I woke up and did what I always do: burrowed straight into the warmth of the man beside me. "Honey, cuddles," I mumbled into his chest. He went completely rigid. "Ms. Hayes, please. Control yourself." My eyes snapped open. Right. I’d forgotten. Julian was deep-fielding a case of amnesia. He had zero memory of the last three years—our entire marriage. Just as the familiar sting of rejection set in, text popped up in my vision, floating over the headboard like a bizarre, augmented-reality feed. 【Yeah right, "control yourself." Dude’s pitching a tent you could camp in.】 【LOL, who’s he kidding? We all know the hoops he jumped through to lock down this marriage.】 【He’s been obsessed with her for years and now he won’t even admit it. Pathetic.】 【God, I hope she teaches this pretentious jerk a lesson.】 I blinked, the live commentary fading, and looked back at Julian. A slow smile spread across my face. "Oh, my mistake," I said, sliding out of bed. "Wrong guy." 1 Julian’s blank expression faltered. "What does that mean?" I walked to the nightstand and pulled out a file. I handed him the top sheet. "Our contract. Signed three years ago. We’re an alliance, a merger of families. Not a marriage." The clauses were painfully clear: No interference in personal lives. Separate finances. Public appearances as required. It all pointed to one fact: we were strangers who happened to share a house. He gripped the paper, his face a mask of cold professionalism. "So, you see," I said, pulling on a robe, "even with the amnesia, it doesn't change anything. We don’t really know each other." I left the room, but the commentary followed me. 【"Don't know each other"? Then what do you call those nights you were screaming his name?】 【Right. Total strangers who just happen to have memorized every inch of each other’s bodies.】 【LMAO, he’s already grabbing his phone. Bet he's searching 'my wife's other husband.'】 The text made my cheeks burn. They weren't wrong. We were a classic case of "started as a business deal, ended in love." Three years ago, I’d just ended things with my high-school sweetheart, Evan. I was cynical and done with love. When my family pushed for an alliance with the Hayes family, I agreed. Julian Hayes was the perfect candidate. He’s the one who suggested the contract, promising he’d never interfere in my life. A marriage of convenience. It worked for me. For the first two years, we were polite roommates. We slept in separate wings of the house. That changed on a business trip to Japan. We were caught in an earthquake. The ceiling of our hotel room collapsed. When I woke up in the hospital, my head was bandaged, and Julian was gripping my hand so hard his knuckles were white. His eyes were shot with red. He just kept whispering, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't protect you." The raw, unfiltered despair in his eyes—like losing me was a possibility his soul couldn't handle—cracked something open in my chest. After that, we started trying. And it turned out, we were incredibly compatible. We fell into a deep, real love. Until two weeks ago, when a truck ran a red light and T-boned his car. Now, he’s back to "Mr. Hayes." But according to this new, magical live commentary, he’d been faking it from the start? Not the love—the indifference. If that was true, he was a hell of an actor. And I couldn’t wait to see what else I didn’t know. 2 We ate breakfast at opposite ends of our twenty-foot dining table, in complete silence. Our housekeeper, Maria, kept shooting us worried looks. As I headed for the door, she hurried over. "Ma'am, you didn't... you're not doing Mr. Hayes's tie today?" I glanced at Julian, who was already standing by the door, his tie perfect. "Looks like he handled it himself." The second the words left my mouth, Julian, without changing his stoic expression, reached up and yanked the knot completely sideways. "It’s... not quite right," he said stiffly. 【HAHAHA, busted! He just shot himself in the foot.】 【Amnesia and he’s still finding excuses to have her touch him. You’re not slick, buddy!】 I met his gaze. He looked away, clearing his throat. "If you wouldn't mind." I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. I walked over, standing close, and started re-doing the knot. He was rigid as a board. This was new, and I was enjoying it. So I did the most logical thing. I finished the tie, stood on my toes, and gave him a quick, soft kiss on the lips. Julian’s pupils dilated. He literally stopped breathing. I leaned in close, whispering in his ear, "Don't overthink it. Just keeping up appearances for the staff." He managed a strangled, "...Right." As I walked out the door, the commentary was exploding. 【Externally: Cool as a cucumber. Internally: Freaking out like a teen on prom night.】 【HE’S SMILING! THE CEO IS GRINNING LIKE AN IDIOT!】 【Eliza: breathes. Julian: She’s a master of seduction.】 【Aaaaand his good mood just earned a clumsy VP his job. Three years married, and he’s still this down bad.】 【Well, he won't be smiling for long. His old rival, Evan, flies in tonight.】 Right on cue, my phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number. 【Eliza, it's me. Can we meet?】 3 Evan and I grew up together. We were the textbook "friends to lovers" story. Everyone assumed we’d get married. Until college, when I started seeing pictures of another girl on his feed. It was a long, slow, agonizing breakup. By the end, I was hollow. After the drama, I got married. He got shipped off to the family’s Singapore branch. I couldn’t imagine what he’d have to say to me now. I blocked the number and focused on work. Julian’s accident had put me weeks behind. At 7:30 PM, a text came through from Julian. 【Maria is asking if you'll be home for dinner.】 The commentary immediately popped up. 【Translation: I’M asking. He’s been staring at his chat window for an hour, debating what to text.】 【He’s been sitting on the living room sofa since he got home. He’s like a golden retriever waiting by the door.】 【Amnesia Julian is somehow even more adorable. This is killing me.】 I had at least three more hours of work. I texted back: 【Working late. Don't wait up for me.】 I paused, then added: 【You should rest. You’re still recovering.】 He didn’t reply. By the time I left the office, it was almost midnight. As I walked out of the lobby, I saw someone leaning against a pillar. Evan. He looked up, his expression complicated. "Eliza. Long time." He gestured to the empty lobby. "Figured you were swamped, so I didn't go up." I had no interest in reminiscing. "What do you want, Evan?" He looked... older. More polished. But his eyes were still locked on me in that same intense way I used to find captivating and now just found exhausting. "I just wanted to talk," he said, his voice rough. 【Don't do it, Eliza! Julian’s face is turning blacker than the sky!】 【Ohhhh shit, he came to pick her up and walked right into this. He’s going to commit a felony!】 【FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!】 4 I turned. Julian was walking toward us, his face dark. He didn't even look at Evan. He just draped his coat over my shoulders and slid a possessive arm around my waist, pulling me against his side. "I’m here to take you home." The air crackled. Neither man spoke, but the veins popping on the backs of their hands said everything. I made my choice. I leaned into Julian, looping my arm through his. "Thanks, honey," I smiled up at him. "Let's go home." Julian’s expression softened almost instantly. The second we were in the car, I pulled away. "You can drive." He glanced at my arm, which was no longer holding his, and his jaw tightened. The computer screen had fried my brain. I yawned, and a single tear squeezed from the corner of my eye. I leaned against the window and was asleep before we hit the highway. ... I woke up in my own bed. Julian was gone. The other side of the bed was cold, the pillows untouched. He hadn’t slept here at all. The commentary helpfully supplied the answer. 【Eliza’s fast asleep, meanwhile Julian’s been brooding in his study all night.】 【He saw the tear track on her face and thought she was crying over Evan. LMAO.】 【He’s 100% convinced they’re getting back together.】 【Seriously, Julian? She’s not divorcing you. Who else is gonna put up with your moody ass?】 Oh, for God's sake. I got up and went downstairs to find him. Maria informed me he’d already left for the office.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "385772", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel