Ficorpio
Chapter 1
Adrian Sterling had lost his memory.
He had forgotten everything about me.
His mind was trapped in the year when he had loved his ex-wife most. No matter how many people tried to explain the truth to him, he remained convinced that I was the other woman who had forced my way between them.
Dr. Malcolm Reed said amnesia could sometimes be treated, and I clung to that sliver of hope until my fingers bled.
For three years, Adrian and I divorced and remarried, again and again.
We became the biggest joke in Manhattan’s elite circles. People even placed bets—on when I would finally give up, and on when Adrian would finally remember.
Then news of our eighth divorce hit every trending-news platform again.
Reporters stormed into the law firm with cameras on their shoulders. They shoved microphones into my face, their voices bright with provocation.
“Attorney Bennett, as a divorce lawyer, how does it feel to have been divorced eight times yourself?”
The firm’s sign had been smashed. The commendation banners clients had once given me were trampled underfoot.
Before I could answer, Richard Hale fired me on the spot, citing the damage I had done to the profession’s reputation.
“Clara Bennett,” he said, “take some advice. Have a little dignity. Stop clinging to CEO Sterling.”
I tightened my grip around my trembling hands, and suddenly, I felt exhausted.
They were right.
This time, I really should give up.
…
It was still pouring when I left the law firm.
Carrying the box from my desk, I drifted home in a daze.
The front door had not been closed properly. From inside came bursts of laughter—Adrian’s and Vanessa Cross’s.
I looked around the room.
The place was a wreck. Clothes lay scattered everywhere. The carpet was stained. On the television in the living room, the news was still replaying the spectacle from the firm.
When Adrian saw me come in, the smile on his face faded a little.
“You actually have the nerve to come back.”
The cutting words reached me with perfect clarity.
Vanessa laughed and kissed the corner of Adrian’s mouth.
“Enough. You two were together for seven years, after all. Leave her a little dignity.”
Then she lifted her head and arched a brow at me, her smile slow and suggestive.
“Adrian missed me, so I came over. You don’t mind, do you?”
Rainwater slid from my hair and dripped onto the floor.
A wave of exhaustion rose through my chest.
I did not look again at the two naked bodies on the sofa. I turned and walked toward the bedroom.
But the moment I pushed the door open, I froze.
“Oh, right,” Adrian said behind me. “I forgot to tell you.”
“This house is under my mother’s name too. It has nothing to do with you. I threw all your things out.”
“They should still be by the trash cans on the curb.”
Chapter 2
Adrian’s mouth curved as he leaned against the wall and watched me.
As if seeing me humiliated made him happy.
Pain clenched sharply in my chest.
My soaked blouse clung to me, leaving my whole body chilled.
“You bought today’s trending coverage too, didn’t you?” I asked.
“We’re already divorced. Why did you have to cost me my job?”
In answer, Adrian raised a hand and knocked the box out of my arms.
Files and documents spilled across the floor.
Nearly seven years of my work scattered at his feet.
“You’ve been pestering me for three years. Was that not enough?” His voice was cold. “Even if there really was something between us before, I have amnesia now.”
“I forgot you. That means you’re worth nothing to me.”
The words tore open an old wound all over again.
Three years ago, he had suddenly lost his memory and forgotten everything about me.
The day before it happened, he had been holding my hand, excitedly decorating the nursery, wondering whether our baby would be a boy or a girl.
Then he forgot.
And the only person he remembered was Vanessa.
“You only forgot!” Rage and unwillingness nearly drove me mad. “You have no idea what Vanessa did back then—”
Adrian’s face darkened. He seized my wrist hard and shoved me out the door.
The rain drenched me all over again.
“I don’t care what Vanessa did,” he said. “All I remember is that I love her. That’s enough.”
I opened my mouth, but suddenly every question, every grievance, felt meaningless.
Adrian looked away from me in irritation. Then he yanked the wedding ring from his finger.
