Chapter 68 Chapter Sixty-seven
ARA
The very day Thayne arrived from the hospital, Madison made a grand appearance, unannounced.
I didn't even know he would be discharged so soon, but it seemed like Madison knew, because she did something I didn't understand.
I was at the lobby, waiting, and when the door slid open, Madison and Thayne walked in together.
Her hand was wrapped around his waist, as if he needed her support to walk, which I knew wasn't true.
Thayne was the strongest man I knew. Why was she here?
The look of confusion on his escorts’ face mirrored mine. What was going on?
They both walked past me, Madison smiling at him and whispering in his ear.
I stood frozen in the middle of the marble floor, mouth open, chest cracking wide open.
Madison’s hand slid lower on his back, almost to his waistband, her fingers spreading possessively.
She leaned in and whispered something in his ear again.
He nodded.
Actually nodded. Then they disappeared into the hallway that led to the master bedroom.
The elevator doors closed behind the escorts.
I was alone.
The silence was so loud it hurt. My legs gave out.
Thayne and Madison? I didn't understand it.
I sank to the cold floor, right there in the middle of the lobby, and wrapped my arms around myself like that could hold the pieces together.
He didn’t know me anymore. He hadn't even looked at me or acknowledged my presence.
And Madison, that snake, had walked him straight past me like I was nothing.
Like I’d never been anything.
I don’t know how long I sat there. It could have been minutes, or hours.
Until the sound of heels on marble made me look up.
It was Madison, and she was alone this time.
Her dress was tight, black, and perfect. She stopped in front of me, looking down with that same soft, fake-sad smile.
“Oh, Ara,” she said, voice dripping with pity. “You look awful.”
I couldn’t speak. I could only glare at her.
She crouched in front of me, slowly and elegantly until we were eye level.
“He doesn’t remember you,” she whispered, like it was a secret just for us. “The doctors say the amnesia might be permanent. You know, he thinks I’m his girlfriend. I visited the hospital regularly, showed him our pictures together. He likes me now.”
She reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, the way Thayne used to.
My skin crawled.
“You should probably leave,” she said gently. “Before he sees you and gets upset. He’s been through so much. He doesn't remember you, and I've contacted one of the world's most popular tech gurus to clear out pictures of you two from the web. Even Zuckerberg and Musk would have to dig through the ends of the earth to get them back.” Her voice was soft, the kind of soft that hides a sharp knife.
She lifted her phone, turned the screen toward me so I could see the little loading wheel spinning.
“Every photo of you and Thayne together, every video, every post, every tag, every cloud backup… gone. Wiped. Whoever had any photo or video of you two, it's all gone.” She said, smiling victoriously.
My stomach dropped. She was erasing me, not just from his mind, but from the entire internet.
From history.
I stared at her, my throat dry, fists clenched so tight my nails cut into my palms.
“You can’t do that,” I whispered.
Madison’s smile didn’t waver.
“I already did,” she said gently. “By tonight, there won’t be a single picture left that proves you ever existed in his life. No proof you were ever his fiancée. No proof you ever lived here. Nothing.”
She stepped closer, close enough that I could smell her perfume.
“So when he wakes up tomorrow and asks who the sad girl in the hoodie is… there won’t be anything to show him.”
She reached out and brushed an invisible speck from my shoulder, the way someone might comfort a stray dog.
“It’s kinder this way, Ara. For everyone. Thayne is not for you. Let that sink into your head.”
Then she walked past me, heels clicking, her coat flaring behind her like wings.
Leaving me standing in the middle of the lobby that used to be ours.
I looked down at my hands. They were still stained with Thayne’s dried blood from that night.
And soon even that would be the only proof I had left that any of this was real.
I lifted my head. My voice didn’t shake when I spoke, even though no one was there to hear it.
“Erase every photo you want, Madison.”
I walked toward the bedroom.
“I’m not a picture.”
“And I’m not going anywhere.”
My middle finger still had his ring on it. It was my only weapon against Madison.
I was just about to press the button on the door panel when the door opened to reveal a shirtless Thayne.
I gasped in surprise.
Thayne narrowed his eyes.
“You again. Madison told me you would pack your legs and leave with your sisters. Why are you still here?” He asked, scowling at me.
“She didn't… Thayne, you don't remember me? Ara?” I asked in a shaky voice.
“Pack your things and leave. You're a distraction, and Madison says you irritate her.”
I flinched at the unkind words. I lifted my finger and flashed the ring so he could see it, but Madison's voice from behind me interrupted me.
She grabbed my arm from behind and pulled.
“Get her out of here.” Thayne ordered.
“No, I need to show you -”
“You heard him. Now, out.” She called for Thayne's escorts to lead me out, and that was when I noticed the devastating fact I missed earlier.
Thayne changed his escorts. I didn't know any of the men standing in the hallway.
This meant I was alone. I had nobody on my side, nobody who would help me convince Thayne, to help him remember.
I knew it was all Madison's doing. She would never tire of playing her sick games until she got what she wanted.
There was something else about this new game she was playing, and I would dig it out.