The Billionaire Who Faked My Love Story And Lost The Real One Chapter 01
The day I got married, my worst enemy floored it and slammed straight into the wedding car.
If he couldn’t have me, nobody could. That was the idea.
He shattered his leg. I lost my memory.
He dragged his broken leg to my bedside, pulled me into his arms like a man half-mad with relief, and told me we were together.
We got married. For five years, Garrick Ashford treated me like I was the only thing in his world worth protecting.
Then he got bored.
At a party with friends, a new girl showed up. She could have been my reflection from five years ago.
All smiles, she insisted on a game. One-up. Whatever you have, I have better.
“I’ve been sleeping with your husband.”
“He took your wedding ring right off the dresser and gave it to me, and…”
“I’m pregnant. Four months.”
“You lose, Elara. Your punishment? Garrick’s mine for the next six months. He promised to raise this baby with me.”
The room went dead silent.
Garrick was the only one who didn’t look away. His eyes moved between her and me, dark and unreadable.
He opened his mouth to speak.
I didn’t care enough to listen.
“Fine. Take him.”
The color drained from Garrick’s face. He had no idea I’d gotten my memories back.
Before Garrick, there was Silas Marlowe.
Devastatingly handsome, completely unhinged, and the kind of man who never forgot a single thing you did to him.
We were cut from the same cloth.
Garrick was finished.
…
“Elara, let me explain. I told her not to pull this. She wouldn’t listen.”
Garrick leaned in and reached for my hand.
I lifted my foot and pressed the pointed toe of my shoe into his shoulder. I gave him a shove. Right toward her.
Wren Calloway latched onto his arm instantly, chin up, grinning like she’d already won.
“Relax. You kept telling me not to start anything in front of her. I thought she was supposed to be scary.”
She looked me over, slow and deliberate, like I was something stuck to the bottom of her shoe.
“See? That’s all it took. I did all that and she just sat there and took it. Pathetic.”
“Come on, babe. Take me home. I’m starving.”
Garrick didn’t move.
He just stood there, watching me.
My indifference was getting under his skin. He was searching my face, waiting for me to crack.
I held up three fingers, smiling.
“Nobody said we were done. Keep playing.”
“One. I’m his wife. On paper, in law, and right now. That makes you the other woman.”
Wren’s smile cracked.
“Two. I have more wedding rings than I can count. He bought every single one I ever glanced at in a store window, just so I could wear a different one every day.”
“The one he gave you? My least favorite. And the cheapest.”
Wren’s expression darkened. Something dangerous moved behind her eyes.
Garrick’s friends scrambled to shut me up.
“Elara, enough. Wren’s a psycho. You push her too far and she’ll snap.”
I smiled and looked straight at her stomach.
“Three. Garrick tried a labor pain simulator.”
“He lasted about thirty seconds before he tapped out. Said he’d never put me through that. We’d stay child-free, or adopt someday.”
“So I’ve been wondering. Maybe he found someone else to do the hard part for me?”
Every drop of color left Wren’s face.
I dropped my hand and smiled at her. “You lose.”
Nobody moved.
It took a beat before anyone remembered how to speak. Then everyone started talking at once, scrambling to smooth things over.
“Aw, Elara can’t let go. She’s fighting so hard to keep him.”
“Okay, okay, it’s just a game. Nobody take it seriously. Both of you, just drop it…”
Garrick visibly relaxed.
He let go of Wren and came toward me, already smiling.
I shook my head and turned my smile on Wren.
“You can have Garrick. For my punishment, I want your baby.”
“You psycho bitch. You think you can touch my baby? I’ve been carrying this child for four months. This kid has one mother, and it sure as hell isn’t you.”
I rested my chin on my hand, still smiling, and cut her off.
“I mean right now.”
I slid the paring knife across the table toward her.
Her pale, twisted reflection stared back at her from the blade.
