Chapter 1
The night I returned to the family estate, my mind suddenly turned into a blank sheet of paper—every name, every memory reduced to nothing but blurry outlines.
“Donna Selena, please don’t be scared.” The maid’s eyes were red as she held my hand. “You just… forgot some things. Mr. Leon will take care of you.”
I lifted my head and followed where they were looking.
A man stood by the bed. His short blond hair curled slightly at the ends, and when his blue eyes met mine, there was a softness in them.
His face wasn’t unfamiliar, yet my chest tightened anyway. I hesitated. “Are you… my husband?”
He smiled and leaned in, brushing my cheek. “Yes, Amelia.”
My body rejected his touch for reasons I couldn’t explain.
When he saw I didn’t believe him, he showed me a photo of us. In it, I was laughing in an exaggerated, carefree way, while “he” looked at me.
The doubt in my chest didn’t fade—because the expression in that photo didn’t look like something he would ever wear.
Right now, the way he looked at me was tender, almost devoted. Not impatient like the man in the picture unless he was an unbelievably good actor.
Fatigue pressed down on me until my eyelids felt heavy. I dozed off for a while, and when I woke up, I was about to head to the bathroom for a quick shower—only to hear a low, hushed conversation coming from the living room.
“Leon, my dearest brother,”
It was a stranger’s voice, laced with the kind of confidence that came from being used to charming and deceiving.
“Do me a favor—pretend to be Selena’s man for a while. She won’t notice. A few days ago I had my private doctor mix something into her medicine. For this period, her memories won’t trigger, and she won’t get suspicious about any of that ‘familiar feeling.’ Once you take the family seat and become Don, I’ll be your most loyal right hand, following you until I die.”
Leon’s voice was colder, steadier. “Gaius, she’ll remember one day. When that day comes, how do you plan to face her fury?”
“Relax.” Gaius sounded like he chuckled—careless, unbothered. “If it really comes to that, I’ll just talk some nice words to her. Selena loves me. She won’t leave me.”
Leon went quiet for two seconds. When he spoke again, there was finally a hint of mockery in his tone:
“You just want to use this chance to fool around with Flora, don’t you?”
“Of course you know me.” Gaius didn’t avoid it—he sounded almost righteous. “But obviously, I love Selena more. We’ve been together for years; it’s normal to get bored. For me, this is just catching my breath, going out to find some fun. I’ll keep Selena by your side first—you’re my brother. I trust you.”
My body went tight in an instant.
I pretended I hadn’t heard a thing. Quietly, I slipped off my shoes and tiptoed back, trying to retreat into the bedroom before they noticed.
But before I reached the door, I ran straight into Leon.
“Awake?” His brows lifted slightly. His gaze dropped to my bare feet, but there was no scolding in his tone—only a tension he didn’t hide well. “Why are you walking around barefoot? The floor’s carpeted, but you never know—broken glass, a small stone…”
He strode over, reached out, and lifted me up. In one smooth motion, he set me down on the sofa.
The leather still held warmth. He sat beside me, his eyes locked on my face as if he’d pinned me in place.
“Anywhere else hurting?”
I shook my head.
He raised his hand and gently tucked my messy hair behind my ear. His fingertips brushed my earlobes—too practiced, too familiar.
The next second, he leaned down and pressed a feather-light kiss to my forehead.
I froze. I hadn’t expected him to do that at all.
Because from what I’d just heard, he was my husband’s brother.
But right then, there was something in his eyes—dark and scorching—like it could swallow me whole.
He even looked like he was about to kiss me again.
I turned my head on instinct to avoid him. He didn’t seem to mind. His fingertips skimmed my cheek, gentle enough to make my skin prickle with unease.
“It’s okay,” he murmured, his voice close enough to feel like breath against my ear. “If you don’t remember me anymore… we can take it slow.”
At that moment, a sharp emotion surged up inside me: maybe Gaius was wrong. Leon… might really betray his own brother.
And maybe I didn’t want to go back to the past—back to accepting a man who had already betrayed me.
