WHEN I WAKE up the next day, a small part of me hopes whatever happened yesterday was a nasty nightmare.
I’m not in the hospital. I didn’t lose my memories. I don’t have a fiancé who calls me a monster.
The white walls surrounding me and the scent of bleach negate the first option.
My heartbeat picks up when I search my surroundings for those sinister, terrifying eyes. My entire body kicks into gear, tightening and shuddering for a fight.
He’s not here.
I release a breath. Maybe that part was indeed a nightmare.
“Reina?”
My muscles lock as I turn to my side. Pain explodes in the back of my head and I wince. It’s like a dull ache gripping my entire system.
“Take it easy, Rei.” An older man’s face comes into view as he helps me into a comfortable sitting position.
He’s wearing a dark brown, Italian-cut suit. His short, dark hair is styled to perfection and his sharp green eyes look so much like…Asher.
“You’re Asher’s father?”
“You remember me.” He smiles, and it reaches his eyes. “I was worried when the doctors mentioned amnesia.”
“I still don’t remember. You just look so much like him.”
“I see.” He unbuttons his jacket and sits down on the stool beside me. “I’m Alexander Carson, Asher’s father and your guardian of sorts.”
“My guardian? Aren’t I twenty-one?”
“Almost twenty-one, yes. I was your legal guardian until you turned eighteen, and since you continued to study in Blackwood, I remain your next of kin.”
Oh. Okay.
“Then that should mean Asher and I aren’t engaged.” I couldn’t hold in the smile in my voice even if I tried.
It was a nightmare.
“Yes, you are, Rei.”
My good mood falls like an atomic bomb. “I can’t be engaged to my foster brother.”
He smiles in a reassuring kind of way, like the nurse. “I became your legal guardian your senior year of high school, but you and Asher were engaged long before that. Besides, you never really lived together. Asher has been studying at Oxford for the past three years.”
Oxford. That’s in England. Phew. So he’ll go back there and leave me here in peace.
Problem solved.
I focus back on Asher’s father with newfound interest. Unlike Asher’s, his eyes are a lighter green with a meaner shape. His lips are thinner, too. It’s a profile of a man in power, I don’t know how I know it, but I do.
“You said you became my legal guardian my senior year?”
He passes me a glass of water, and I drink even though I’m not thirsty. “Correct.”
“W-what happened to my parents?” My heartbeat skyrockets and I grip the glass tight as I wait for his reply. Something tells me I won’t like it.
A sheen of sadness covers his features. “Your mother died during childbirth and you lost your father in an accident. Gareth was my best friend and partner. He named me as your guardian in his will.”
Oh.
Pressure builds behind my eyes and a strange sense of grief hits me. It’s not only because of my parents’ deaths, but also because I don’t remember any of it.
How could I forget my own parents?
No.
I have parents. Deep down, I think I do have parents somewhere.
Alexander pats my hand with deep sympathy that touches my heart. His attitude is a million times different from that of his devil son. If it weren’t for the uncanny physical resemblance, I would’ve never linked the two together.
“One step at a time, Rei.” He offers a reassuring look. “We’ve got this.”
A wave of tears assaults me, welling in my eyes.
Those are the words I’ve yearned to hear the most since I woke up with my head wiped clean. I wanted someone to console me and tell me everything will be okay. Instead, I had my freaking fiancé calling me a monster and threaten to break me.
I swallow back the need to cry. “Thank you, Mr. Carson.”
“It’s Uncle Alex to you, or just Alex if you don’t feel the familiarity yet.” He pats my hand once more before standing. “You should freshen up. The police are here for you. Remember, don’t answer anything you don’t feel like answering. I’ve already informed them about your memory loss. They’re well aware your testimony won’t be much, but they’ll try to push anyway.”
I nod slowly.
The nurse from yesterday comes inside, wearing a serene, welcoming expression.
I can’t help searching behind her, expecting the nightmare from yesterday to show up with the intention of harvesting my soul.
Oxford, remember? Our engagement can’t even be real if we’ve lived apart for more than three years. Long-distance relationships aren’t known to work—not that I had any relationship with that psycho.
