I Lost the Memory of the Man I Love after an Accident - Chapter 10

But before he could reach her, someone shoved him back hard.

Vincent, what the [ __ ] are you doing here? Vincent knelt beside her, his face twisted in fury and pain.

You did this.

I didn’t, Vincent.

Please.

You were supposed to stay out of her life.

The flashing red and blue lights outside the wedding venue cast a strange almost surreal glow over the chaos.

Katarina, still in her wedding gown, was being dragged away by police officers.

Her face was stre with tears, her hair undone, her hands trembling, one of them still smeared with Reese’s blood.

“Please, please let me go,” she screamed, thrashing violently as they restrained her.

“I didn’t mean to.

I just Please don’t take me.

Dylan.

Her voice echoed down the street, frantic and cracking.

Dylan.

But Dylan didn’t move.

She stood by the hedge, silent and broken, as the sirens wailed, and the woman she was supposed to marry was forced into the back of a police car.

At the hospital, the hallway outside the emergency room was filled with a heavy, suffocating silence.

Vincent paced restlessly, his wedding suit stained with blood.

Alice sat stiffly beside her mother, both of their faces pale with worry.

Reys’s mom clutched her rosary, murmuring trembling prayers.

Dylan stood on the other side of the corridor, disheveled, panting.

She hadn’t even changed out of her suit.

She hadn’t spoken a word since arriving, but her presence was unbearable.

Alice stood up suddenly.

Her heels clicked sharply against the sterile floor.

She stormed toward her brother and without warning slapped him hard across the face.

Dylan barely flinched.

This is your fault.

Alice spat, eyes burning with tears.

You changed your mind at the last minute.

You knew how unstable Katarina was, and you let this happen anyway.

Why? I didn’t know she would do this, Dylan murmured, her voice low, almost inaudible.

I was confused when I saw Ree today.

I realized I love her.

Vincent stopped pacing.

He turned slowly.

“You want to?” he said coldly.

“I said I love her,” Dylan repeated.

“I never stopped.

I only went with Katarina because I was scared.

Because I thought it was easier.

I buried my feelings.

And now Vincent’s voice was hollow.

Now you want her back.

After you pushed her away over and over again.

After you called her desperate.

After you humiliated her when all she wanted was your love.” Dylan didn’t answer.

You think just because I married her? Your pride got hurt? Vincent stepped closer, fury in his eyes.

Because your rival won her in the end, you think you can just steal her back? She married you to forgive me, Dylan said quietly.

I know she did, and it doesn’t matter what you say.

Her heart still belongs to me.

That was it.

Vincent’s fist came flying harder this time.

Dylan stumbled, blood trickling from her nose.

She swung back.

The two of them crashed into each other, fists and fury flying until nurses and security rushed to break them apart.

Stop it, Alice screamed.

This isn’t about you, too.

It’s about her.

The door to the emergency room opened.

Everyone froze.

The doctor stepped out, removing her gloves.

She’s stable, she said calmly.

The knife missed any major organs.

She’ll make a full recovery with rest.

Vincent nearly collapsed from relief, his knees buckling as he grabbed the wall.

Reys’s mother broke into sobs, clinging tightly to Alice.

Dylan tried to approach, but Alice blocked her path.

“I hate you,” she whispered fiercely.

“Don’t ever show your face again.

My best friend doesn’t need an [ __ ] like you haunting her life.” Vincent turned back one last time, his glare seething.

“She’s my wife now.

Stay away from her.” Then they walked into Reese’s room, leaving Dylan alone in the hallway.

Later that night, Katarina sat in a holding cell, her hair tangled, makeup smeared down her cheeks, her white gown now a wrinkled mess.

She had been crying for hours.

Her voice was hoaro from screaming.

But when her phone call finally connected, she didn’t hesitate.

She called Dylan over and over again.

Eventually, Dylan answered.

She bailed her out temporarily, using every last drop of decency she had left.

When Katarina stepped into the car beside her, silence hung in the air like smoke.

Katarina looked at her, eyes glassy and red rimmed.

“What happened?” she whispered, voice barely audible.

“Why did you leave me at the altar, Dylan?” “Why? Why did everything fall apart like this?” Dylan kept her hands on the wheel, staring straight ahead.

I realized something, she said quietly.

“What? That I don’t love you.” The words sliced deeper than any knife.

Katarina stared at her, breath caught in her throat.

What? What are you talking about? She choked.

You were going to marry me.

You said you loved me.

You promised.

I lied to myself, Dylan said.

And I hurt everyone because of it, especially Ree.

I kept pushing her away.

But the truth is, it was always her.

Katarina’s eyes filled with tears again.

She clutched her stomach.

But what about the baby? She whispered, voice cracking.

What about her baby? Dylan turned to her slowly, her expression devoid of warmth.

That baby, I aborted it.

Katarina blinked.

Everything inside her shattered.

No, she whispered.

No, Dylan.

You don’t mean that.

I do, Dylan said.

You can’t force a future that was never real.

I remember the first time I saw Dylan.

It wasn’t something grand or magical.

She didn’t even look at me twice.

But to me, it felt like the world tilted.

Alice had dragged me into her house that day, babbling about her annoying older brother who wouldn’t stop hogging the TV.

“You’ll meet Dylan later,” she said casually.

“Ignore him.

He thinks he’s too cool for us.” I laughed, not knowing that mere seconds later, my heart would decide to betray me.

She came down the stairs with that lazy gate, eyes glued to her phone, her voice deeper, different.

She looked up once and didn’t even register me.

Just gave Alice a half-hearted nod and walked past.

That was it.

No sparks, no introductions, not even eye contact.

But somehow I fell hard.

What followed was pathetic.

I started going over to Alice’s more often, pretending it was for girl time.

But really, I was hoping to catch a glimpse of him.

I followed him around at school, watched from behind lockers, even memorized his class schedule.

God, I was that girl.

I sent him letters, stupid cheesy ones, and signed, but painfully obvious.

He read them and laughed with his friends, mocking the words aloud.

Your smile is brighter than the stars, he snorted.

Who the hell writes this crap? She must be desperate.

I was nearby.

I heard that.

Still, I kept trying.

One time I baked cookies.

Classic chocolate chip.

Left them on his desk with a note.

He brought them to school and passed them around.

Another gift from my creepy fan, he joked.

It should have made me stop, but I didn’t.

And then came Katarina.

She was everything I wasn’t.

Tall, elegant, poised.

She walked beside Dylan like she belonged there.

And the worst part, she made sure I saw it.

She kissed Dylan in front of me.

He smiled at her the way I always wished he’d smile at me.

Once I caught them in the hallway.

I tried to look away.