Just as Dominic and I were about to finalize our divorce, he got into a car accident and lost his memory. His mind is stuck eight years in the past. Eight years ago—back when he loved me most. 1 Dominic stared at me with a heavy, searching gaze. "Elena," he asked, his voice low, "tell me the truth. Do you want this divorce because you’ve fallen for someone else?" I let out a tired sigh. Faced with his interrogation, I could only meet him with silence. He had forgotten. The one who had spent every waking hour scheming for a divorce wasn't me. The one who had fallen for someone else wasn't me either. It was him. But the Dominic sitting in that hospital bed couldn't believe he was capable of such a thing. To him, the idea was a bad joke, a piece of nonsensical fiction. He sat there, eyes shifting from Caleb—his best friend standing beside me—back to me. He let out a cold, cynical laugh. "Are you two in this together? Is this some kind of twisted prank to mess with my head?" The accident had caused a hematoma that pressed against his nerves, resulting in transient retrograde amnesia. He had lost every single memory of the last eight years. Eight years ago, we had just graduated. I had stayed by his side while he built his startup from nothing, sharing every hardship. Back then, his world began and ended with me. If you had told the Dominic of eight years ago that he would eventually love another woman, he wouldn't have believed you. To be honest, the Elena of eight years ago wouldn't have believed it either. 2 Seraphina Brooks, who was sitting on the edge of his bed with tear-streaked cheeks, reached out to grab his hand. Dominic flinched away as if she were a hot coal. His brow furrowed with a suppressed, icy impatience. "Stay away from me," he snapped, his tone freezing. Seraphina froze. She sat there as the tears began to roll down her face, one by one. Even in her state of "damsel in distress," she didn't forget to look up and shoot me a venomous glare, as if I were the mastermind behind her misery. Watching this scene, I felt a hysterical urge to laugh, but the sound wouldn't come. Dominic and I truly had nothing left to say to one another. I stood at the far end of the room, keeping a physical distance from his bed. My face was a mask of cold indifference. "The divorce settlement was drafted by your own legal team, Dominic. Your lead counsel weighed every word. You reviewed it yourself before the accident." I paused, letting out a breath. "Once you’re discharged, you can ask anyone around you. You’ll see that I’m not the one lying." He looked up, his eyes locking onto mine. He looked like he had been physically struck by my coldness. For a moment, his face showed a rare flicker of vulnerability—a mixture of confusion and a silent, pleading desperation. He had spent the last several years being the golden boy of the tech world, arrogant and certain of everything. I hadn't seen him look this lost in a very long time. But my heart was a stagnant pool of dead water. No amount of confusion on his part could ripple it now. I turned and walked out. 3 Dominic’s accident happened about a month ago, but he only woke up a few days ago. The board at Vance Tech had kept the news under a total media blackout, terrified of what it would do to the stock price. I suspect that if he hadn't experienced "complications"—namely, forgetting the last decade—his chief of staff wouldn't have called me at all. He crashed the night I finally agreed to the divorce. It wasn't because he was distraught over losing me. It was because it was raining in the city, and he was speeding back from a conference in San Francisco, trying to make it home before midnight for Seraphina’s birthday. He hit a semi-truck that had blown a red light. Tragic, really. Almost poetic. His memory had reverted to a point before Seraphina Brooks even existed in his world. In his mind, there was only me. Dominic had always been a brilliant man—calculated, composed, and efficient. Even in this bizarre situation, he managed to grasp the basic facts of his current life with startling speed. But there was one thing he refused to accept. He could not believe he would stop loving me, choose Seraphina, and demand a divorce. His inner circle tried to convince him. They showed him photos, messages, and details of his life with Seraphina as "evidence." He didn't believe a word of it. He insisted on seeing me. That was why they called. They brought me into that hospital room like a piece of evidence in a cold case, a witness to a dead relationship. They wanted me to prove to him that it wasn't eight years ago anymore. In the eight years he had deleted, we