He asked me to take a memory suppressant—to erase 20 years of love—just so he could become another woman’s hero. And even knowing it would sever my ability to love him forever, I still played along and saw the performance through to the end.
Alexander Smith set the bottle on the marble countertop, his fingers drumming nervously.
“I know you don’t like Sophia, and I understand you feel angry over my engagement to her. But try to understand.
“You’re the heir to the McKenzie family, the youngest investment director at Dominion Exchange. No one could ever force you into a political marriage. Sophia’s different. Her father’s a power-hungry senator. If I don’t protect her, she’ll be used as a political pawn.
“I can’t bear to watch another tragedy unfold. You understand that, don’t you?”
I stared at him, my gray-blue eyes devoid of emotion.
I couldn’t pinpoint when the man who once promised to love me for eternity began feeling sympathy for Sophia Watson.
He was fully aware of how she’d ripped through everything that was mine.
That she shorted my portfolio—a financial loss of 20 million dollars—during her tenure at my company.
That she clawed away every opportunity of mine since business school.
Internships she’d snatched, client leads rerouted, and even him—my fiance.
And still, he chose to protect her.
When I stayed silent, Alexander raked his fingers through his golden-brown hair in frustration. “The drug is gentle—no side effects. Seven days will go by quickly. Once Sophia’s safe, we can start over.
“Emma, trust me—just like you always have.”
However, this drug didn’t erase my memory instantly. Instead, it gradually severed emotional connections until the neural pathways were irrevocably damaged. And stopping the medication wouldn’t fix it—the damaged receptors wouldn’t regenerate, even if I stopped taking it.
I took the pill with a sip from the glass of water on the table.
“If you’ve already bought the engagement ring from Seraphine, there’s no need to keep talking. I just hope you’re ready for the consequences.”
My calm seemed to put him at ease. A flicker of relief passed through his brown eyes.
“Of course. I never act without confidence. Emma, once this is over, I’ll give you the wedding we never had in our last life.”
