After I lost my memory, the first thing my husband did was take down all our wedding photos from the walls.
Then he brought his mistress home, letting her live the life of Mrs. Harding.
He even lied to me, telling me I was just the housekeeper.
They flirted right in front of me, doing things only a married couple should.
But they had no idea I’d already regained my memory.
I watched everything they did, silently.
A bowl of hot porridge crashed to the floor.
The steaming contents and ceramic shards splattered everywhere.
“Ah!”
Chloe Miller, standing across from me, shrieked, instantly bringing Alex Harding rushing down from upstairs.
“What happened?”
Chloe immediately threw herself into Alex’s arms, looking utterly distraught.
“She can’t even hold a bowl properly, she burned my leg!”
Alex looked down at Chloe’s leg, then frowned as he glared at me.
“You’re so useless, you can’t even manage this one simple thing…”
But he froze when he saw the blood oozing from my leg, where the ceramic shards had cut me.
“Are are you okay?”
I swallowed the lump of bitterness in my throat, struggling to push out two words.
“I’m fine.”
Alex sighed, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes. “Wait here, I’ll get the first-aid kit.”
Just as Alex was about to leave, Chloe suddenly swayed, a delicate stumble.
Alex immediately caught her, his eyes filled with concern.
“Alex, I think I twisted my ankle. Can you take me to the hospital, please?”
Alex looked conflicted for a moment.
Chloe’s brow furrowed slightly, and her lips pouted. She pleaded with him in a sweet, coaxing voice.
“I got burned by that hot porridge; it would be awful if it left a scar!”
“Alright, alright, you’re impossible to say no to. What can I do, you’re my darling little treasure.”
Alex’s eyes were completely filled with adoration for Chloe.
Before, I used to think Mr. Alex and Ms. Chloe were so deeply in love, a couple everyone envied.
But now, this scene pierced my heart with a searing pain.
I was Alex’s wife, for heaven’s sake.
Just a month ago, I’d been in a car accident and lost my memory.
I’d forgotten everything, including Alex.
Yet, because I felt an intense familiarity with Alex, I believed his lies.
“Your name is Evelyn Hart, and you’re our housekeeper here at the Harding estate.”
The day I returned to the Harding estate and put on the housekeeper’s uniform, he led Chloe by the hand, a smile plastered on his face as he told me:
“This is Mrs. Harding.”
After I respectfully addressed Chloe as “Mrs. Harding,” they seemed to confirm my complete amnesia.
Coupled with the doctor’s prognosis that my memory was unlikely to recover, they became absolutely shameless.
They slept in my room, on my bed, shamelessly indulging in intimacy day and night, using my jewelry, my clotheseverything that originally belonged to me.
The rose garden that once bloomed just for me in the backyard had been completely dug up.
Now, it was Chloe’s private putting green.
The custom-made swing chair I’d personally installed in the front yard? During my amnesia, he’d ordered me to chop it down for firewood.
I waited on them hand and foot, becoming just another prop in their twisted games.
But today, I remembered everything.
As all my memories flooded back like a tidal wave, I couldn’t hold onto the bowl of porridge I was handing to Chloe.
My eyes burned, and tears welled up uncontrollably.
Alex scooped Chloe into his arms and walked out, completely disregarding the wound on my leg.
Chloe turned her head, casting a triumphant, taunting glance my way, flaunting her victory.
Over the past month, I’d experienced this countless times.
And I, like an idiot, had just stared at them with envious eyes.
It wasn’t until their figures completely disappeared from my sight that my tears finally broke free. I couldn’t hold them back any longer.
They streamed down my face like a broken dam, endless and relentless.
Mrs. Davis, our housekeeper, saw me and stopped her work. She came over with a first-aid kit.
She looked at me with a sorrowful expression.
“Evelyn… don’t cry, sweetie. Did it burn you badly? Let me put some ointment on it.”
She soothed me like a child, helping me sit down.
She carefully cleaned the wound on my leg, little by little.
Before, in this house, Mrs. Davis was the only one who truly looked after me, besides Alex. She was one of the people I trusted most.
But now? She’d teamed up with Alex to deceive me.
Every single person in this house, every staff member, had lied to me.
I had lived like a fool in the elaborate lie they’d constructed for me.
Mrs. Davis looked at me, hesitating, as if she wanted to speak but couldn’t.
How I wished she would tell me the truth, so at least one person would be on my side.
But she just sighed, choosing to remain silent.
“You should rest today, I’ll tell Mr. Alex you’re taking the day off!”
