Fake Memory, Real Insanity

I always lived life a little out of focus, like I was constantly nursing a mild buzz.

So when Sebastian went full obsessive, treating me like his captive prize, I honestly thought he was just messing around.

Every time a great escape ended with him dragging me back, I would just shoot him a thumbs up. "Your hide and seek game is leveling up. I only lasted thirty minutes this time."

Three years we played this cat and mouse game.

Until today. I was throwing up, found out I was pregnant, and headed home with the sonogram. I couldn't wait to tell Sebastian, especially since doctors had sworn he was completely sterile.

But fate had a twisted sense of humor. He got into a car wreck and woke up with amnesia.

His precious childhood friend, Monica, was sobbing by his bedside, blaming me for everything.

"If he hadn't been rushing back for your birthday, the crash never would have happened."

"He forgot you exist. I am begging you, stop clinging to him."

I walked out slowly. My stomach was cramping.

I felt like I was forgetting something.

I stood under a streetlamp for a minute, scratching my head. Oh, right.

I turned back, pushed the hospital room door open, and held out my wrist. It showed a sleek, titanium GPS cuff.

"I left in such a hurry I forgot about this. You guys should probably take it off."

Monica raised an eyebrow. "What is that?"

I explained it calmly. "A tracker. It pairs with the one on Sebastian's wrist. If you want me gone for good, you need to unlock this cuff first."

He insisted I wear it. I never really cared, since I never planned to run anywhere he couldn't find me anyway. But things were different now. He forgot me.

His parents exchanged a dark look. Monica tightened her grip and looked at the assistant. "Did you know about this?"

The assistant looked incredibly awkward, stuttering through his words. "The boss ordered that the cuff was never to be removed. He didn't even design a fail safe to unlock it. Forcing it off will break the mechanism."

Mr. Blackwood slammed his hand on the table. "This is absurd! A grown man playing these twisted games. What would the board think if this leaked?" He glared at the assistant. "Get someone to cut it off. Now."

A specialist arrived quickly, brutally cutting the titanium with heavy duty bolt cutters. Monica snatched the broken metal and tossed it into the trash. "Done. Now leave."

I had just reached the door when a hoarse whisper floated through the room.

"Don't... don't go..."

My feet stopped. I looked back.

Sebastian's eyes were squeezed shut, his brow heavily furrowed in pain.

Monica rushed forward, grabbing his hand. "Sebastian, I am right here. Don't be scared."

She shot me a venomous glare, mouthing the words to get out.

His parents flanked me like bouncers, escorting me into the hallway.

His father handed me a blank check. "The family will compensate you generously. But you and my son are from two different worlds. Monica is the only woman fit to be his wife."

"We are going to an orphanage to adopt a boy. Sebastian and Monica will raise him as the heir."

"Every trace of you will be scrubbed clean. Your chapter here is over."

It wasn't until I reached the airport that the delayed wave of heartbreak finally hit me.

Sebastian always called me slow.

I wasn't stupid, my brain just needed an extra second to process things.

But now he was the one with the broken brain.

I crouched by the boarding gate, dry heaving until my ribs ached. When I finally stood up and wiped my mouth, the realization slowly dawned on me.

Oops. I completely forgot to tell them I was pregnant.

Those doctors totally misdiagnosed him. Sebastian was perfectly capable of having kids. They didn't need to adopt a fake heir at all.

I pulled out my phone to call them, but the line was dead. They really wanted nothing to do with me.

Whatever. They gave me a ridiculous amount of money. I could raise a kid just fine on my own.

I planted roots in a new city. My belly grew rounder, and when the day came, I called my own ambulance.

I raised a beautifully healthy little boy. But Oliver looked way too much like his father.

The shape of his eyes, the slope of his nose, even the arrogant little way he pressed his lips together. He was a carbon copy of Sebastian.

His personality was a match, too. When he fell, he didn't cry. He just dusted off his knees with this serious, old soul expression that mirrored his dad perfectly.

Soon, it was open house day at kindergarten.

Every other kid had a mom and a dad squished into the tiny chairs. My side had an empty seat.

A little boy ran over to him. "Oliver, why didn't your daddy come?"

I opened my mouth, but my slow brain short circuited. I had no idea what to say.

Oliver just looked up, his face deadpan. "My mom being here is enough. I can take care of her all by myself. We don't need him."

