was already plotting how to break him.