The One I Love Was Never You

: The One I Forgot Wasn't You

Cyrus Sloan and I had an on-again, off-again relationship for five years.

The last time we broke up, we agreed to drink a potion that would make us forget the person we loved most.

He would quickly forget me and fall in love with someone else.

Until we met again at a party, and Cyrus Sloan was convinced I had already forgotten him.

He started brazenly joking with everyone at the table about how stupid his ex-girlfriend was.

"She was the only one stupid enough to believe she was the person I loved most. Besides, I never drank it. There's no way I'd want to forget Elara Wren."

I listened quietly from my corner.

The truth is, after I drank the potion, he wasn't the person I forgot either.

...

"My ex-girlfriend is the daughter of a prominent family here in Kingsworth. She shamelessly chased me for years. She acts like some high-and-mighty heiress, but in my bed, she was on her knees."

Cyrus Sloan threw back a glass of wine, smugly holding forth at the dinner table about his ex-girlfriend.

When he finished speaking, he even gestured pointedly in my direction from across the table.

He deliberately mentioned that his ex-girlfriend's family background was more or less on par with my Sutton Family.

Instantly, the way everyone at the table looked at me shifted, their gazes filled with mockery and insinuation. With sly smiles, they eagerly pressed Cyrus Sloan for details on how his ex-girlfriend "took care of him" in bed.

Cyrus Sloan spoke with relish, flashing me a provocative smile from time to time.

He thought that since I'd drunk the Potion of Oblivion, I'd forgotten that I was the very ex-girlfriend he was talking about.

I forced a laugh along with the others, digging my nails into my palm under the table, using the physical pain to suppress my urges.

I just listened quietly as he fabricated stories about me.

At the height of his tirade, Cyrus Sloan slammed his glass on the floor with a CRASH. His gaze toward me turned dark and resentful.

"If it wasn't for getting revenge for Elara Wren, I would never have agreed to be with her—not even if she'd chased me until she handed over her entire family fortune!"

He said that Elara Wren's mother used to work as a maid in my family's home.

He claimed I'd lorded my higher status over her, forbidding her from even setting foot in my family's villa, and that I'd even hit her before kicking her out.

Although Cyrus Sloan still used "his ex-girlfriend" instead of my name...

...I could still tell from the venom in his eyes that he was talking about me.

I gripped the hem of my dress tightly with one hand and poured myself a drink with the other.

But my hands were shaking so badly with anger that most of the wine spilled onto the table.

The sounds of Cyrus Sloan and the others at the table echoed in my ears—discussing how he'd played me for a fool to get revenge for the 'white moonlight' of his heart.

When the dinner ended, the group left with Cyrus Sloan at its center.

From a distance, I heard Cyrus Sloan call out, his voice deliberately loud.

"This Potion of Oblivion only works for a month. By the time it wears off, it'll be my ex's birthday. I can't wait to see the look on her face when she gets her memory back and sees me show up to her party, holding hands with Elara Wren."

"And that's not all. I've prepared one last birthday gift for her. I'm so excited to see how 'surprised' she'll be!"

My hands, hanging at my sides, slowly clenched into fists as I listened to the crowd loudly discussing how they were going to wreck my birthday party in a month.

Just then, someone deliberately bumped my shoulder.

"Julia Sutton, why so quiet? Don't you want to help us take down Cyrus Sloan's ex-girlfriend?"

"How about we make her kneel and kowtow to Elara Wren? And she'll have to lick Cyrus Sloan's leather shoes clean, too. That'll teach her what happens when you bully Elara Wren!"

All eyes snapped to me, their gazes filled with poorly concealed amusement.

Before I could say a word, a car slowly pulled up.

Elara Wren, dressed in a long white cotton dress, walked slowly to Cyrus Sloan's side and gently smoothed a wrinkle on his suit.

They raised their intertwined hands and waved them in front of my face, officially announcing they were together.

While the others in their group offered congratulations, someone deliberately raised their voice and roared with laughter.

"Cyrus, don't you think Julia Sutton looks a little like your new girlfriend?"

I suppressed the nausea rising in my gut, maintaining a dignified smile on the surface.

"I know Ms. Wren. Her mother used to be a maid at my family's house as well, correct?"

The moment I finished speaking, the expressions on the faces around me changed abruptly, and they scrambled to smooth things over.

They said that surely *I* wouldn't be like Cyrus Sloan's ex-girlfriend and bully a young girl.

I pretended not to notice their nervous expressions and simply congratulated Cyrus Sloan and Elara Wren.

The second before I stepped into my car, I turned around, smiled, and shouted to the group:

"Don't forget to come to my birthday party next month, everyone!"

I'm also quite curious. What kind of faces will they make when they find out Cyrus Sloan wasn't the one I forgot after drinking the Potion of Oblivion?

But before that, of course, I first need to find where Cyrus Sloan has hidden this "grand gift" he has for me.