Chapter 1

Chapter One: Someone You Loved

The first thing Nora Hayes remembered after waking up was a man's voice telling her not to trust him.

“Do not trust me,” the man said quietly.

Nora opened her eyes.

White ceiling.

White walls.

A faint beeping sound somewhere beside her.

The smell of antiseptic filled the room.

For several seconds, she could not move. Her body felt heavy, as though she had been asleep for a hundred years.

Then she turned her head.

A man was sitting beside her bed.

He looked exhausted.

His dark hair was slightly untidy, and there were shadows beneath his eyes. He was wearing a black shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, and one hand rested against the edge of the chair.

He was watching her.

Not like a doctor.

Not like a stranger.

Like someone who had been waiting for her.

Nora swallowed.

“Who are you?” she asked.

The man's expression changed.

Something passed through his eyes so quickly that Nora almost missed it.

Pain.

Then relief.

He stood slowly.

“My name is Lucas Reed,” he said.

Nora stared at him.

She searched her mind for the name.

Nothing.

“I do not know you,” she said.

Lucas looked down for a moment.

“I know.”

Nora frowned.

“What happened to me?”

“You were in an accident.”

“What kind of accident?”

“A car accident.”

Nora tried to remember.

There was nothing.

She remembered leaving her apartment.

She remembered having coffee that morning.

She remembered calling her mother.

After that, there was only darkness.

She looked at Lucas again.

“Why are you here?”

Lucas pulled the chair closer but did not sit.

“Your mother called me.”

“Why?”

He hesitated.

“Because she thought you might need someone.”

Nora frowned.

“My mother knows you?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

Lucas looked toward the window.

“That is complicated.”

Nora stared at him.

“I do not like complicated answers.”

“I know.”

Something about the way he said it unsettled her.

“You keep saying that.”

Lucas finally sat down.

“You used to say it whenever I avoided a question.”

Nora's eyes narrowed.

“What do you mean, used to?”

Lucas did not answer.

She looked around the room.

A bouquet of white flowers stood on the table beside her.

There was a card attached.

Nora reached for it.

The handwriting was familiar.

Her mother's.

My darling Nora,

When you wake up, do not be frightened. Everything will make sense soon.

Nora read the sentence twice.

“Where is my mother?” she asked.

“She went home to rest,” Lucas replied.

“How long have I been here?”

Lucas went still.

Nora noticed.

“How long?” she repeated.

“Three weeks.”

Her fingers tightened around the card.

“Three weeks?”

“Yes.”

Nora looked at the ceiling.

Three weeks.

That explained the weakness in her body.

The strange dryness in her mouth.

The heaviness behind her eyes.

She looked at Lucas again.

“Why do I not remember the accident?”

“The doctors said that may happen.”

“Will I remember?”

“They do not know.”

Nora looked away.

She tried again.

She remembered her apartment.

She remembered work.

She remembered her mother calling her.

She remembered her best friend, Maya.

She remembered everything.

At least she thought she did.

Then she noticed the date on the hospital monitor.

September 18.

Her stomach tightened.

“No,” she whispered.

Lucas looked at her.

“What is it?”

“What year is it?”

Lucas did not answer.

Nora looked at him.

“What year is it?”

“2026,” Lucas said.

Nora stared at him.

“No.”

Lucas remained silent.

“No,” Nora repeated. “That is not right.”

“It is.”

“My birthday was last month.”

“Yes.”

“I am twenty-six.”

“Yes.”

She looked at the date again.

Then she counted backward.

Her mind stopped.

There was something missing.

Not a day.

Not a week.

Months.

Nora looked at Lucas.

“What month was it when I had the accident?”

“September.”

“What month was it before that?”

“September.”

She stared at him.

“That does not make sense.”

Lucas leaned forward.

“Nora.”

“What happened to August?”

“You were in the accident in September.”

“No. I mean last August.”

Lucas said nothing.

Nora's breathing became faster.

“What happened to last year?”

Lucas's expression changed.

“Nora, you need to calm down.”

“Do not tell me to calm down.”

She pushed herself upright.

Pain shot through her head.

She winced and grabbed her forehead.

Lucas immediately stood.

“Do not get up.”

“I am fine.”

“You are not fine.”

“Then tell me what happened.”

Lucas looked at her.

“You lost a year.”

Nora stopped.

The room seemed to become completely silent.

“What?”

“The doctors believe the trauma affected your memory,” Lucas said carefully.

“What year?”

Lucas swallowed.

“The year before your accident.”

Nora stared at him.

One year.

Gone.

She closed her eyes.

Images tried to appear.

A street.

A restaurant.

Someone laughing.

A man's hand holding hers.

Then everything disappeared.

She opened her eyes.

“Did I know you during that year?”

Lucas looked at her.

“Yes.”

“How well?”

His silence frightened her more than his answer could have.

“How well?” Nora asked again.

Lucas sat down.

“You knew me very well.”

Nora shook her head.

“I would remember you.”

“I know.”

“Then why do I not?”

“I do not know.”

“You are lying.”

Lucas looked at her.

“I am not.”

“You knew I had memory loss before I asked.”

“Yes.”

“You knew my mother.”

“Yes.”

“You know things about me.”

“Yes.”

“And you are sitting here like you are waiting for me to remember something.”

Lucas looked down.

“I am waiting for you to remember me.”

Nora stared at him.

“Were we friends?”

“No.”

“Did we work together?”

“No.”

“Were you my doctor?”

“No.”

Nora hesitated.

Then she asked the question that had been forming in her mind.

“Were we together?”

