Chapter 1My husband hypnotized me to forget him and our son—so he could take his side chick on some "healing retreat" bullshit in the woods.
Three months. That's how long I lived free.
When he finally came back to restore my memories, everyone thought I was fine.
But my husband and son? They knew better.
At first, they thought I was messing with them. Testing them. Playing games for attention.
Until they saw my posts.
[HELP!! my memories came back but i feel nothing for my husband/kid??? wtf do i do]
[living together feels so weird. i can't relate to who i used to be at all. someone pls help]
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I was dead asleep when—click—someone flipped the light on, flooding my face with brightness.
I jolted awake to find this tall figure standing by the door, and after blinking a few times I realized—oh shit, it's my husband, Soren Blackwell.
His voice came out totally flat, zero emotion. "Why're you in the guest room?"
I sat up, pulling the blanket around me, forcing out this weird laugh. "My memory just came back, so... I don't know, it's weird. I just need time."
"Can we do separate rooms for now? Just till I get used to everything again?"
He nodded like he couldn't care less. "Yeah, whatever."
Then, like it just occurred to him: "You didn't call me today."
I stared at him, confused. "What? I didn't need to talk to you about anything. Why would I call?"
His whole vibe turned ice-cold. "Funny. You used to blow up my phone like fifty times if I wasn't home by ten."
Remembering how I used to act made me want to crawl under a rock and die. "Yeah... sorry about that. I won't do it again."
Looking back at those memories is like stumbling across my middle school Tumblr after starting my career—absolutely mortifying.
The reason I got hypnotized in the first place? I'd called Soren's patient at midnight.
I'd screamed at Iris Sutton, calling her a homewrecker, saying if she was really depressed she should pop some pills instead of throwing herself naked at other women's husbands.
Iris had sobbed her eyes out. Soren grabbed the phone, his voice steady as always, told me he'd be right home.
I'd felt like I'd won, thinking I'd driven away the other woman.
Instead, Soren came home and said it like it was no big deal: "I'm taking Iris to a cabin in the Cascades for three months. She needs nature therapy—it's part of her treatment."
Our son Jasper's hand shot up like he was in class. "Ooh! Can I go? I wanna go too! Iris gave me candy last time—she's so cool! Please?"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Wait—what? What about Hawaii? Our anniversary trip? Soren, I've been planning this for weeks. You said we'd go during Jasper's spring break!"
"We're not going. Iris is in bad shape. She needs me there."
"Yes! I wanna go to the mountains! Mom's trips are so boring anyway. Iris is way more fun!"
Of course I wasn't having it. We fought—I lost it completely. He shoved me away, irritated. Jasper headbutted me aside.
After the sharp pain, dark red blood pooled beneath me.
I lost the baby I'd spent six months trying to conceive.
And to keep me from "causing more problems," he forcibly hypnotized me with his sketchy experimental technique, made me forget everything, and dumped me at Seattle Grace Hospital.
I promised over and over I'd never randomly blow up his phone again.
But Soren's face just got darker. After this long silence, he said coldly, like he was 100% sure: "Avery, you're being petty."
He turned to walk out, throwing one last jab: "Go ahead and sulk if you want. Just don't forget to clean my study."
I opened my mouth, then closed it. Pulling out my phone, I yawned and started googling housekeepers in Portland.
I can't do this anymore. I seriously can't.
I gotta hand it to my old self, though.
Every morning I'd drag myself out of bed at six to carefully prep breakfast for Jasper with his million allergies, then at seven make a whole separate meal for Soren with his sensitive stomach.
After scarfing down whatever I could grab, I'd deep-clean the entire house because Soren's this total neat freak who loses it over any mess. His study especially—had to be spotless.
Today I tried doing that routine again and nearly passed out. When I was organizing his study files, I just shoved things wherever—probably why he came to bitch at me about it.
I dozed off, but like five minutes later, someone started pounding on the door.
"Get UP! I need breakfast! I'm gonna be late!"
Jasper was yelling outside, totally pissed.
Ugh. Breakfast time. Thank God I'd ordered ahead.
"I ordered food. It's coming. Just wait."
Then I went back to sleep, barely hearing Jasper kick the door.
"Dad should've left you at the hospital! Iris actually made me breakfast! You don't do ANYTHING!"
Next time I woke up, Soren was literally yanking me out of bed.
"What the HELL did you give Jasper?!"
Chapter 2
I stared at him, totally lost.
He dragged me over to Jasper, who was covered in red welts all over, struggling to breathe.
"I don't care if you're pissed at me—you don't hurt our kid! He almost DIED, Avery! He couldn't breathe!"