“No need, I’ll be fine after a little rest.”
I stood up, my steps a little unsteady, and walked away.
I returned to the small room I now occupied.
This entire wing was for the house staff, without even an en-suite bathroom.
Inside the room, I buried myself under the covers and cried even harder.
To avoid being heard, I deliberately muffled my sobs.
My tears soaked the duvet, but I couldn’t stop crying.
I simply couldn’t believe Alex would do this to me.
It wasn’t until much later, almost half the day gone, that I finally collected myself.
Then, something hit me.
Before my amnesia, the house was filled with our photo albums, big and small, and that huge wedding portrait in the master bedroom. Where had they gone?
I slipped out of my room, sneaking into a utility closet when the other staff weren’t looking.
And just as I suspected, there they were: all the photo albums, big and small, including our wedding portrait.
No wonder I could go anywhere in the house, except this one room, which someone always stopped me from entering.
I thought I had already accepted the fact of Alex’s betrayal.
But seeing these photos, brimming with memories, my eyes welled up again.
I could pick up any one of these pictures and tell you exactly when it was taken.
Alex used to say, “I don’t want this house to look like I’m alone, so I’ve filled it with photos of us.”
I was always a bit camera-shy.
But with his encouragement, I gradually became more confident.
Now, for Chloe, he had hidden all these albums, erasing every trace of my life in this house.
Looking at the wedding photo, where I smiled radiantly in Alex’s arms, I curled my lips in a bitter, sarcastic smile.
After a moment, I grabbed a knife from nearby.
With one swift cut, I slashed through the wedding photo, dividing Alex and me in two.
I kept my half.
I remembered his proposal vow.
He knelt on one knee, kissing my hand.
“I will only ever love Evelyn Hart. I will never cheat or do anything to hurt Evelyn Hart. If I break this promise, I will accept any punishment.”
Very well then.
Alex, I will punish you by taking myself away from you forever.
Soon after I returned to my room, there was a knock on the door.
As I hesitated whether to open it, Alex’s voice drifted in from outside.
“You said she was crying earlier?”
“Yes, Mr. Alex. Evelyn was crying very hard, it even startled me.”
“She didn’t… remember anything, did she? Otherwise, why would a small burn make her cry like that?”
Mrs. Davis didn’t have an answer for Alex.
“Mr. Alex, if I may be so bold, what you’re doing is so unfair to Evelyn. How heartbroken would she be if she ever regained her memory!”
“I know, I’ll think about it. You can go now.”
Then I heard footsteps retreating.
To avoid giving anything away, I quickly composed myself.
I used makeup to conceal the puffiness around my eyes.
Putting on my uniform, I left the room and headed to the kitchen to work.
Passing through the living room, I saw Alex and Chloe were about to apply ointment.
I intended to pretend I hadn’t seen them, but Alex called out to me.
“Wait a second.”
I stopped, but he didn’t say anything else.
He gently took off Chloe’s slipper.
“Come here, baby, I’ll put the medicine on for you.”
Alex opened a bag, took out two tubes of ointment.
He dabbed a little on his fingertip and carefully applied it to Chloe’s wound.
His voice was incredibly tender throughout.
“Does it hurt, baby?”
Chloe didn’t answer him, but Alex gently blew on her wound.
Chloe immediately giggled.
“Haha, that tickles! Stop it, you know I’m ticklish and you’re doing it on purpose!”
This scene stabbed at my heart.
Alex used to treat me like that.
Once, I tripped and scraped my knee during an 800-meter run.
When he saw it, his eyes turned red, and he looked so distressed, almost crying from how much it pained him.
He carefully applied medicine for me.
Seeing me wince, tears immediately fell from his eyes.
He said he never wanted me to suffer even the slightest injury again.
But now, he was mercilessly breaking my heart.
I turned my head away, unwilling to watch the scene unfold.
Finally, they were done.
Alex took two more tubes of the same ointment from the bag.
“I was going to bring these to your room just now, but I didn’t want to disturb you. Here, this one is for the burn, and this one is to prevent scarring.”
But I just took them woodenly, not a single word of his registering with me.
“Maybe you should take a few days off?”
“No need.”
I refused him point-blank.
“It was my fault today, for causing Ms. Chloe’s injury. I don’t deserve to rest.”
With that, I bowed to Chloe, who was sitting on the sofa, to express my apology.
“You don’t need to apologize, it’s just a small injury”
I cut Alex off before he could finish.
“Mr. Alex, this is just my duty.”
He looked at me with an expression I’d never seen beforeone of surprise, and then a hint of troubled thought.
