After He Lost His Memory, He Loved Me Chapter 05
Evelyn’s frown lines deepened.
“Son, why did you chase her off? She came here as a guest. She brought gifts.”
Leo’s voice was sharp.
“You know exactly who she is.”
He turned to Sophia.
“And you. Why are you acting so cozy with her? Do you have a screw loose?”
His mom and sister both shut up at the same time.
They looked almost guilty.
These Halls clearly had a secret about Chloe.
My gossip senses were tingling like crazy.
Leo turned to me.
“Bella. Do you want to stay here?”
“Huh?”
“If you don’t want to stay, we’ll go home.”
Uh.
Pressure.
“Well… maybe… maybe we can stay for dinner? It’s a long drive…”
Both Hall women visibly relaxed.
Later, I was on the balcony grinding coffee and enjoying the breeze.
I thought about earlier, watching the whole Hall family being all cozy with Chloe.
My eyes got blurry all of a sudden.
I tried to wipe them so I wouldn’t drip tears into my coffee, but I’d forgotten I had coffee grounds on my hands.
I just ended up smearing brown gunk all over my face.
Through the blur, I saw Leo walking toward me.
“I’m sorry.”
First cold. Then hot.
The tall man crouched down in front of me and started wiping the coffee-and-mascara sludge off my face with a damp towel.
God, this was embarrassing.
Especially in front of my crush.
Something hot burned its way out of my chest and ran down my cheeks in rivers.
The words were right there on the tip of my tongue.
“I’m sorry, I—”
“What were you going to say?”
He stood up suddenly and tossed the dirty towel aside.
“That you want a divorce again?!”
Why “again”?
“T—”
Before I could finish, he pulled me into his arms and pressed his lips to my ear.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened before the amnesia. But I promise it won’t happen again.”
“Please don’t divorce me.”
“I didn’t say divorce—”
“I can see it in your eyes.”
He held me by the shoulders and looked at me seriously.
“I can see it loud and clear. You’re sad. You’re sorry. And you’re sad because you want to run away from this place. You’re sorry because you’re running away from me. Isn’t that right?”
“I… I’m not that sad…”
“Still pretending in front of me.”
He stroked my hair gently, his eyes full of affection.
“Starting today, let me protect you. Okay?”
Honestly?
My thoughts were pretty simple.
The Halls had money, yeah, but they didn’t respect me.
I was willing to stick around for Leo’s sake.
But if it came down to it, I could leave.
It’s not like I couldn’t survive a divorce.
But Leo had surprised me today.
He was looking better and better.
“You look especially handsome today.”
He smiled.
His starry eyes were breathtaking.
His bright teeth sparkled like a ray of light from somewhere I couldn’t name, and that light broke through the walls around my heart.
Next thing I knew, his wet lips were right there, like dew-touched poppies, opening and closing with deadly temptation.
He caught me.
I didn’t even know when I fell under his control.
His hot fingers roamed all over me.
In the haze, I felt like a trembling harp, and every time he touched me, I made whatever sound he wanted to hear.
I was completely lost.
“Y-you’re a virgin, right, you big softie?”
“Me?”
“Yeah…”
No.
Something wasn’t right.
How was he so good at this if he’d never done it before?
I forced my neck back and stared at the guy with the heavy breathing and dazed eyes.
“You’re lying! You’ve done this before!”
He ignored me completely.
Picked me up like I weighed nothing and set me on top of the entryway cabinet.
We were right there.
A hair’s breadth away.
I suddenly yelped, “Wait! I left the… you know… at your mom’s!”
Before I finished talking, a high heel fell off the shoe shelf above us, followed by a few familiar little gold boxes.
They were already open.
“OH COME ON. Why are there some in the shoe shelf too?”
Leo just laughed at my fury.
He wrapped his legs around me and bit my earlobe.
“Careful. Don’t fall.”
What. The. Hell.
If I were watching this, I’d give him a round of applause and say “well played.”
Being the one in it was different.
I got to experience being knocked around like a flower in the rain.
I was sobbing.
“I can’t believe after all my years of wisdom, I’m gonna go out like this…”
“Shh. You’re not going anywhere.”
“Waaaah—”
Morning.
I woke up all fuzzy.
A warm towel pressed against my face, gently wiping my cheeks and neck.
I opened my eyes.
Leo was holding the towel, eyes soft as silk.
“Wake up, sweetheart.”
“What time is it?”
“Almost ten. Dr. Ellis is here.
He wants to talk to you.”
I jumped up and got ready.
Downstairs, Dr. Ellis was sitting on the couch.
“Morning, Dr. Ellis.”
“Morning, Bella.”
The hot guy smiled and showed all eight teeth, perfectly straight.
I sat down, and he leaned in closer.
“So? How’s Leo doing lately?”
“Pretty good.”
Actually, more than good. He was my dream hottie.
“Since treatment has started, I need to know about his daily behavior. Why don’t you give me a few highlights?”
I scratched my nose.
“Honestly? Maybe we should just stop treatment.”
“Stop?”
“Yeah. I mean, aside from forgetting our past, everything else is fine. He handles work and daily stuff perfectly well…”
I knew it was a little selfish.
But he was finally warming up to me. If I just tried a little harder with his family, this could be a real thing, right?
Finn gave me a long look.
I laughed awkwardly and changed the subject.
“Hey, Dr. Ellis, do you know Chloe?”
If they were all friends, maybe their social circles overlapped.
His expression flickered.
“Chloe? We grew up together. But she went abroad to study pretty early. She came back and got into investment banking. Other than that, I don’t know much.”
“So how were things between her and Leo?”
“Huh?”
He seemed caught off guard.
“Uh… I think their parents talked about an arranged marriage when they were kids? But that was a long time ago.”
He realized he’d said too much.
No matter how much I pried after that, he wouldn’t talk about Chloe.
I finally gave up and thanked him.
“Thanks for coming, Dr. Ellis.”
“Please.
Call me Finn.”
He packed up his things and added, “Oh, by the way. If you think everything’s fine, we can end treatment.”
“We don’t need to observe a little longer?”
“Bella, this isn’t just my idea.”
He left.
The words sat with me all day.