Fake Amnesia, Real Betrayal: I Left, He Crawled Back

In the fifth year of Irene Shaw's marriage to Ethan Hart, he was involved in a car accident and lost his memory.

No matter how she tried to prove that they had once loved each other, Ethan still insisted on a divorce.

His reasoning was hard to refute. "If I really loved you as much as you claim, how could I forget you?"

The childhood sweetheart who had once cut him off without hesitation had now become his sole emotional anchor.

He looked at Irene coldly. "Since you know this is a mistake, why not end it cleanly?"

The hands that had once refused to let her go now recoiled from even her lightest touch.

Disheartened and exhausted, Irene signed her name and pushed him completely out of her life.

Not long after, Ethan stopped her in the rain, his eyes red from crying.

"Irene, don't leave me. You said I'd never lose you."

As the car window slid shut, the arm around her waist tightened instinctively, and someone spoke before she could. "Drive on. Irene said she doesn't know him."

......

Irene glanced at the thermometer. The fever had subsided.

It seemed the scheduled procedure would not need to be postponed.

Suppressing the headache threatening to flare up, she paused at the turn of the staircase.

Downstairs at the dining table, Sophie Lewis was calmly letting Ethan feed her.

A smile rested on his face, his expression visibly relaxing as he watched her take a few more bites.

Irene frowned without realizing it. Her grip on the handrail tightened, the blood draining from her knuckles. After steadying her breath, she went back downstairs and sat across from them.

"You're awake?"

Sophie hurried to stand, only to be pulled back, a knowing smile playing on her lips.

Acting like the mistress of the house, she called for the servant to bring another set of utensils.

"Ethan had the kitchen make all my favorites. Probably not to your taste, right?"

Irene paused briefly as she took the fork and knife, her peripheral vision catching Ethan's expressionless face.

"It doesn't matter. She's not picky."

Her appetite vanished completely. She picked up a slice of toast, chewed it mechanically, swallowed, then stood and headed out.

Ethan suddenly stopped her. "Wherever you're going, have the driver take you. Sophie wants to use your car."

Irene took a few deep breaths, pulled the keys from her pocket, tossed them onto the table, and left without looking back.

That silver Porsche had been a gift from Ethan.

After five years, she was tired of it too.

A month earlier, Irene's mentor, Caleb Grant had been surprised when he received her application to study in Valemont.

"Ethan agreed to let you go that far? You'll be gone for at least three years. He can accept that? When I tried to persuade you back then, Ethan practically wanted to hold a knife to my throat. I still remember the way he proposed to you in public, eyes red