He seemed to notice the swelling around my eyes beneath the makeup.
“Just be more careful next time. I’m going back to my study.”
As soon as Alex left, Chloe stopped me.
“Go get me a glass of hot water.”
Even though I half-guessed what Chloe was up to, I had no choice but to comply.
As I carefully presented the glass of hot water to Chloe, I clearly saw the smirk on her lips.
“Here’s your water, Ms. Chloe.”
Chloe reached out to take it. Just as I was about to release my grip, she let go too.
This time, the entire glass of hot water spilled all over my arm.
“Hiss.”
I sucked in a sharp breath.
The tears I had managed to hold back burst forth again, driven by the searing pain.
“Oh dear, how clumsy of me. You should go take care of that.”
On the surface, she sounded concerned.
But the words she whispered into my ear were laced with malice.
“Does it hurt? Good. Now you’ll use all that medicine!”
I stood there speechless.
In this house now, I was just a housekeeper.
What right did I have to yell at her?
“I’m sorry.”
That apology felt like it drained every ounce of my strength.
Tears still in my eyes, I picked up the fallen glass.
Then I grabbed a mop and cleaned up the mess on the floor.
She watched me the entire time, a smile playing on her lips.
That evening, after I finished cleaning the kitchen, Mrs. Davis asked me to take some hot milk upstairs.
Just as I was about to knock, I heard voices from inside. I froze, my hand still.
“Were you deliberately trying to spill hot water on Evelyn?”
“No! It was her own clumsiness. I didn’t do anything!”
“I saw everything from upstairs, you’re still trying to deny it? That was boiling water! Getting angry and scolding her is one thing, but that was too much!”
“Oh, Alex, I just couldn’t help but be a little mad. I promise I won’t do it again, okay? Don’t be mad at me.”
Chloe’s soft, cooing voice slowly softened Alex’s tone.
“Don’t do that again, alright?”
“Okay, I promise I won’t. Mwah!”
Was this the “never let me get hurt again” he’d spoken of?
A few sweet words from another woman, and he’d forgotten all his promises to me.
“Chloe, the one-month deadline is almost up. We’ve had enough fun, isn’t it time to return Mrs. Harding’s position to its rightful owner?”
My heart clenched violently at his words.
“No! I haven’t had enough yet! Didn’t the doctor say she might never regain her memory?”
“But, the doctor only said ‘might.’ What if Evelyn remembers?”
“Alex, you yourself said you were tired of Evelyn after so many years of marriage. Are you really going back to that boring, bland life after just one month of ‘fun’?”
I stood outside the door, my grip tightening on the mug of milk.
So he had been tired of me all along.
“But”
“No buts, Alex! Didn’t you say you wanted to see me in that lingerie set?”
“If you let me keep playing Mrs. Harding, I’ll wear a different one every day, okay?”
I heard no reply from him.
Only some rustling sounds, then their heavy breathing filled the air.
I stood frozen at the door until a tear fell onto the hand holding the milk, snapping me back to reality.
I think I knew Alex’s answer now.
I went back to my room and started packing.
I couldn’t stand to be here anymore.
My hand brushed against the two tubes of ointment Alex had given me earlier, still in my pocket.
I flung them directly into the trash can.
Once most of my things were packed, I lay down on the bed, wrapping myself tightly in the duvet.
I stared at the ceiling, thinking about so many things.
I didn’t sleep a wink.
The next morning, I went to work as usual, planning to sneak out that night.
Alex was eating breakfast, looking remarkably refreshed and cheerful.
Clearly, he’d been well taken care of last night.
Suddenly, Chloe bounced down the stairs.
She flung herself into Alex’s arms.
“Alex, I’m pregnant!”
Alex’s face lit up with pure joy.
“Really?”
Standing nearby, I saw the pregnancy test stick in Chloe’s hand.
I clearly saw two lines on it.
My heart gave a sudden, painful lurch.
“Of course it’s real! See?”
Chloe held the test stick up to Alex’s face.
The next second, Alex swept Chloe into a princess carry.
He spun her around a few times, cheering excitedly.
“That’s wonderful! I’m going to be a dad!”
I discreetly slipped away.
Right now, I was just an outsider.
I kept telling myself, over and over again, It’s fine. It’s fine.
Alex had always wanted children.
But after all our years of marriage, I hadn’t managed to get pregnant.
Now, it’s fine. He got what he always wanted.
I returned to my room.
But I still couldn’t stop the tears from falling.
I had clearly overestimated myself.
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