Before our wedding, my fiancé, Julian, was kidnapped while picking up my dress. He survived but claimed he’d forgotten me. Any mention of the wedding and he’d pass out. The doctor said it was a stress-induced second personality. Then I found out I was pregnant. The doctor said, "A baby might be the very thing to wake up the man who loves you!" I drove to his place with the sonogram, hope pounding in my chest, only to overhear him laughing with his friends: "Julian, you're a goddamn genius. Faking a second personality just to get out of the wedding? What's next, a third?" "No," Julian said. "I love Maya. This is the only time I'll ever lie to her. I just need to sleep with ten more women, then I'll stop." "Ten? That's it? You can’t even try every position with ten. Just keep the act up for a year. It's not like Maya's going anywhere. She'd die for you." His voice turned cold. "I'd never make her wait that long. Now, are you guys gonna find me some girls or not? I want them hot, and I want them new. One every three days. I’m not letting this mess up my wedding timeline." My hand trembled as I tore the ultrasound picture to shreds. I turned around and drove straight back to the hospital to schedule the abortion. 1 When the doctor saw me back so soon, she thought something was wrong. When I told her I wanted to terminate, her jaw dropped. "Maya, you've been trying for so long for this baby. If you do this... it could be the shock that makes your fiancé's condition... permanent." I gave her a bitter smile. "Honestly, if I told him the truth, that's what would probably make him collapse for good." He was too busy enjoying his buffet of "hot, new" women. I still couldn’t understand it. This was the man who had begged me, with tears in his eyes, to marry him. The doctor, unable to change my mind, insisted on calling Julian before I signed the consent forms. "Maya, this isn't just your decision. Even if his... illness... makes him not want this right now, he should be here. He should sign off. What if this is all a misunderstanding?" I just stroked my flat stomach. I didn't fight her. I have PCOS. Getting pregnant was a miracle. Julian knew it. He didn't care; he fought with his parents just to be with me, "child-free" or not. If I was giving up this miracle, he deserved to be the one to hang up on it. The doctor was barely two sentences in when Julian’s laugh, cold and sharp, came through the speaker. "How much did Maya pay you to pull this stunt? I told you, I don't know her, and I'm sure as hell not marrying her." "And tell her to stop with these pathetic-ass traps. Who's to say the kid's even mine?" The click of the disconnect echoed in the silent surgical prep room. I signed the forms myself and closed my eyes. When I woke up, my phone was buzzing. Several texts. All from Julian. 【Look, I don't care what we were. This is me now. You need to get your shit and move out of my house.】 He was so "thoughtful." He'd rented a fully furnished apartment for me in the same complex. He’d even paid the first month's rent. He'd signed a one-year lease, just so it looked legitimate. 【Consider the first month a parting gift. You don't need to pay me back.】 I looked at the biohazard bag on the table, the one holding the bloody tissue that was supposed to be our baby. I typed, my hand steady: 【Okay. Thanks.】 I'd let the rent be his only contribution. He didn't contact me for the three days I was in recovery. His Instagram story, however, was a nightly reel of club lights and clinking glasses. He was making up for all the "lost time" he'd spent being faithful to me. I knew it was for me. My burner account, which he'd also accepted a follow from, couldn't see a single post. So I gave him what he wanted. I liked every video. I was checking out when I saw him, sprinting down the hall with a doctor, pushing a gurney. He saw me, turned his head, and pretended I was invisible. But I heard the ER doctor shouting. "I need Room 1 prepped! Patient has a corpus luteum rupture, massive internal bleeding! Get me four units of RH-negative, stat!" "What do you mean, we're out?!" The doctor hung up his phone, panicked, and relayed the news to Julian. Julian, who had just snubbed me, stopped dead. He ran to me. "Maya. If you donate blood to Chloe, I'll... I'll forget all about this stalking shit." I just stared at him. "I'm not stalking you..." "Whatever! Just shut up, we're wasting time!" He grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the doctor. "She's RH-negative. Take as much as you need." I tried to pull my arm back, but he was too strong. I just laughed. "You don't know me, remember? How do you know my blood type?" I held his gaze, waiting. 