Chapter 89 Stay in Love with Me
Rage surged through Alexander like a tidal wave.
What the hell was Caroline playing at?
Using that sickeningly intimate term of endearment, putting on this pitiful display of dependence—was she trying to manipulate him? To win his sympathy?
"Shut up!" His voice cut through the air like a blade. He grabbed her roughly and hurled her back onto the bed.
Caroline hit the mattress hard, the impact knocking the wind out of her. Her vision blurred. A low moan escaped her throat.
She looked up at him, confused and terrified, finally seeing the undisguised disgust on his face.
Those eyes—the ones she remembered as warm and loving—were now cold as steel, cutting straight through her.
Tears flooded her vision. She instinctively shrank back.
He was disgusted with her.
He must know. He must know those men had seen her naked, touched her.
He thought she was dirty now. Unworthy of his love.
Alexander stared down at her pitiful expression, and his fury only burned hotter. He leaned in, his hand shooting out to wrap around her slender throat.
"Who gave you permission to call me that? You think you have the right?"
"I'm... I'm sorry..." Caroline choked out the words, tears streaming down her face and landing on the back of his hand. The warmth made his fingers twitch.
She sobbed, struggling to speak. "I was wrong... darling, I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have disobeyed you. I shouldn't have snuck out... I didn't think I'd be kidnapped, that those terrible things would happen... Please forgive me. I'll be good from now on. I won't run away again... Please don't be angry. Please don't leave me..."
Even as she spoke, she reached for him again, trying to wrap her arms around him.
Alexander froze for a split second, his grip loosening slightly.
What the hell was she babbling about?
Could it be... she wasn't acting? Was she faking amnesia? Pretending to be mentally unstable?
Did she think she could just erase everything? Act like none of it happened?
"Enough! Stop playing games with me!" He shoved her hands away and pushed her back down onto the bed. "You think this pathetic act is going to make me feel sorry for you?"
Caroline lost her balance completely and fell hard against the mattress, her shoulder slamming into the bed frame. She sobbed uncontrollably, her breathing ragged, tears blurring her vision.
"I'm not pretending... darling, you have to believe me. If... if you think I'm dirty now, if you think I've been defiled..."
Her voice splintered, sharp and fragile as shattered glass.
Suddenly, she scrambled off the bed, her knees threatening to give way as she stumbled toward the bathroom.
"Then I'll wash it off! I'll scrub this body clean—the body they touched!"
"What the hell are you doing?!" Alexander snapped, momentarily stunned before he stormed after her.
He found Caroline in the bathroom, tearing at her thin nightgown with trembling hands. She turned on the shower, and ice-cold water cascaded down over her. She flinched violently but didn't stop. She began scrubbing her skin furiously, her pale flesh turning an angry red.
"Stop! Have you lost your mind?!" Alexander lunged forward, shutting off the water and grabbing her wrists to stop her from hurting herself further. He slammed her against the cold tile wall.
"Listen to me, Caroline. Don't think for a second that playing crazy or hurting yourself is going to make me forgive you. What you did—I will never forgive you for it. Never."
Caroline trembled. But all she seemed to hear was that he wouldn't forgive her.
She looked up at him, her eyes filled with despair.
Then, slowly, she slid down the wall until she was kneeling at his feet. She clutched his trouser leg with both hands, her tear-streaked face tilted up toward him as she begged.
"I was wrong. I know I was wrong... You can punish me however you want. Hit me, yell at me, lock me up—anything. Just please... don't leave me. And don't... don't stop loving me..."
Alexander stood frozen.
Don't stop loving her?
He stared down at the woman kneeling at his feet—disheveled, broken, looking up at him with that desperate, adoring gaze. It was like a bolt of lightning had split through his rage, shattering his confusion and tearing open memories he'd buried long ago.
Images flooded his mind.
That look in her eyes—he knew it. It was the same look Caroline used to give him years ago, back when she followed him everywhere, when her eyes and heart belonged only to him. Not the fear, numbness, and resignation of recent years. Not the cold hatred she'd shown him lately.
Could it be... she wasn't acting?
He crouched down and grabbed her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes.
"Caroline, do you even know what you're saying? Look at me. Answer me!"
Her chin ached where he gripped it. Caroline was shaking all over, tears falling faster now. But she forced herself to focus, to look into those eyes—the face she both loved and feared.
Then, word by word, she repeated, "I know... I know what I'm saying... Alexander, I can't live without you. I can't lose you..."
And then, stubbornly, she leaned forward and pressed her lips toward his.
Alexander jerked his head to the side. Her kiss landed on his jaw instead.
The wet warmth of it made his entire body go rigid.
Something was very wrong.
The Caroline in front of him was incoherent, her memory seemingly stuck in a time when their relationship hadn't yet fallen apart. Her eyes brimmed with dependence and love. Even her fear was rooted in something completely different.
Her memory... was fractured.
She thought she was facing a husband who loved her. She blamed strangers for her injuries. She thought he was angry because she'd been violated by someone else?
Alexander pressed his hand over her mouth as she tried to kiss him again. He grabbed a towel and roughly wrapped it around her soaked, trembling body.
Then he roared toward the bathroom door. "Where the hell is the doctor?! Get in here! Now!"
A few hours later, a medical report was placed on Alexander's desk.
The family doctor and Liam stood before him, both sweating, neither daring to speak first.
Alexander slowly raised his eyes, his gaze landing on the brain CT scan.
Even someone with no medical training could see it—the dark shadow interrupting the gray-white tissue.
"Speak."
Alexander's unnaturally calm voice made the doctor flinch.
He swallowed hard and forced himself to begin. "Mr. Hamilton, Mrs. Hamilton sustained head trauma from external impact. The capillaries in her brain ruptured, causing internal bleeding. The hematoma is putting pressure on the surrounding neural tissue, which has resulted in... severe memory distortion."
He paused, stealing a glance at Alexander's expression before continuing carefully.
"And based on Mrs. Hamilton's statements... she believes you are her loving husband—and that you love her just as deeply. She thinks you've had a happy marriage all these years. As for the injuries on her body... uh, the scars..."