Chapter 10

Afraid he'd figure it out, I jerked my arm out of his grasp.

"Isn't it normal?" I snapped. "After going through something that major, of course I've changed. What, did you think I'd still be that same girl? Following you around like a puppy, always submissive, no backbone?"

Ethan stared at me, a dangerous glint flickering in his eyes. Ignoring everything I said, he suddenly snatched my phone and started trying to unlock it, his fingers moving with practiced ease.

Wrong password.

He frowned. "You changed it?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"It used to be my birthday."

His voice was cold, but I caught the flash of hurt in his eyes.

I didn't want to go there. "Ethan, give it back. I need to request time off."

"If that's the issue, I can just buy the whole damn company. You don't need to work."

He kept trying.

"Our anniversary."

Wrong.

He pressed his lips together, tried again.

"My birthday."

The screen lit up, unlocked.

He stared at it for a moment, silent. Then, without a word, he changed the password to our anniversary.

I lunged forward and snatched the phone back. I tried to unlock it again, no luck. I glared at him. "What gives you the right to change my password?!"

"It's our anniversary. You can change it back."

I froze. Anniversary?

How the hell was I supposed to know that?

I had amnesia.

All I knew about him came from memories of a distant crush. And now that I knew the real him, that cold, manipulative version, his good looks and money didn't mean a thing. Why would I have bothered remembering something like our anniversary?

"You forgot," he said, voice low and sharp like a blade.

His gaze locked on mine, eyes narrowing. Then he gripped my shoulders tightly. "You lost your memory."

He said it like a fact. Like he knew.

…

And he was right.

I had lost my memory.

That one realization slowed the divorce process to a crawl.

Now that he knew I had amnesia, he had one more reason to refuse the divorce.

"You don't really want to leave me," he said. "You just don't remember how much you loved me."

"Aria," he told me once, his voice soft but firm, "once your memories come back, you'll never want to leave."

The words made my skin crawl.

But more than that, they scared me.

What if I did remember? What if I became that pathetic 25-year-old version of myself again? The girl who bent over backward for him, who thought loving him was the only thing that mattered?

I didn't want to go back to her.

I liked the woman I was now.

When I got home from work and pushed the door open, I was just about to toss my bag on the couch, when I froze.

A dark figure sat there, completely still. Then he looked up.

"Aria," he said.

I jumped. "What the hell? When did you get here? Wait, how do you even have a key to my apartment?"

"I called your landlord," Ethan replied coolly.

My jaw clenched. "Give me the key. I'm changing the locks tomorrow."

He didn't answer. Just stared at me with that unreadable, intense gaze.

"How much do you not remember?" he asked quietly.

"I didn't forget anything," I said, instantly defensive. "I want a divorce because I don't love you. How many times do I have to say it?"

Before I could finish, Ethan crossed the room and pulled me into his arms, fast and firm.

He held me tight, forcing me to sit on his lap, knees awkwardly straddling the couch cushions. The position was… compromising. But he didn't make a move beyond holding me close.

"Don't say that," he murmured. "You have amnesia. I'm not blaming you."

Then, quieter, more dangerous: "Once you remember, we'll deal with everything."

I struggled in his arms, my voice rising. "Ethan, stop! You've never treated me right. You don't love me, you never did! Why the hell should I stay with someone like you?"

"Even if I forgot everything," I said through clenched teeth, "I still wouldn't love you. I like who I am now. And I've wanted to leave you for a long time."

That stung. I saw it in his eyes.

His grip tightened.

"No," he said firmly. "We're just fighting. That's all. I already explained, it wasn't what you thought. That time… it wasn't intentional."

He gently cupped my face in his hands.

"I didn't want to bring this up before because I thought you knew me. I thought you'd understand. Even when I saved Olivia, you should've known there had to be a reason."

He rested his forehead against mine, his voice barely audible. "Now that you don't remember… I guess I have to spell it out. Olivia and I, it wasn't like that."

He took a breath. "The Sinclair and James families go way back. Her grandfather once saved my grandfather's life. There was a childhood engagement, but I never saw her that way. Then I met you. I married you. But my grandfather felt he owed her something, so he asked me to take care of her. That's all there was."

I let out a bitter laugh. "Yeah? You cared so much you left me behind to save her."

Ethan exhaled, jaw tightening. "You're still upset about that."

He reached up, gently pinching my cheek, trying to soften my anger.

"I didn't know you had amnesia back then," he said. "I should've told you everything sooner. That's on me."