hadn't been "happily ever after." We had lived through a slow-motion car crash of resentment and hatred. How he chose to process that was his problem, not mine. 4 I didn't see Dominic again until two weeks later. He must have snuck out of the hospital. He was leaning against my front door, still wearing his blue hospital scrubs under a thin jacket, his head wrapped in bandages. He looked disheveled and exhausted, sitting right there on the hallway floor. I hadn't seen him look this unpolished in years. He was the "Man of the Year," the titan of A-City, a man who lived in bespoke suits with creases sharp enough to cut paper. The older and more powerful he got, the more he hid his edge behind a mask of stoic professionalism. Everyone called him "Mr. Vance" with a bow in their voice. The last time I’d seen him look this raw was probably the day we graduated. He heard my footsteps and snapped his head up. I had just picked up our son, Leo, from school. Dominic’s eyes moved from me to the little boy at my side. His expression shifted instantly, his gaze becoming intensely focused. He was a smart man; he knew the timeline. Even without the memories, he had been told the facts: He was a success. We were married. He had cheated. I had asked for the divorce. I held Leo’s hand and stopped several feet away from him. My voice was like ice. "What are you doing here?" He swallowed hard. "He’s... he’s our son?" Leo wasn't close to him. He stood by my leg, looking at Dominic with a quiet, detached curiosity. Then he looked up at me. "Mom, who is that?" I rubbed Leo’s head gently. "Go inside and start your homework, honey." Leo looked at me, then back at the man on the floor. He gave a small nod and walked past him into the apartment, his backpack bouncing against his small frame. 5 Dominic’s eyes followed the boy until the door closed. Then he turned back to me, his brow knitted in a permanent frown. "I don’t understand, Elena. Since college, my only dream was to marry you and have a family. Now, that dream has come true, but..." He trailed off. I knew what he was going to say. Why was the reality so different from the dream? He had married me, yes. But I treated him like a stranger, and our son looked at him like he was a ghost. He tried to force himself to remember, but the injury wouldn't allow it. He winced, clutching his temples as if his head were about to explode. When he looked up again, his eyes were full of a profound, hollow sadness—like a stray dog that had been kicked one too many times. "Elena, I really don't get it," he said, his voice cracking with pain. "How did we get to this point?" "I read the settlement. They said I dictated it myself. It’s cruel. It’s heartless. Why would I ever want to do that to you?" Why? Because the Dominic of eight years ago wanted nothing more than to marry me. But the Dominic of eight months ago wanted nothing more than to marry Seraphina Brooks. He wanted to give her the "official" title he thought she deserved. 6 Our story was a cliché. We were college sweethearts. He was the student body president, a star. I remember him filming a campus PSA about "Self-Respect and Values." He was playing the role of a "jerk" who breaks a girl's heart. I had wandered onto the set, not realizing they were filming. I saw a girl clinging to his arm, sobbing, "I'm pregnant, you can't leave me, please!" He had looked down at her with a scowl and said, "Go to the clinic and handle it. Stop bothering me." I was livid. I walked right up to him and smashed my half-eaten ice cream cone into his face. Then I grabbed the girl’s hand and said, "Honey, a guy like this isn't worth a single tear." The girl stopped crying and stared at me in shock. Dominic wiped the chocolate ice cream from his eyes, looking at me with a half-smirk. He turned to the bewildered film crew hiding in the bushes and said, "See? That’s the kind of values we’re trying to promote." I turned bright red and apologized a thousand times. He was a good sport about it, waving it off with a laugh. Later, I took him to dinner to make up for it. After that, we were inseparable. Dominic was a perfect boyfriend back then. We had so many sweet memories. Even when we fought, he was always the first to apologize. I remember a hike we took during our junior year. We got into a huge argument over something stupid. He was so frustrated he just stomped ahead, leaving me behind. I couldn't keep up and eventually lost sight of him. But after a few hundred yards, I found him leaning against a crooked oak tree, waiting. He was still fuming, but he muttered, "I'm still mad at you. I just didn't want you to get lost." When we