The edge of the diamond ring cut his hand.
He threw the ring at my feet. As he slammed the door, he left me with one final sentence.
“Stop debasing yourself by begging me to marry you again.”
I stood there for a long time.
At last, I crouched down and picked up the wedding ring.
Adrian had designed it himself before our wedding.
He had worn it for seven years and had never taken it off once.
Beside the curbside trash cans were the shattered remains of our wedding portrait, the scarf he had knitted for me with his own hands, and every photo album that held the memories of us.
My phone suddenly rang.
I looked at the name on the screen and answered.
Eleanor Sterling’s excited voice came through the line.
“Clara, I just got Adrian’s medical exam report. The doctor says his memory is beginning to loosen.”
“As long as he continues treatment, there’s an eighty percent chance he can recover!”
My fingers went white around the phone.
The word okay rose to my lips, but I could not say it.
In the end, I only whispered, “Mom, no more treatment. If he forgot, let him forget.”
The next day, I went to the Sterling family estate.
I placed the eight divorce decrees in front of Eleanor.
“Mom, Adrian and I are divorced again.”
Eleanor looked at me with pity in her eyes and let out a long sigh.
“Adrian wronged you. You two were so happy once.”
“But this time really is different. I contacted several doctors. They all said the chance of recovery is high.”
Chapter 3
Eleanor pushed a business card toward me, hope shining in her eyes.
“I’m getting old. All I want is for you two to live well together.”
“He’s remembered quite a few things recently…”
Before she could finish persuading me, I interrupted.
“But he has never remembered anything about me.”
I lowered my head, avoiding the pity in her gaze.
Silence settled between us until she spoke again.
“If you leave, and Adrian remembers you but can’t find you, he’ll go mad.”
For three years, every time Adrian and I divorced, Eleanor had said the same thing.
And because of that sentence, I had softened again and again.
I had remarried him again and again.
Before I could answer, a sound came from the foyer.
Adrian walked in. The moment he saw me, his brows pulled tight.
“Clara Bennett. You came running to my mother to complain again?”
“I already threw you out, and you’re still haunting me. Can’t you survive without me?”
Eleanor’s chest heaved with anger. She shot to her feet, raised her hand, and slapped Adrian hard across the face.
“Have you had enough? How far are you going to push Clara?”
“Without her, you would have been dead long ago.”
I sat on the sofa, my fists clenched tight.
Despite myself, I thought back to seven years ago.
Adrian’s marriage to Vanessa had been misery.
Vanessa had enjoyed every ounce of his love, while outside their marriage, she had already found another man.
When his wife’s affair came to light, Adrian became a laughingstock among the spoiled heirs overnight.
When he brought people with him to confront her, Vanessa had already disappeared after taking ten million dollars.
After that, Adrian developed depression.
When he tried to jump into the river and end his life, I was the one who saved him.
“So what?” Adrian stared stubbornly at Eleanor. “Isn’t money all she wants?”
“I don’t care what Vanessa did before. I love her. I can’t love anyone else.”
“And I will never regret that.”
In an instant, it was as if all the strength had been drained from Eleanor’s body.
She turned back to me, apology written all over her face.
Adrian rubbed his temple, then lifted his chin as if making a reluctant concession.
“Clara Bennett, if you want to remarry me, fine. We’ll divorce again anyway. You’ll be the one embarrassed, not me.”
“If you can’t live without me, then let’s go to the civil registry office right now.”
“This is your eighth divorce, isn’t it?”
I tugged faintly at the corner of my mouth.
No matter how hard I tried, I could no longer match the man in front of me with the Adrian Sterling in my memories.
“I came today to make things clear with Mom.”
“You’re free, Adrian Sterling.”
Adrian froze.
The hand hanging at his side trembled almost imperceptibly.
He stared at me in astonishment, then quickly returned to normal.
“Playing hard to get now? Too bad. It doesn’t work on me.”