The nurse, Erika, exchanges some pleasantries with me as she helps me into a wheelchair.
Aside from the pain at the back of my head and my shoulders, my arms are sore and my legs are covered in blue and green bruises as if someone beat me up with the intention of killing me. I can’t stand up on my right leg; the doctor mentioned something about a bad sprain.
After Erika helps me use the toilet, I place both arms on the sink as support and stand up. Pain snaps to my nape and my one good, unsteady leg. I bite my lower lip and remain still, panting, trying to let the agony pass.
I freeze as I stare ahead.
A galaxy of green, blue, and purple bruises cover my cheek, starting near my eye and spanning down to the hollow of my neck.
Still, the face that greets me in the mirror is familiar.
Way too familiar.
I have a slim, tall body like a model. My round breasts are high and perky, and I appear fit as if I work out for a living.
My exotic, blue eyes are so huge it’s scary with all the bruises surrounding them. It’s almost as if whoever beat me was seconds away from clawing my eyes out.
A shiver dances down my spine at the thought.
What could I have done to elicit such strong hatred? Or was I simply a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time?
My strawberry blonde hair reaches my shoulders in waves. Light blondish highlights add a beautiful hue at the tips. It’s greasy and could use a wash, though.
What type of dye did I use to achieve this color?
I’m a natural, bitch.
The voice in the back of my head startles me.
Okay, natural it is.
For long seconds, I continue watching my image in the mirror. If I recognize that face as my own, how come I don’t remember anything about myself? How come I don’t even remember why my face looks like it’s just come out of a battlefield?
My head hurts just thinking about it, so I let Erika wheel me back to the room.
“Do you feel better today?” she asks.
“I’m good, thanks.” Now that Asher the jerk isn’t here, I feel a whole lot better.
The smile she offers me is motherly and warm. “Asher spent the entire night with you and didn’t leave until your guardian came. How sweet is that?”
Not at all.
I’m seriously contemplating asking if they have surveillance cameras so I can see if he did something to me in my sleep.
Paranoid much? Probably, but I don’t trust that asshole. Not at all.
As soon as we’re in the room, we’re greeted by two police officers and an older man wearing a hat.
Alexander takes me from Erika with a polite nod. He maneuvers my chair so he’s behind me and I’m facing the officers.
“Reina,” he says, “This is Detective Daniels.”
The detective appears to be in his mid-forties with a strong bone structure and sharp brown eyes that have been watching me closely since I came in.
He offers his hand, and I take it. “I’m sorry for what happened to you, Miss Ellis.”
“Thank you.”
He doesn’t sit down as he retrieves his notepad. “Do you recall where you were the night between last Friday and Saturday?”
I try to concentrate, but I find a blank page. Sighing, I shake my head.
“We already asked your friends and classmates. You were last seen at the Black Devils’ Friday night game.”
“Black Devils?” I look between him and Alexander.
The latter smiles. “Black Devils is the name of your college’s football team. You’re the captain of the cheerleading squad.”
Oh. Okay. I’m the captain of some devil cheerleaders. That totally makes sense.
No wonder I’ve been beaten up.
Also, cheerleading in college? How cliché can my life get? Kill me now, please.
“Do you remember who assaulted you, Miss Ellis?” Detective Daniels asks.
“No. I…I remember nothing prior to waking up in the hospital.”
“Think carefully.” The detective leans closer until his face is a few inches away from mine. “Your testimony could help solve an important case that occurred at the same time as your assault.”
“Detective.” Alexander’s voice hardens with a warning. “I told you Reina is suffering from retrograde amnesia. Don’t push her.”
“No.” I stop Alexander with a hand on his arm. “I want to help. What happened that night, detective?”
He narrows his eyes the same way Asher did when he seemed to not believe me. It’s like they think I’m building a persona or something.
“There was a fire in a cottage not far from where you were found. We retrieved ashes of human remains that were scattered all over the place. We’re investigating a homicide, Miss Ellis. Do you remember anything about what happened? Maybe you were there?”
My heart roars so loud as I focus on his words.