graduated, most couples broke up. He held my hand and promised me we would make it. My parents had found me a great job back in our hometown, and my degree was from a top-tier school, but I chose to stay with him in the city. The early days of his startup were brutal. We lived in a basement apartment that never saw the sun. We shared one order of takeout noodles for dinner. He would always push the few pieces of chicken and greens to my side of the container. He told me he would never let me suffer forever. And he kept that promise. Everything got better. And then, he met Seraphina. Time changes hearts more easily than it changes seasons. The last eight years happened so fast I couldn't keep up. And eventually, he stopped waiting for me to catch up. 7 I had heard Seraphina’s name long before I ever saw her face. If I recall correctly, it was seven years ago. He had just closed his Series A funding. He came home one night, buzzing with energy, telling me he’d hired someone extraordinary. "She’s an Ivy League grad, Elena. Brilliant, driven, and she sees the vision. She had offers from three Fortune 500 companies, but she chose us." He was so genuinely happy. "She’s going to be my right hand." I had smiled and watched him, saying nothing. I wondered if he’d forgotten that when he first started, everyone called him a fraud, and I was the one who kept him going. I never doubted him, even when he doubted himself. I never could have guessed that Seraphina Brooks would become a shadow over our lives for so long, a nightmare I couldn't wake up from. 8 My first encounter with her was also seven years ago. Vance Tech didn't have its own building yet; they were crammed into a small office in a tech park. It was a night of torrential rain, and I went to pick him up. Caleb, his co-founder, saw me and laughed. "Hey, Elena! Hang on a sec, Dominic’s in a meeting." I nodded and looked through the glass of the conference room. There were about six people inside. Dominic was at the whiteboard, covered in complex formulas. The air was thick with tension; they were arguing over a technical algorithm. Then I saw Seraphina. She stood up, walked to the board with total composure, and added a single line to the equation. The room went dead silent. In that silence, I saw Dominic look down at her, and they shared a small, knowing smile. The chemistry was effortless. When Dominic came out and saw me, he looked surprised and happy. He looked at the rain lashing against the window. "It’s a monsoon out there. Why did you come out in this?" I didn't answer him. My gaze moved past his shoulder to Seraphina. She was standing there, a polite smile on her lips, letting me look her over while she coolly observed me. It was that sixth sense only a woman has. Her presence was an invasion. I smiled back, keeping it subtle. "Hi. I'm Elena, Dominic’s girlfriend." She smiled. "Seraphina. Dominic’s assistant." Our first battle was fought in total silence. Dominic stood there, oblivious, worrying about me being out in the rain. He asked me what I wanted for dinner. Back then, I felt like I had won. 9 Of course, looking back, none of it mattered. Over the years, Seraphina and I traded blows. I won some; I lost some. Now, the tally doesn't matter. It just feels pathetic. I reached a point where I was just... tired. I didn't want to be the third person in their drama anymore. So, I asked for the divorce. The day I told him was a completely ordinary evening. I was standing on the balcony, watching the sunset fade behind the skyscrapers. I sent him a text: Dominic, let’s get a divorce. He didn't reply for hours. He was busy. At midnight, he sent back a single character: ? I stared at the screen and didn't reply. He called me later that night. We shared a heavy, mutual silence. He didn't ask why. He didn't try to save us. After a long time, he just said, "I’ll have the lawyers draft the papers." I said "Okay" and hung up. For some reason, I thought about college. Back then, we had an 11 PM curfew at the dorms, and we would stay on the phone for hours, talking until the sun came up as if we’d never run out of things to say. Now, we had nothing. Shortly after that call, he crashed while rushing to Seraphina’s party. It felt like the universe was finally stepping in to settle the score. 