My boyfriend Silas Brennan woke up from a car crash and forgot me.


But he found his rich bio parents. Got a beautiful fiancée. And built a perfect life.


Me? I was just the "gold-digger" who wouldn't leave him alone.


He let his fiancée shove me to the ground. Let her kill our baby.


When we were both trapped in the fire? He didn't think twice—ran straight to his fiancée, Lillian Warner.


I heard him through the flames:


"Aria. I never lost my memory. You just owe me this."


"Next life? Leave me alone."


When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day he woke up.


This time I didn't cry. Didn't beg him to remember.


Just handed him a bill.


"Mr. Brennan. I'm Aria Winters. Your sponsor."


"Ten years of support. One point two million dollars."


"Cash or card?"


---


"The hell did you just say?"


Silas stared me down, clearly not expecting that.


His fiancée Lillian Warner laughed in my face.


"Who the hell are you? Some broke bitch playing dress-up? Get your Dollar Store ass outta here."


This time I wasn't playing nice. "I paid for Silas's entire life for ten years."


"A million two. And yeah, my lawyer's got all the receipts if you wanna see 'em."


Last life I grabbed his hands, sobbing my eyes out, begging him to remember our decade together.


Begging him to just look at our matching rings.


The guy who swore he'd love me forever? Ripped off that ring and tossed it straight in the trash.


Then had security haul me to the police station for twenty-four hours.


Dead silence in that hospital room. Everyone just stared.


Silas's face changed. His fists clenched tight.


He thought I'd break down like before.


Thought I'd beg him to remember so he could use his fake "amnesia" to torture me.


Lillian got all pissy. "That's all you want, right? His money?"


I didn't even blink. "Hell yeah. That's all this is."


I turned to leave.


But then my phone buzzed. Screen lit up with our photo—us all wrapped up together.


Lillian snatched it before I could react and smashed it on the floor, just like she smashed my ten years.


Then scalding coffee came pouring over my head.


Boiling water ran down my hair, down my neck. Burning so bad I couldn't stop shaking.


"Trash like you doesn't get to touch his money."


I started to move but Lillian shoved me before I could swing.


Silas didn't do shit. Just watched.


Whatever. I was over it. Fished out his keys and threw them in his face.


"Your old place—you got one day to grab your stuff."


"Miss that? I'm tossing everything."


Silas froze up.


Last life I was too blind to see through his act.


His mouth opened like he wanted to say something.


But I walked out without looking back.


Someone grabbed my arm from behind.


"Aria!"


I stopped and turned around. "You don't remember anything, right? So how'd you know my name?"


He looked like I caught him. "So we're... what, just some sponsorship deal? That's it?"


I nodded and left.


Isn't that what you wanted?


Last life you denied us. This life I'm giving you exactly what you asked for.


Lillian's voice drifted out from the room.


"Silas, are you kidding? You actually hit THAT?"


Dead silence. Then he exhaled hard.


"Look, I was dirt poor. They paid for everything—school, food, rent. The fuck was I gonna do, say no?"


"Girlfriend, boyfriend—whatever. I was more like... I don't know, a rescue dog?"


I bit down hard as tears hit the floor.


He kept going, tearing me apart piece by piece.


My personality, my habits—trashing everything about me like putting me down would somehow make his new life more legit.


I remembered when he said I was his everything.


How he burned his hands making soup for me.


How he saved up for months just to buy me that necklace.


Even our baby we were so excited about—watching it bleed out in front of him didn't make him blink.


I touched my stomach. If he doesn't want it, then I'm not keeping it either.


Chapter 2


I scheduled the abortion for Thursday. Sat there staring at the confirmation email for like twenty minutes.


Next thing I did? Listed my shop.


Oh, and I hired a private investigator.


Back home, everything still looked the same.


The wind chimes in the living room? He made those. Spent a whole weekend on them.


Those succulents on the balcony—he watered them every Sunday like clockwork.


And the fridge. Stuffed with my favorite drinks, plastered in his stupid sticky notes.


\[Don't skip breakfast.\]


\[Love you.\]


I ran my fingers over those yellowing notes, peeled them off one by one, and tossed them in the trash.


That night I dreamed about us.


In it, we were still in this little place. He had an apron on, cooking something in the kitchen while I tried to help.


He kept shooing me away to go watch TV. Never let me lift a finger around the house.


Even cut up fruit and fed it to me.


When things got heated we'd stay home all day, wrapped up in each other.


I didn't want to wake up. Not until the doorbell jolted me back.


Second I opened the door, a bank card smacked me in the face.


"Your money."


"I'm grabbing my stuff."


Silas stood there in this sharp suit, face cold as ice—nothing like the guy in the apron from my dream.


He brought Lillian with him.


When he saw that our wedding photo still hanging in the living room, he stopped dead.


If I hadn't wanted to respect my parents' memory for three years, we would've gotten married last year.