Human remains.
A homicide.
Oh, God.
“I-I don’t know.” Tears well in my eyes. “I really don’t—”
“Don’t answer that, Reina.” Alexander cuts off my jumbled words.
Detective Daniels pulls out a plastic bag containing a dainty bracelet. Then he retrieves a picture of me wearing a black and white cheerleading outfit with the same bracelet around my wrist. “We found this bracelet inside the burnt cottage, and we believe you do know something.”
“I…I don’t.” Or at least I don’t remember.
“That’s only circumstantial evidence, detective. No judge will give you a warrant for that.” Alexander speaks with a coolness that intimidates me even though he’s not addressing me. “Return with more concrete evidence. Until then, you will not harass my client or I’ll file a restraining order.”
Client?
“Very well.” The detective stands up, looking at me with a hardened expression. “We’ll be seeing each other again, Miss Ellis.”
He waves the bracelet in front of my face, and something inside me snaps.
That’s mine. He has no right to take what’s mine.
Before I can voice my thoughts, the detective saunters out of the room with the officers following close behind him.
“Never mind him, Reina.” Alexander faces me. “You’re safe.”
“He… Does he suspect me of murder?”
“He only has circumstantial evidence, and it means nothing.” He clutches my shoulder. “My entire firm will defend you until the last breath we have. Don’t worry about it.”
A firm.
His confidant aura and legal talk make sense. He’s a lawyer and owns a firm. That explains the expensive-looking hospital.
He said he’ll defend me, but does it really matter if I’m an actual suspect and had a hand in hurting someone?
Dr. Anderson comes in with some interns, saying he needs to do a few more tests before my discharge.
Alexander spends most of the time talking on the phone about clients and lawsuits.
We stay a few more hours in the hospital, where I go through multiple tests and cognitive activities. While we wait for the results, Erika helps me shower and put on new clothes Alexander brought.
Seeming satisfied with my results, Dr. Anderson signs my discharge papers.
Alexander wheels my chair out toward a black, shiny Mercedes in front of which a driver wearing a sharp suit holds the door open.
A German car and a driver—of course. I should’ve pieced it all together.
Something glints in the distance as we stop near the door. I shield my eyes with the back of my hand. A slender figure stands near the corner, wearing a black hoodie and holding something shiny. I could almost swear the glint is directed at me. I squint to get a better view. The figure and the glint disappear altogether.
I crane my head, searching the corner.
Nothing.
It’s like they were never there.
Please tell me that wasn’t a play of my imagination.
“What is it, Reina?” Alexander follows my field of vision.
“N-nothing.” My brain is probably still trying to keep up with the outside world.
Alexander and the driver help me into the backseat. The wheelchair goes in the trunk. Then we hit the road.
My ‘guardian’ busies himself with his phone as I watch the city’s tall buildings through the half-lowered window. The colors are so vibrant and… alive. So why do I feel anything but?
Chaos and the unknown gnaw at my chest like the prickling of tiny needles.
I lean over, letting the wind blow my hair back. It would’ve felt nice under different circumstances.
I close the window and slowly face Alexander. “Where are we going?”
He lifts his head from his phone. “Since you’re still weak, you should move back in with me until you’re stronger.”
“Where did I used to live?”
“In an apartment close to the center of town.” He pauses. “There’s been a break-in during your stay in the hospital.”
“A b-break-in? Why?”
“We don’t know. Nothing was stolen.”
My brows furrow. “How come the detective didn’t mention that? It could be motive, right?”
“I didn’t report it.” His face is hard. “You don’t want the police to sniff around you, Reina.”
“But why? Aren’t I the victim in this?”
“You are, but you’re also Gareth Ellis’ only heir. Our families don’t like attention from anyone, police included.”
There’s something he’s not telling me, but what?
His face breaks into a smile and I recognize that he shut off the subject altogether. “My house is your house. And don’t worry, Blackwood College isn’t far.”
“Okay.” I would rather stay with someone who clearly cares about my well-being than being alone anyway.
“Are you ready to go home, Reina?”
Does it matter when I don’t even know where my home is?
