Chapter 4

Sunlight stabbed my eyelids. I woke up in a hospital bed.

My hand moved down instinctively. My stomach. Flat. Empty.

Ethan stood by the window, back to me—his usual stance, whether after a fight or just now.

Then he turned around.

I thought I'd see some guilt. Even a flicker.

His face held nothing. No pain. No regret. Just that familiar impatience with an inconvenience.

"Look at you now." He said. "I told you. Your emotions are too unstable."

My throat was sandpaper.

"What?"

"You've always been like this, Cathy. Paranoid. Irrational." He walked to the bedside, looked down at me. "The doctor said stress caused the miscarriage."

I stared at him like he was speaking a foreign language.

"Lily pushed me—" My voice scraped out. "I'm not delusional. You were taking Mia—"

"Enough." Ethan cut me off coldly. "Still blaming others. Lily just wanted to go to camp. You pushed her to that point. If you weren't so crazy about controlling everything, she wouldn't have reacted that way."

Tears came. This was too absurd.

His daughter pushed me. He was the one planning to abandon his family.

And now he was blaming me.

Ethan sighed, sat down on the edge of the bed, put on his doctor face.

"Listen, Cathy. Your condition right now is dangerous. You need help." He said. "My clinic is researching a new therapy. For severe emotional trauma. It can help you... temporarily put your brain to sleep."

"Sleep?"

"It can block out these painful memories." His voice softened, like he was coaxing an unruly patient. "You'll forget the miscarriage. Forget the fight. Forget everything unpleasant. I'll send you to Serenity Hills—the best facility. You'll rest there, sleep peacefully for three months."

I looked at him.

"You want to erase my memory?"

"It's for your own good." He said. "These three months while Lily and I are at camp—you'd be home alone, spiraling. You'd get depressed, fall apart. Better to go there, think of nothing, like a long dream. When we come back, I'll restore your memory. Everything will be past. We'll start over."

Start over.

Such tempting words.

But I knew what he was thinking. He was thinking how to dispose of this problem so he could enjoy his European trip without guilt.

"What if I don't go?"

Ethan's expression chilled.

"Then rot in that empty house. Clinging to the memory of your dead child. Going crazier until you destroy yourself completely." He stood up. "Is that what you want?"

I closed my eyes.

The baby was gone. My husband wanted to discard me like trash. My daughter saw me as an enemy.

What was left worth being awake for?

"Fine." I said. "Send me."

Serenity Hills was up in the hills, quiet everywhere. White walls, people in white coats.

Ethan delivered me to my room like a piece of furniture needing repair.

"Whatever anyone asks, you're here for rest." Ethan stood at the door, not even bothering with a last look. "Don't cause trouble, Cathy."

"I understand."

"See you in three months."

The treatments began gently.

First medication. Then flickering lights, a doctor's low guiding voice. Slowly, the sharp edges began to fade.

But I still heard things I shouldn't have.

That afternoon, I sat on a garden bench in the sun. Two nurses smoked around the corner.

"That new patient in 302. So sad."

"Mrs. Cross? What happened to her?"

"She just miscarried. Dr. Cross sent her here for experimental treatment. Really he just wanted her out of the way so he could enjoy himself."

"Oh my god."

"I saw his Instagram photos. Location tagged Tuscany. With the little girl, and some young woman. A perfect little family. Not like they just lost a baby at all."

My fingers tightened on the bench.

Tuscany.

I'd heard that name somewhere. I couldn't remember.

The man called Noah appeared in my second week.

He was a volunteer here. Always carried a book, sat on the bench across from me. He didn't talk much. Sometimes he'd offer me chocolate. Or point out a squirrel in the trees.

Slowly, Noah and I became friends.

Those names—Ethan, Lily, Mia—faded like echoes from a distant nightmare.

My memories were slipping away.

On the other side of the world, Tuscan sunlight fell generously across the vineyards.

Ethan's POV

Two months passed quickly.

Tuscany gave me breathing room. Lily was happy. Mia was always there.

But I still thought sometimes about Cathy, left behind in that facility.

Until the call came.

That afternoon, Mia and I were in bed. My phone buzzed insistently on the nightstand.

Impatient, I grabbed it.

"Hello?"

"Dr. Cross. This is Dr. Evans from Serenity Hills." The voice on the other end said. "About your wife."

I sat up, motioned Mia to be quiet.

"What happened? Problems with the treatment?"

"No. Quite the opposite." Dr. Evans said. "Per your instructions, we initiated memory recall. Most core memories have returned."

"But Dr. Cross, there are some unusual developments."

"What kind?" I frowned. "Is she losing her mind again?"

"No. She's very calm. Calm in a way that's... not normal." Dr. Evans sounded uncertain. "And there's a volunteer here. Noah. He's become quite close with her."

"A volunteer?"

"Yes. Mrs. Cross seems... satisfied with her current state. She shows no distress."

My grip on the phone tightened.

Satisfied? That woman who couldn't function without me was satisfied?

A powerful sense of losing control washed over me.

"I'll come early." I said coldly. "Keep an eye on her."

I hung up. The sunlight outside suddenly seemed too bright.

Mia wrapped her arms around me from behind. "What's wrong, honey?"

"Nothing." I pushed her hands away, turned around.

"We're going home early."