The surrounding parents chuckled. "What a sweet, mature kid."

But one dad squinted, staring at Oliver. "Huh."

"Why does this kid look so incredibly familiar?" He tilted his head, thinking hard, then slapped his thigh.

"I got it. He looks exactly like my CEO. A literal mini version of the boss."

"But my boss and his wife are basically relationship goals. He didn't want to put her through the pain of childbirth, so they adopted an orphan."

I froze. My sluggish brain was trying to decipher what he just said.

The parents exchanged loaded glances, their eyes raking over me with sudden judgment.

The little boy laughed, pointing a sticky finger at Oliver. "That means you are a bastard!"

"Your mommy is dirty. She is just a secret mistress for some rich guy. That is why your dad isn't here. You are a secret baby!"

An adult weakly pulled the boy back, but a nasty, knowing smirk played on his lips.

Oliver's tiny shoulders shook. He balled up his fists and launched himself at the kid. "Do not talk about my mom!"

By the time I snapped out of my daze, Oliver was already wrestling the boy to the carpet.

The obnoxious dad grabbed Oliver by the collar, lifting him into the air. His kid took the chance to scratch Oliver, leaving a bloody red line down his cheek.

The man saw I was a single mother and figured I was an easy target. He sneered, holding my son up like a ragdoll. "Since this brat does not have a father to teach him manners, I will gladly step in and do the job."

He raised his large hand, bringing it down hard on Oliver.

Oliver's eyes filled with tears, but he bit his lip so hard it almost bled, refusing to let a single drop fall.

A loud ringing exploded in my ears. I went feral, snatching my boy out of his grip, burying him against my chest, and walking out without looking back.

But by midnight, Oliver spiked a terrifying fever. His little face burned red, his breath coming out in hot, shallow pants.

I carried him on my back, sprinting all the way to the emergency room. The hallways were packed.

After getting our number, I curled up on a hard plastic chair, holding his burning body. Waves of pure helplessness kept crashing over me.

A fragile, whimpering whisper came from my arms.

"Daddy... Daddy..."

I fell silent, tightening my arms and pressing my cheek against his sweaty hair. "Your dad forgot about us. He is busy playing daddy for someone else."

The intercom finally called our number. I jumped up, rushing toward the clinic door.

Just as I reached the handle, a woman shoved her way past me, blocking the entrance. "My son scraped his hand. We are going first."

Our eyes met. We both completely froze.

It was Monica.

Her eyes darted down to the little boy burning up in my arms.

Her brow furrowed, her voice laced with sudden panic. "Why does this kid look exactly like..."

"No, that is impossible. The doctors swore Sebastian was completely sterile."

I put on my most sincere face, opening my mouth to say it was just a misdiagnosis.

Before I could, heavy, authoritative footsteps echoed behind me.

Sebastian stepped up right next to Monica. "What is going on?"

I looked up, colliding straight into Sebastian's dark, bottomless eyes.

A phantom chill washed over the back of my neck.

A flash of pure malice sparked in Monica's eyes.

I didn't even get a chance to speak before she switched to a soft, trembling voice. "Sebastian, you probably do not remember her. She is the girl who used to bully me ruthlessly."

"She was just threatening me, saying she was going to ruin my life."

She shrank against his chest, her manicured fingers tightly gripping his tailored shirt. "I am so scared. Teach her a lesson, please? Just deport her and make her disappear."

Sebastian gently peeled Monica off his chest. He looked down at her, his voice entirely devoid of emotion. "She bullied you?"

Then he let go of her hand and took slow, deliberate steps toward me.

I instinctively backed up.

His gaze was scorching, his voice dropping into a dangerous, gravelly register.

"What is your name?"

My heart skipped a beat under that suffocating stare. "Stella."

The feeling was incredibly nostalgic. Every time he used to hunt me down, he had that exact same feral, obsessive look in his eyes.

After a long pause, he tilted his chin toward the triage nurse. "Let her go in first. The kid is burning up."

Behind us, Monica looked like she was about to snap her own teeth in half, glaring daggers at my back.

Thank god Oliver was fine. After an IV drip, we were cleared to go home.

Walking back, my slow brain finally processed the chaos of the day. We definitely had to pack up and move to a new city. Remaining here was a death wish.

I was deep in thought, wondering where we should relocate.

Suddenly, a strong arm snaked around me from behind, clamping a rag tightly over my nose and mouth.