The ambulance sped off toward the ER, sirens wailing. I chased after them, trying to explain. "I swear I don't know what happened! I gave them his allergen list—I went through EVERYTHING with them! They promised they'd be careful! I didn't think—"
Soren shot me this disgusted look. "Bullshit. You fired the nutritionists I hired. You took over all his meals. Jasper said one nice thing about Iris and you couldn't stand it, so you pulled this."
"No! Soren, that's not—I didn't—"
"Save it. I'm already regretting bringing your memory back."
He cut me off, ice-cold.
I'd controlled Jasper's diet because of his condition—he's super prone to allergies, so I couldn't let him eat just anything.
Those nutritionists quit on their own after like a week because they thought the restrictions were too annoying.
Whatever. Explaining would take forever anyway. Once the new housekeeper got here, none of this would be my problem anymore.
The doctor said it was a honey allergy. Since he hadn't eaten much, it wasn't too bad.
One IV and he'd be fine.
I called the restaurant to ask. The manager said it was this complimentary item, clearly marked as an allergen with a big warning label.
Jasper must've eaten it because he was curious.
He's always been obsessed with sweets, but he's allergic to honey and chocolate. The old me had been a total hardass about monitoring him to prevent crap like this. Now that I'd stopped paying attention, something happened.
I was about to turn and tell Soren when someone suddenly grabbed my legs—soft and warm.
"Avery!"
I crouched down, surprised, smiling as I hugged her back.
"Maisie! Hey! What're you doing here?"
Maisie was my little buddy from when I'd lost my memory.
During those months at the hospital, I'd been a total mess, like someone had ripped a hole in my chest.
I'd just drifted through each day in this fog, like I was drowning, not knowing what to do with myself.
I didn't even understand basic stuff anymore.
Maisie had treated me like a kindergartener, teaching me things, staying with me, making that cold-ass hospital feel less lonely.
"She fell off the swing, hit her head. Just getting her checked out to be safe."
Maisie's uncle, Dane Ashford, spoke up. When he saw me, his whole face lit up.
"Oh no, are you okay, sweetie? Does it hurt?" I gently touched Maisie's head, worried.
She wrapped her little arms around me, pressing her cheek to mine. "I'm okay! I just missed you SO much!"
"I missed you too, baby."
I glanced up and saw Dane watching us with this soft smile, though there was worry in his eyes too. "What about you? Why're you here? Is everything okay?"
"I'm fine. My son had an allergic reaction. He's okay though."
"Oh, thank god." He let out this huge breath, then caught himself. "Wait—that came out wrong. I mean, is your son alright?"
I laughed—he looked so embarrassed. "He's fine. Just needs some meds."
He was about to say something else when Soren's angry voice cut through.
"Avery—"
Chapter 3
I turned around. His eyes moved from Dane to me, and my smile seemed to piss him off even more. He frowned. "Jasper's crying."
I rushed over to check on Jasper. The swelling on his face had gone down halfway, but the allergic reaction was probably making him miserable—his eyes were full of tears.
He pointed at Maisie through his tears, looking upset and worked up. "Who's she?"
"This is Maisie, sweetie. She was with me when I was at the hospital."
"Hey, stop crying, okay? You're just gonna make your face itch more. Come on, you're the big brother—be nice to her."
I don't know what part of that set Jasper off.
He started absolutely wailing. "She's NOT my sister! She's NOT! GO AWAY! I don't want you here anymore!"
He'd never liked me—telling me to leave wasn't new. Seeing him get so worked up that blood was backing up in his IV, I quickly left.
Didn't see him crying even harder after I walked out.
After upping my rate a bunch of times, I finally found a housekeeper willing to come try it out.
I gave them a heads-up: "I found a housekeeper who can come try out today. You'll both be home, so you can meet her."
After that hospital thing, Jasper's attitude had gotten weirdly better. He said quietly, "Mom... but... you always said you didn't want strangers in the house..."
It'd been forever since he'd called me "Mom." It was always "you" or "hey," or he'd straight-up call me Avery. Yelling at him only made him more of a brat.
He used to say he hated having me as a mom, that Iris was a million times better.
I got this weird chill for a second.
Pushing aside that uncomfortable feeling, I forced a laugh. "It'll make things easier."
Soren pushed up his glasses. "Sure. Taking a break is probably smart." He let out this mean little laugh. "Just don't fire her the second she gets here because you think she's hitting on me."
Bringing up my embarrassing past made me cringe so hard. "I won't."
That's the thing about being obsessed with your relationship—that housekeeper had just forgotten to grab clothes before leaving the bathroom, and I'd flipped out claiming she was trying to seduce him, kicking her out that same night.
Thank god losing and getting back my memory knocked that crazy thinking out of me. Otherwise who knows how much more I'd humiliate myself.
I was about to promise I absolutely wouldn't when the doorbell rang. Jasper glanced at me carefully, then weirdly took the initiative to answer it.
Before I could wonder what was up, Iris walked right in.
