My Boyfriend Came Back as a Different Man

The next time I saw Leopold Sanchez, it was at the hotel front desk.

He walked in with a woman on his arm, slid two IDs across the counter, and grabbed three boxes of condoms in the same motion.

"One luxury suite. Ring these up together."

He dipped his head, murmuring something low and sweet that sent the woman in his arms into a fit of giggles, her body trembling against his.

When he glanced up, his gaze landed on my face and lingered.

"Have I seen you somewhere before?"

The hand holding his ID trembled, just slightly.

The woman in his arms looked like she'd swallowed something sour.

"I don't think so. I just have one of those faces — people always think they recognize me."

I lowered my head, finished the check-in, and handed the IDs back.

The name on the card read Winston Sanchez. I'd never met him. I didn't know him.

The man I'd dated for five years — the one who swore he'd marry me or no one — was Leopold Sanchez, Winston's primary personality.

He hadn't surfaced in three years.

——

Winston had barely been upstairs when the front desk phone rang. His room.

My coworker picked up, then passed the call to me.

"Send up a bathrobe."

A pause.

"Silk."

That familiar voice filled my ear again, and my heart stumbled over its own rhythm.

I buried the storm inside me and answered evenly.

"Of course."

After I hung up, my coworker nudged me with her elbow, grinning as she launched into the latest gossip.

"Sibyl Henson, I think he's got his eye on you."

"That's the CEO of Grandview Corporation! Net worth in the billions, gorgeous and loaded. One night and you'd walk away with a six-figure tip!"

"Come on, Sibyl. You're not even a little tempted?"

I shook my head. "That kind of luck doesn't happen to girls like me."

I turned and headed to housekeeping, where I pulled two silk robes from the shelf.

"I heard Mr. Sanchez was overseas getting treatment for years. What do you think was wrong with him?"

"He's so young. You don't think it's, you know... a performance issue?"

My coworker covered her mouth, laughing without a shred of restraint.

"Keep gossiping about guests and see what happens when the manager overhears. That's coming straight out of your paycheck."

I slipped the robes into a hotel garment bag, gave her a look, and stepped into the elevator.

The day Leopold told me about his condition, he held me so tight he wouldn't let go.

The way he clung to me, I thought the world was ending tomorrow.

"Leo... what's wrong?"

In that cramped studio apartment, I wrapped my arms around him just as fiercely. Our breathing tangled together in the narrow space between us.

"Sibyl, do you know what dissociative identity disorder is? I have another personality. His name is Winston."

"He's been getting stronger lately. He keeps trying to take over."

"I... might have to go away for a while. For treatment. And if it doesn't work—" His voice caught. "You'll never see me again."

I was stunned. And somehow, at the same time, completely calm.

I looked at him without a word. "Will you come back?"

A tear slipped from the corner of my eye.

Leopold held me gently, soothing me, whispering reassurances against my skin. He pressed his lips to the tear and kissed it away.

"Sibyl, if I win this time, I'll come back and marry you."

"I have to go."

"My flight's at nine. If they can't find me, they'll trace my location and find you instead."

The first pale light of dawn crept across the sky. Leopold held me from behind, arms locked around me like he was afraid I'd dissolve.

I cried until my voice gave out. I couldn't even form the words to ask him to stay. All I could do was watch that thin wooden door close behind him.

Leopold Sanchez vanished from my world.

That same day, Grandview Corporation announced that its heir had gone abroad for medical treatment.

Three years. Both Winston and Leopold might as well have disappeared off the face of the earth.

I was still waiting. My friends couldn't stand it — they cursed him on my behalf, branded him a man who'd abandoned the woman who loved him.