Lucas looked directly into her eyes.

“Yes.”

Nora's heart skipped.

“For how long?”

“A little over a year.”

She stared at him.

“No.”

Lucas did not move.

“I would remember being in a relationship.”

“You do not remember the year.”

Nora shook her head.

“This is impossible.”

Lucas reached into his pocket.

He took out his phone.

For a moment, he stared at the screen.

Then he turned it toward her.

A photograph appeared.

Nora looked at it.

Her entire body went still.

It was her.

There was no doubt.

She was standing beside Lucas in front of a small restaurant.

She was wearing a blue dress.

Her hair was longer than it was now.

And she was smiling.

Not the polite smile she gave strangers.

A real smile.

The kind that reached her eyes.

Lucas was standing beside her with one arm around her waist.

Nora stared at the photograph.

“I do not remember this.”

“I know,” Lucas said.

“When was it taken?”

“December.”

“Last year?”

“Yes.”

Nora looked at herself again.

She looked happy.

She looked safe.

She looked like she trusted the man standing beside her.

Then she noticed something.

Her left hand was resting against Lucas's chest.

There was a ring on her finger.

Nora's breath caught.

“What is that?”

Lucas did not answer.

She looked at him.

“What is that on my hand?”

Lucas's voice was quiet.

“A ring.”

“I can see that.”

“You gave it to me.”

Nora stared at him.

“I gave you the ring?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Lucas looked away.

“Because you loved me.”

The words struck harder than she expected.

Nora looked back at the photograph.

She searched the man's face.

Nothing.

No recognition.

No memory.

Only an uncomfortable feeling that she was looking at someone she had once known better than anyone.

She handed the phone back.

“I want to go home.”

Lucas nodded.

“You can.”

“I want my mother.”

“I will call her.”

“And I do not want you here.”

Lucas stood.

Nora expected him to argue.

He did not.

He simply placed his phone in his pocket.

“All right,” Lucas said.

He walked toward the door.

Nora watched him.

Something about his departure bothered her.

She could not explain why.

Just before he reached the door, she spoke.

“Lucas.”

He stopped.

Nora looked at him.

“Why did you say I should not trust you?”

Lucas slowly turned around.

For the first time since she woke up, she saw something like fear in his face.

“I did not say that.”

Nora frowned.

“You did.”

“No,” Lucas said quietly. “You did.”

Nora stared at him.

“What?”

Lucas walked back toward the bed.

He stopped beside her.

“You said it when you woke up.”

“I said do not trust you?”

“Yes.”

“Why would I say that?”

“I do not know.”

“You must know something.”

Lucas looked at her for several seconds.

Then he said, “Before the accident, you made me promise something.”

“What?”

“If you ever forgot what happened, I was not supposed to tell you.”

Nora's heart began beating faster.

“Tell me what?”

Lucas shook his head.

“I cannot.”

“You expect me to accept that?”

“No.”

“Then tell me.”

“I gave you my word.”

Nora stared at him.

“Why would I make you promise something like that?”

Lucas looked toward the photograph still displayed on his phone.

“I asked you the same question.”

“And what did I say?”

“You told me that if you ever lost your memory, you would rather discover the truth yourself than have someone put it inside your head.”

Nora was silent.

She did not know why, but those words sounded familiar.

Not the memory itself.

Something beneath it.

A feeling.

A voice.

Her own voice.

She closed her eyes.

For one brief second, she saw a dark room.

Lucas standing in front of her.

Her hands were trembling.

Someone was crying.

Then the image disappeared.

Nora opened her eyes.

“Lucas.”

“Yes?”

“I saw something.”

He went completely still.

“What did you see?”

“A room.”

His face changed.

“What kind of room?”

“I do not know.”

“Was I there?”

“Yes.”

Lucas's breathing stopped for a moment.

“What else?”

Nora tried to remember.

“There was a door.”

“What color?”

“White.”

Lucas took a step closer.

“Was the door open?”

“No.”

“Was someone behind it?”

Nora pressed her fingers against her temple.

“I do not know.”

Lucas looked frightened now.

Nora had never seen fear look like that on another person's face.

“Lucas,” she said.

He did not answer.

“What happened behind that door?”

Lucas looked at her.

Then he said something that made her blood run cold.

“That is the part you told me never to let you remember.”

The door opened behind him.

A nurse entered carrying a folder.

“Mr. Reed, her mother is on her way,” the nurse said.

Lucas nodded.

“Thank you.”

The nurse smiled at Nora.

“Your mother should be here shortly.”

Nora nodded.

Lucas started walking toward the door again.

But this time, Nora stopped him.

“Lucas.”

He turned.

She looked at him for a long moment.

“I do not remember loving you.”

Lucas said nothing.

“But I think some part of me remembers being afraid of you.”

His expression broke.

Only for a second.

Then he looked away.

“I know,” Lucas said quietly.

Nora watched him leave.

The door closed behind him.

She looked down at her hands.

A minute later, her phone began vibrating on the bedside table.

She reached for it.

Unknown number.

Nora answered.

“Hello?”

For several seconds, there was only silence.

Then a woman's voice whispered through the phone.

“Nora, if Lucas Reed tells you he loves you, do not believe him.”

Nora sat completely still.

“Who is this?” she asked.

The woman breathed shakily.

“You have forgotten what he did.”

“What did he do?”

The caller hesitated.

Then she whispered the words that changed everything.

“He was with you the night your father died.”

The call ended.

Nora stared at the phone.

Her father had been dead for eight years.

And as far as she knew, Lucas Reed had never been part of her family's life.

Until now.