2 Julian ran a hand through his hair, exasperated. "Is this really the time? Fine! If we were together for six years, it makes sense that in a crisis, my subconscious would remember you're a universal donor, okay?" But I’d just had a D&C. I was still bleeding. "I can't," I said, my voice flat. "I just had an abortion. I'm not stable enough. Find someone else." Julian's face turned purple. "You'd lie about that? You keep saying you love me, but you won't donate a little blood to save a life? You'd actually lie about an abortion?" He shook his head, disgusted. "I knew it. You're a cold, manipulative bitch. No wonder I can't remember a single second of loving you." He wasn't wrong. If he'd ever truly loved me, he wouldn't be standing here, blind to the fact that my face was as pale as his new girlfriend's. He wouldn't be forcing me to save the woman he was cheating with. The monitors on the gurney shrieked. The doctor didn't have time for this; he rushed Chloe to the ER. Julian tried to drag me with them. When I dug my heels in, he just grunted, grabbed me by the waist, and slung me over his shoulder. "Maya, I don't care if you want to or not! I'll owe you one! I'll... I'll marry you! We'll have the wedding, just like you want!" All the fight went out of me. He'd saved my life once, years ago, pulling me from a car wreck. I guess this made us even. I watched my blood, dark and warm, fill the bag. My heart turned to ice. The second the needle was out, Julian snatched the bag and ran with the nurse. I called out to his retreating back. "Julian! We're clear!" A wave of dizziness hit me. The world went black. I woke up in a recovery bed. The doctor looked like she wanted to scream at me. Instead, she just sighed. "You need to rest. And you can't donate again for at least six months." I smiled. "Okay." As she was leaving, I heard the young nurse whisper to her, "Why didn't you tell her we couldn't reach her emergency contact? What if she's mad...?" "She's not mad," the doctor said. "She knows. God, what a waste. He's not worth it." I looked at my phone. The doctor had tried Julian more than a dozen times. He hadn't picked up. But he had found time to text me. 【Maya, what the fuck is your problem? Stop having the hospital call me. Know your place.】 I was almost glad he hadn't answered. I couldn't imagine the things he would have said. I didn't reply. I just lay there for a full day until I had the strength to stand. I went to the hospital's rooftop garden for some sun. And of course, Julian's friends were there. They were all holding flowers and fruit baskets. For a second, I thought they were for me. I turned to leave. But they'd already seen me. They surrounded me, smirking at my hospital gown. "Well, well. Heard Julian was here with his new girl, so you had to fake an illness, too? That's commitment." "Seriously, Maya. You gave a little blood. You didn't have to put on the 'damsel in distress' act." "Damn, her 'sick' makeup is flawless, though. I always said you were a schemer. Julian never believed us..." Julian's friends had always hated me. They thought I wasn't good enough. Julian had forced them to call me "sis." Now, they had his permission to finally say what they really thought. Julian himself came up from the elevator, saw me, and scowled. "Maya, are you serious?" "I already said I'd marry you. You don't have to bribe the doctors to check you in so you can spy on me. Do you have any idea how suffocating this is?" "I'm telling you right now, if you pull this shit after we're married, we won't last a year." 3 "You don't have to marry me." For six years, I'd given him space. When he wanted to go out, I was the designated driver. When he wanted a "boys' trip," I booked their flights and hotels. He'd offer me his phone to "check," and I'd always refused. I loved him, and I refused to be the controlling, suffocating woman my mother was, the woman who drove my father away. I thought I'd given him the perfect, trusting relationship. We were, I thought, just as in love as we were in college. Now I knew. My love was "suffocating." That's why he needed to escape? I looked him in the eye, searching for one shred of the man I knew. There was nothing. He saw the look on my face and tensed. He snatched a bouquet of lilies from his friend Ryan and shoved them at me. "Fine. Whatever. Take the flowers and get out of here. You got what you wanted." He thought I was the same girl who'd be happy with a cheap gift. He thought he could do anything, and I'd still be waiting, because I was the girl who "would die for him." I pushed the flowers back. "These are for your girlfriend. Not me." "And I'm serious," I said, my voice finally clear. "The blood was a gift. You don't have to marry me." A flicker of panic crossed his face. She's not supposed to say that. "Maya, I..." His friends all coughed loudly. He reset his face. "I'm a man of my word, Maya. We're getting married." I just smiled. "Go be with your girlfriend. I'm checking out." His panic grew. He didn't know this version of me. Ryan and the others