Everything went black in a split second.

When my eyes fluttered open, I was trapped in a pitch black, suffocatingly small room.

Sebastian's crisp, cool voice brushed right against my ear.

"Stella. Be a good girl and be mine."

"I can give you anything you could ever want. Just do not try to run away."

I shifted my wrists and ankles. A sharp, metallic clinking echoed in the dark. I looked down and saw the heavy metal cuffs locking me to the bed.

The classic behavior. The classic dialogue. The classic Sebastian.

People say you can never step into the same river twice.

But Sebastian absolutely could.

I felt a little delirious, wondering if I had somehow time traveled. "Why did it take you so incredibly long to find me this time?"

I must have hit a nerve.

His pupils constricted violently. He brought a hand to his temple, pressing hard as if his skull was splitting open.

His entire body swayed. A second later, he collapsed, falling dead weight right on top of me.

His heavy frame pinned me to the mattress just as the door was violently kicked open.

Monica stood at the front of the pack, with Mr. and Mrs. Blackwood crowding behind her.

Monica's eyes swept over the room, landing on my chained wrists and ankles. She literally stumbled backward.

His mother grabbed the doorframe, looking like she was about to pass out. "Stella? Why is it always you? How on earth did you two end up tangled together again?"

They swarmed into the room in a blind panic, screaming for a doctor and hauling Sebastian's unconscious body off the bed.

The private physician arrived in minutes. He checked his vitals and looked up with a relieved smile.

"This is incredible news. The blood clot in Mr. Blackwood's brain is dissolving rapidly. His memories should return very soon."

His mother forced a stiff, unnatural smile.

His father frowned, sighing heavily before waving his hand. "Get him to a comfortable room to rest. Have the nurses monitor him around the clock."

Once they carried Sebastian out and the door clicked shut, three icy glares locked onto me.

His father spoke, his tone dripping with exhaustion. "Miss Stella, we truly did not want to hurt you. But you have left us with absolutely no choice."

"You just had to let him find you again."

He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

Barely twenty minutes later, the heavy thud of uniform boots echoed in the hallway.

The door swung open, revealing several stern faced corporate security agents and local police officers.

"Stella, is it? We received a report that you broke into private property and stole highly classified corporate secrets. The financial damages are astronomical. You need to come with us."

My breath hitched. I shook my head frantically against the pillows.

"No, I didn't do anything!"

His mother stood off to the side, pulling a thick folder from her designer coat and handing it to the lead officer. "Here are the incident reports and the fabricated evidence logs. Thank you for handling this."

Monica took a slow step forward. She reached out, trailing a manicured nail down my cheek, her eyes practically vibrating with toxic jealousy.

"Mr. and Mrs. Blackwood, wouldn't it be better to tie up all the loose ends?"

"Let me ruin that pretty face of hers before you lock her in a cell."

"Even if Sebastian gets his memories back, he will only feel disgust when he looks at a disfigured convict."

His mother was silent for a long moment. Then, she gave a slow, chilling nod. "Monica always thinks ahead."

I was securely chained to the heavy bed frame, cold metal biting into my skin. I could not move a single inch.

"No, please don't do this..."

Monica was already gripping a sleek pocket knife. She tapped the cold flat edge of the blade against my cheek.

"Relax. I will make it quick."

"He refused to legally marry me all these years. Once he wakes up and sees your ruined face, he will finally get over his little obsession."

I squeezed my eyes shut in pure despair.

Right at that exact second, the door flew open.

Oliver used every ounce of his tiny body weight to shove past the guards, sprinting blindly into the room.

"Grandma! Please let my mommy go! Do not hurt her!"

Crying hysterically, Oliver crashed straight into Sebastian's mother.

Caught entirely off guard, she stumbled backward.

She looked down, annoyed words already forming on her lips. "Whose out of control brat is..."

She saw his face. And completely froze.

The eyes. The nose. The absolute mirror image of her son, Sebastian, as a little boy!

At the exact same moment, his father looked down, entirely captivated.

Staring at Oliver's tear stained face, he bent down, his hands trembling as he scooped the boy up. His voice shook with raw emotion.

"Little boy, whose child are you?"

Oliver was terrified by the chaotic room. He wailed through his tears.

"Grandpa, please let my mom go!"

"I do not have a dad! She works so hard taking care of me all by herself. Please do not bully her!"