Chapter 1
On her twenty-ninth birthday, Avery Walsh receives devastating news: she’s been diagnosed with a rare terminal illness. The doctors give her less than a year to live.
That same day, her adoring husband Reed Bennett is in a car accident that leaves him with amnesia.
He doesn’t remember her. Instead, he only recalls Victoria Hayes, who once hopelessly pined for him.
Now he’s determined to divorce Avery and marry Victoria instead.
Avery couldn’t believe it.
How could Reed-the man who defied his family for her, who shielded her with his own broken body during an earthquake, who swore to protect her for life-forget her so completely?
For five agonizing months, she tries everything to jog his memory, but nothing works.
Until Reed’s birthday, Victoria suddenly collapses, covered in angry red hives.
When security searches Avery’s bag, they find tulip pollen-which Victoria is deathly allergic to.
Avery was forced to her knees at Victoria’s hospital bedside.
Reed, whose eyes had once been full of love for her, now looked at her with nothing but ice-cold contempt.
Reed gripped Avery’s chin. “Avery, I’ve told you countless times-I don’t remember you. I’m going to marry Victoria! But you’re so desperate to keep our marriage that you’d try to kill her?”
Avery shook her head frantically. “It wasn’t me…”
Reed ordered someone to bring peanuts, which he then forcefully shoved into her mouth, handful after handful, while she was severely allergic to them.
There was a time when she’d accidentally drunk peanut milk, and Reed had gone absolutely crazy, rushing her to the hospital in his arms.
After that, he never allowed anything containing peanuts anywhere near her.
Thinking of this, she could no longer hold back-her tears burst forth like a broken dam, splashing onto the back of his hand.
Reed’s hand trembled ever so slightly.
But he didn’t stop. He forced in another handful of peanuts.
Her throat burned like fire. Angry hives erupted across her skin. Her breathing became labored, and her vision started to blur.
The physical pain was nothing compared to the agony in her heart.
Chapter 1
She remembered the day Reed proposed, down on one knee, holding out a ring as he solemnly vowed: “Avery, from birth to death, loving you is the one thing I’ll never forget.”
But now he had forgotten her completely, and she didn’t have time to wait for him to remember.
It felt like her heart was being carved out. She gradually lost consciousness.
In her haze, she thought she heard Reed calling her.
“Avery, Avery…”
His voice sounded gentle and tender, like before he lost his memory.
She wanted to respond but couldn’t even open her eyes.
Then she heard Reed’s assistant mention that he’d found her diary.
This diary contained records of her life with Reed.
“Sir, treating Mrs. Bennett this way… if she knew the truth, would she ever forgive you?”
Reed’s voice sounded slightly weary: “I know what I’m doing. We’re in a hospital-a few peanuts won’t kill her.”
“If I don’t make this look convincing, how will she ever believe I’ve lost my memory? How would she agree to the divorce? Victoria is terminally ill. She doesn’t have much time, and her dying wish is to marry me. I have to help. After I fulfill her wish, I’ll ‘regain my memory,’ remarry Avery, and everything will be just like before.”
“As for those memories, I’ll help her create new ones. We can plant new silk trees, we can lock a new love lock, and I’ll make her an even bigger gold portrait.”
The assistant’s voice sounded hesitant: “But Miss Hayes’s illness is actually…”
“Victoria’s father was my mentor,” Reed interrupted quickly. “He entrusted her to me on his deathbed. I’ve neglected her for years because of Avery. I owe her. After the wedding, she’ll go abroad for treatment, and we’ll be even.”
Avery felt ice-cold. So everything had been his plan. No wonder he’d forgotten everything but still remembered her peanut allergy.
These past months, she’d done everything to help Reed remember.
She’d shown him the solid gold portrait of them that he had designed himself, saying they had a “bond as strong as gold and stone” that would last a lifetime.
But Reed had melted it down to make a necklace for Victoria’s evening gown.
She’d taken him to the mountaintop to see the love lock they’d fastened together.
Back then, he’d said: “Avery, this way I can be locked by your side forever.”
But now Reed had cut off their old lock and replaced it with a new one that he and Victoria had locked together.
She’d shown him the grove of 999 silk trees he’d planted for her.
When planting those trees, he’d said, “Avery, this represents my unwavering love for you.”
But Reed had all the trees cut down and made into a massive bed for Victoria, where they rolled around together.
And now he claimed everything could be recreated?
Reed’s vow echoed in her ears: “Avery, my love for you will never waver.”
It was all lies!
He knew Victoria’s terminal illness was fake, yet he still wanted to marry her.
All that talk about repaying a debt was just an excuse for his change of heart.
But Avery-she really was dying.
When Avery woke up, Reed was sitting by her bed.
The concern and pain on his face instantly transformed into coldness.
Avery’s heart contracted painfully.
She never knew Reed could act so well.
So perhaps all his past devotion to her had been an act too?
“Avery,” Reed coldly began, “I’ll say it again: I don’t remember you.”
With that, he pulled out Avery’s diary.
It was her record of their meeting, falling in love, his proposal, their wedding-all meticulously documented over the past five months.
“I don’t remember any of this. Stop trying to show me these things, and stop trying to cling to me.”
As he spoke, he took out a lighter and set the diary on fire.
Watching the diary burn, Avery’s heart turned to ashes with it.
She cried, but she was also smiling.
He didn’t realize that diary wasn’t written for him, but for herself.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, commonly called mad cow disease, would cause her memory to become jumbled and fade until she forgot everything, ultimately leading to death.
Seven years ago, at a ranch, when a bull charged at him, she pushed him out of the way.
While she was injured by the infected bull.
Back then, the wound was treated immediately, and she showed no symptoms afterward, so they eventually forgot about the incident.
12.02
Chapter 1
But the virus had lain dormant for seven years, until she was finally diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Afraid that one day Reed would “regain his memory” but she wouldn’t recognize him, she’d recorded everything about them.
Now that he’d burned it, fine.
From now on, neither of them would remember the other.
Reed once again presented the divorce papers for Avery to sign.
This time, Avery picked up the pen and signed her name without hesitation.
Reed seemed surprised. Just as he was about to say something, Victoria called, whimpering in pain.
He immediately grabbed the signed papers and hurried out of the hospital room.
Avery watched his disappearing figure, slowly wiped the tears from her face, and took out her phone.
“Hello, I’d like to book a flight to Switzerland for seven days from now. Also, please help me schedule an assisted suicide.”
