The Man Who Used Me for Three Years,Then I Walked Away

Brent Graves lost his memory in a car accident. The only person he forgot was me, his fiancée.

The wedding went ahead as planned. He just followed what everyone online wanted and married his livestream partner, Rose Sullivan.

I rushed to the ceremony with proof that he and I had been in love, but Ervin Stephens, Rose's boss, stopped me at the door.

He looked at me and confessed years of feelings he'd kept hidden.

Listening to the cheers inside as the newlyweds exchanged rings, I finally understood. What we had was over. You can't force something that's already dead.

Before long, I agreed to marry Ervin Stephens. Rather than wait for someone to come back to me, I chose the man who said he loved me.

Three years into our marriage, my parents died in a car crash. The family company collapsed.

Ervin caught me every time I fell. He stayed beside me through the darkest stretch of my life.

I was grateful for everything he'd done. I tried my best to be a good, dutiful wife.

Then one day, pregnant and carrying a thermos of soup, I went to visit him on set and wandered into the backstage area of the livestream studio.

Through a door left slightly ajar, I heard his assistant's uneasy voice：

【Mr. Stephens, that was your wife's parents' accident settlement. Wasn't it supposed to be put into an education fund under your management? If you redirect it to fund Rose's entertainment career launch, your wife will lose it when she finds out.】

【Back then, Brent Graves faked his amnesia to break off the engagement. I only married her so she wouldn't ruin Rose's happiness.】

【Rose accidentally killed her parents in a hit-and-run. I stayed by her side just to make sure she never dug deep enough to destroy Rose.】

【I've done all of this, and she's still completely in the dark, still touched beyond words by how good I've been to her.】

【Even if I use the money, she won't notice. And even if she does, I'm the only person she has left. What's she going to do about it?】

In that moment, I finally understood.

All that so-called devotion was nothing but a premeditated lie.

——

I was ready to leave, my heart burned to ash, when I heard Ervin's next words：

【Relax. Renata Simmons is still my wife, after all. She's carrying my child. I'll take responsibility for her.】

【Once Rose has a solid foothold in the industry, I'll find a way to make it up to her.】

My feet stopped. Some desperate, dying part of me was still gambling on a sliver of hope.

Was it possible that what grew between us over time still counted as love?

Rose stepped off the livestream set during a break and walked straight from the spotlight to Ervin backstage.

She looped her arm through his, her voice pitched to a perfect, playful whine：【Mr. Big Boss, I heard Renata's pregnant?】

【I feel terrible about what happened back then.】

【You'd better take good care of her for me. Don't let her suffer, okay?】

Something dark flickered in Ervin's eyes as he held her hand, but his voice came out flat and steady：【Mm. Whatever you say.】

I stood alone in a dark corner, clutching the chicken soup I'd made with my own hands, sobbing without a sound.

So Brent had faked his amnesia and called off our engagement just to find a clean excuse to be with Rose.

And my parents' deaths. Rose was the one who killed them.

Even knowing all of that, even knowing Rose's heart belonged to someone else, Ervin had willingly lied to me for three full years to protect her happiness.

I remembered the day of my parents' accident. I'd collapsed over their bodies and cried until I blacked out.

Ervin had cradled my face in his hands and sworn to me：【I promised your parents I'd take care of you, and I will keep that promise.】

【As long as I'm here, no one will ever hurt you.】

And he had kept his word. Or so it seemed.

He handled every detail of the funeral. When my family's company went under, he stepped in and held the pieces together.

Until one night he came home drunk, held me close, and told me he wanted a child.

Thinking of everything he'd done for me, I kissed him first for the very first time.

The next day, without a moment's hesitation, I handed over every dollar I had, including my parents' settlement, and placed it all in his hands as an education fund for our future child.