Chapter 1Fake 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.