Everything was ready except actually doing it.


"Wedding photos? Seriously? You actually thought you were gonna marry up?"


I grabbed the baseball bat from the corner and swung it straight at the frame.


Glass exploded everywhere.


"Aria! What the hell!"


Silas's face went dark. He yanked Lillian behind him, protecting her.


Like he thought I'd swing the bat at her next.


His hand shoved me aside.


I grabbed my stomach on instinct, fell and caught myself on broken glass.


Staring at that destroyed wedding photo, he actually laughed.


"Why'd you fake it at the hospital?"


He kept staring, waiting for me to break.


I didn't even look at him. Just started throwing his stuff in a pile—didn't care if things broke.


"Wait—Silas, you're really gonna take this trash? It's all so... cheap."


Lillian wrinkled her nose and kicked over one of the boxes.


That music box he gave me—my first gift from him. The little dancer used to spin inside.


Hit the floor with a sharp crack.


Something I treasured like gold, now broken in half. Yet I felt nothing.


Silas stayed quiet the whole time, just had his guys haul everything out.


Right before leaving he asked, voice low:


"You're really gonna let me walk that easy?"


I looked down and smiled bitterly.


"Seriously? This is exactly what you wanted, Silas. Don't act surprised now."


Last life, if he'd just been honest—said he was done—I wouldn't have held on.


But he had to put on this whole show. Treated me like dirt. Let Lillian trash me over and over.


Even when I lost the baby right in front of him, he didn't go after her.


Blamed me instead. And made me apologize.


He played me like a fool, tortured me for fun.


I could feel this weird hatred coming off him.


But I never got where it came from.


Lillian grabbed my arm then, thinking I was still trying to hang on.


I slapped her hard across the face.


The crack echoed through the room. Next second Silas's hand flew at me.


"Are you fucking insane!"


The hit whipped my head to the side. Everything went dark for a second, then this white-hot burst of pain across my cheek.


My hand shook but I smiled anyway.


"Get your stuff and get the fuck out. Now."


I shoved them out and slammed the door. Tears rolled down my face, over that handprint on my cheek.


My chest hurt so bad. Nausea hit me like a truck.


Barely made it to the bathroom before I threw up.


That slap? Payback for Lillian making me lose my baby last time.


Silas and me? We're done.


Chapter 3


I sat in that freezing hallway outside the OB-GYN, waiting for them to call my number when—


"What are you doing here?"


Fuck. Silas. I crushed the report in my fist before he could see it.


"Doctor's appointment."


He stared at the OB-GYN sign. His face went from confused to pale in about two seconds.


His mouth opened—


"Silas, babe!"


Lillian practically skipped over, all smiles, grabbed his arm possessively.


"Come on, doctor's waiting."


She rubbed her flat stomach. "Three months now—he's gonna explain all the dad stuff."


My breath stopped. Three months.


That early.


Last life, three months ago was when his startup was falling apart.


He was out chasing clients all the time. I felt so bad watching him exhausted, dropped everything at my shop to cook for him and take care of him.


Turns out it wasn't even the business.


He'd already found his rich parents. Already knocked someone else up.


No wonder he freaked when I hit Lillian.


And last life when I lost my baby he didn't even react.


Because he already had another kid on the way.


Lillian noticed me then, smirking.


"Wait—you're pregnant too?"


"Yeah, nice try. Faking a doctor's note isn't gonna get you into this family, hon."


I looked her dead in the eye. Didn't blink.


"Paranoia's a real thing. Might wanna get that checked. Not everyone's after your man."


Lillian's face went red. Then the tears started.


"Silas!" Her voice went all shaky. "Why's she being such a bitch to me?"


"Last time she shoved me I bled for hours!"


Silas's face turned to ice.


At his silent nod, two security guys dragged me into a stairwell.


They grabbed my hair and yanked my head back.


SMACK!


Brutal slap across my face.


Other guard raised his foot toward my stomach.


I squeezed my eyes shut, hands flying to my belly.


Even though I didn't want this baby, I didn't want it gone like this.


But Silas stepped between us first.


"Lillian, come on. Doctor said you need to stay calm, remember? Just let it go, okay?"


His voice went all gentle as he guided her away, half-carrying her.


Never looked at me once, curled up on the floor.


Some nurse finally found me and helped me out.


Ding\~


My screen lit up with a message from Silas.


I didn't even open it. Just blocked his number. And sat in that hospital hallway with tears dropping onto my hands.


They were calling me. I could hear it—my name crackling through the speakers, over and over.


But I couldn't move. Couldn't make my legs work.


Until my shop girl called. Said someone trashed my flower shop.


That got me up.


I walked. Didn't look at the surgery sign. Didn't look at anything. Just walked the other way.




That Amnesia Plot? It Bankrupted Him. Sugar Mama's Cashing Out.