Chapter 18
Lyra’s ears were ringing, convinced she was hallucinating. Her feet stopped moving.
Her father angrily smacked her back, the pain bringing her back to reality.
It wasn’t a hallucination. That person really was Thea!
“Thea-”
Her father yanked her forward and slapped her again.
It hurt, but Lyra started laughing anyway.
Thea wasn’t dead!
Then good. They all deserved this.
Ryan deserved to suffer just like her-nobody deserved happiness!
But even as she laughed, tears rolled down her cheeks.
At eighteen, she’d finally escaped.
If she’d just worked hard on her own, any path would have led somewhere good.
So why had she thrown herself back into hell with her own hands?
She really…regretted it now.
But regret was always useless.
In the cemetery.
Thea turned around but saw no one.
“Did I hear wrong? I thought someone called my name.”She felt confused.
“I didn’t hear anything.” Marcus shrugged.
Thea didn’t think much of it and walked with him to her mother’s grave, looking utterly dejected.
She’d lost nearly seven years of memories.
When she woke up from her coma, Marcus was the first person she saw.
She’d accepted his invitation to help expand into the European market. Their flight was leaving in two hours.
Looking at the photo on the headstone, she was quiet for a moment before asking, “How did my mother die?”
“Illness.”
She looked at Marcus. “Was it painful?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I can tell you this…”
Thea looked at him questioningly. His eyes were gentle, his voice certain.
“Seeing you healthy and alive would make her happy.”
Thea felt some of the weight lift from her chest. After talking to her mother for a while, she left with Marcus.
As they left the cemetery, Marcus glanced back and silently promised:
“I’ll take good care of her, Mrs. Anderson.”
Two hours later, the plane took off.
Thea was still recovering and dozed off drowsily. Marcus asked for a blanket and carefully tucked it around her.
His expression was gentle, his gaze tender.
He was two years ahead of Thea in college. They’d briefly worked together on the debate team.
Thea was beautiful, smart, humble, and kind.
It was hard not to fall for her.
But before he could make a move, Thea had announced her relationship with Ryan on social media.
He’d watched her help Ryan build his empire from nothing.
He’d watched Ryan’s flashy proposal and their wedding.
And he’d watched Thea share snippets of their happy life together.
Those feelings had stayed buried in his heart, though he couldn’t help causing Ryan some trouble along the way.
Marcus never thought Thea was his only option. He could have fallen for someone else when the right person came along.
But seven years passed with the space beside him empty, never meeting that right person.
Until Thea came to him for help. He agreed.
But how could he let her dirty her hands? A bloodless victory was the best approach.
He’d asked for five days-partly to give Thea hope, partly to prepare a perfect replica of her body.
Just as he’d planned, no one suspected the corpse in the warehouse was fake. No one would bother with extra DNA testing.
And finally, he’d stolen her away.
A smile played at Marcus’s lips. After all his careful planning, finally getting what he wanted-hiding her away for three years wasn’t too much to ask, was it?
Thea stirred in her sleep, opening her eyes but noticing nothing unusual.
She glanced at Marcus, who appeared to be resting with his eyes closed, wrinkled her nose, and went back to sleep.
Her head kept drooping. Marcus quietly angled his shoulder toward her until she finally leaned against him.
His lips curved upward as he closed his eyes, satisfied.
Three years later.
Marcus had achieved his goals, fighting tooth and nail to secure the market share he wanted from overseas investors. He was finally returning home.
Along with the news of his return came word of Marcus’s quiet marriage.
Ryan had heard the rumors too.
Curious about his former rival, he clicked on the trending news story during lunch break for the first time in years.
His gaze froze on the description of Mrs. Kane.