10 I think he was surprised I finally asked. We had been entangled in this mess for so long. In the moment I said it, I think he felt a sense of relief. Dominic is a man burdened by a twisted sense of responsibility. Even though he loved Seraphina, he would never have been the one to walk away first. The day I decided was nothing special. Leo’s teacher had called me to the school because he’d gotten into a fight. When I arrived, Leo was standing against the wall next to a larger boy. The other boy’s father was already there—a massive, aggressive man. He sneered at me as I walked in. "How do you raise a kid like this? Look what he did to my son..." Leo looked up at me. He was covered in dirt and grass, his face smudged. He looked at me with a stubborn, silent defiance. I knelt down and started wiping the dirt from his cheek with my thumb. "Why were you fighting?" I whispered. He pressed his lips together. The other father, seeing me ignore him, stepped forward and shoved my shoulder. I wasn't prepared. I pitched forward, nearly hitting the floor. Before I could even steady myself, Leo let out a low, animal-like growl and lunged at the man, biting his leg with everything he had. The office descended into chaos. By the time we left, the streetlights were on. We were both a mess. I held his small hand and pointed at a shop window. "Do you want some ice cream?" He looked at his shoes and nodded. Kids are easy to soothe. By the time we got to the car, he seemed better. But right before we reached the apartment, he looked at me. "Mom? Where’s Dad?" His eyes were red. He rarely cried; he was a stubborn kid. But seeing me get pushed by that man had broken him. He had burst into tears in the office after the bite. I knew what he was thinking. He wished his dad was there. If his dad had been there, his mom wouldn't have been bullied, she wouldn't have had to apologize to a jerk, and the teacher wouldn't have yelled at her. I gripped the steering wheel, unable to find the words. In the six years Leo had been alive, Dominic hadn't spent a cumulative two weeks actually being a father. In that moment, I felt a bone-deep exhaustion. I realized it was over. I looked at the Dominic sitting in my living room—the one who thought it was still eight years ago. "There are a thousand ways for you to find out the truth, Dominic. You just don't want to believe it." 11 Dominic stayed at my door. The autumn air was turning cold. He wasn't fully recovered, and he had lost weight. He sat there in his thin scrubs, stubborn and unmoving. I watched him through the window. It was almost funny. How many times had I waited outside his office like that? His secretary would eventually come out and "kindly" ask me to leave. "Mrs. Vance, he’s in a meeting, and you don't have an appointment." Eventually, I had to call his office just to schedule a time to talk to my own husband. And then, I stopped calling altogether. I looked away and left him out there in the cold. After I finished helping Leo with his homework, I looked again. He had collapsed on the steps. He’d fainted. I sighed and called his assistant. Not out of pity, but because I didn't want a dead billionaire on my doorstep. That would be a legal nightmare. The ambulance came. Not long after they left, Dominic’s mother showed up. I could lock Dominic and Seraphina out, but I couldn't ignore his mother. Back when he was starting out, I was the "perfect" daughter-in-law. Dominic wasn't making much money then. Every time we visited her, she would hold my hand and look at me with such warmth. "You're a good girl, Elena. You've suffered with him. Our family is lucky to have you. If he ever treats you wrong, you come to me." But once Vance Tech became a billion-dollar empire, she changed. She told me with a thin, polite smile, "Elena, it’s not that I don't care for you. It’s just that... Seraphina is a better fit for Dominic’s new life. Surely you understand a mother’s concern?" Seraphina. Yes, she had the pedigree, the Ivy League degree, and the look. Birds of a feather. I didn't blame his mother for her coldness, but I couldn't sit and have tea with her either. She was uncomfortable too. She skipped the small talk. "Elena, you're a good person. I know the divorce is in progress. But Dominic’s condition... the doctors say he shouldn't be stressed. He only recognizes you right now." "He fainted again. I want you to look after him when he’s discharged. It won't be forever. Just until he gets his memories back." Her "request" was perfectly polished, right up until the threat at the end. "You know," she added, "we weren't planning on fighting you for custody of Leo." Of course they weren't. She was waiting for Seraphina to give her a "better" grandchild with "better" genes. But now, she was using Leo to keep me in line. I clenched my jaw so hard it ached. These years had taught me one thing: no matter how much you're hurting, you smile. So I smiled. "I'll take care of him."
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