grabbed him, pulling him toward the elevator. "C'mon, man, Chloe's waiting. She's just playing hard to get. It's what they do, right? First the victim card, now this." "Yeah, man, what you did... getting a girl that hot, but also that... fragile... You're lucky she's tough. Unlike some people, who faint over a little needle prick and demand a wedding..." I heard them all the way down the hall. I didn't feel pain. Just... cold. I went back to our condo while I knew he'd be at the hospital. I called a cleaning service. The lead cleaner saw the decorations, the "Mr." and "Mr." (we were both Yizhou in the original) pillows, the boxes of wedding favors. "Ma'am, this is all brand new. You want me to... throw it all away?" "Yes. My fiancé died." She gave me a look of such pity. She and her team were ruthless. They took down the giant wedding photos first. In a few hours, every trace of "us" was gone. Every photo album, every gift, every stupid souvenir from six years of my life. The woman pointed to the ten black trash bags by the door. "Are you sure, honey? This is a lot of... memories." "I'm sure." I deleted my fingerprint from the smart lock and walked away. 4 I didn't go to the apartment Julian rented. I checked into a private recovery clinic. I'd almost forgotten about the security cameras at the condo. The notification popped up on my phone. I clicked it. Julian and Chloe, stumbling in, kissing. He saw the empty room and shoved her away. "What the hell?" He pulled out his phone. It rang once before Chloe snatched it. "Nuh-uh. You're with me now. No-exes-allowed." Her hands were already unbuttoning his shirt. He hesitated, then growled and pushed her against the wall, his mouth on hers. I'd never seen him like that. Not even our first time. He was... feral. Clothes hit the floor. "Julian... baby... be gentle, I just got out of the hospital..." He was panting, his eyes red. "I can't. I've been... God, I'm so backed up. You get on top." Chloe's eyes glittered. "Only if you tell me... who do you love more? Me... or her?" The fire in his eyes died. He went cold. "Maya is my fiancée. What do you think?" "We had a deal," he snapped. "A good time. That's it. If your body wasn't so damn fragile, you wouldn't even be here right now." Chloe's face crumpled. She slid off him, tears streaming. "How can you say that? I almost died for you! Go on, then! Go find someone else!" Julian, the man who hated tears, instantly melted. He pulled her into his arms, kissing her, murmuring. I watched, numb, as they moved from the living room to our... to his... bedroom. He'd seen me cry every day for a month after his "accident." He'd told me to stop being manipulative. He'd paraded women in front of me, saying, "Even if I loved you, a little fun doesn't hurt." I was so, so glad I didn't have that baby. I logged out of the camera app and deleted my account. The next morning, he called me. The first time since the kidnapping. I sent it to voicemail. He texted. 【Maya, what the fuck? I said I'd marry you. Why did you throw out all our wedding shit?】 I lied. 【This place has bad vibes. I bought a beach house. Moved my stuff there.】 A new follower request popped up. Chloe. I declined. She sent it again. Message: I have a video of you and Julian you might want to see. I accepted. She immediately sent me a video. But it was of... her and Julian. Two minutes later, a string of crying emojis. 【Omgggg, sis, I'm so sorry! I thought that was you! It won't let me delete it! I was wondering why Julian was so...energetic... I guess he just really, really likes me!】 【Honestly, if I were you, I'd take a class or something. You don't want to lose a man like that!】 A Venmo notification. $10,000. Memo: For the blood. I'd rather pay cash than in 'husband.' XOXO. See you at the wedding! I declined the payment. 【Consider it my wedding gift. Best of luck.】 I blocked her. I spent the next two weeks healing. My flight was booked. I was leaving to stay with my best friend, Leah. I went to the jewelers to buy Leah a gift. I remembered... our rings. The custom ones I designed. I had to get them. The jeweler looked at me with pity. "Mr. Julian picked those up last week, ma'am." Of course he did. I walked out, and ran right into him. And Chloe. Their hands were linked. They were wearing my rings. Julian saw me looking. "Maya... the rings..." "They look good on you," I said, and turned. "Maya, wait!" "Julian!" Chloe whined, pulling him back. "You promised you'd take me to my dress fitting!" I didn't look back. The day of the wedding, I left the clinic and got in a cab to the airport. At the same time, Julian's friends, a makeup artist, and my custom gown arrived at the empty apartment. They rang the bell. No answer. The neighbor poked her head out. "You guys looking for someone? No one's lived there for a month."
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