His Amnesiac Lie: My Stolen Life

His Amnesiac Lie: My Stolen Life

Chang An

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I learned my three-year relationship was a lie from a conversation I was never supposed to hear. My boyfriend, Hardin, the man I'd saved from a car wreck that ended my career, hadn't lost his memory. It was all a long con to steal my life's work-a revolutionary game engine-for his mistress, my old college rival. The man who promised to protect me stood by as she publicly humiliated me, burned my arm with a cigarette, and had me tasered in an alley. He dragged me into an icy shower when I fought back. When I tried to leave, he had me held down while doctors drew my blood and stole my kidney for his mistress's aunt. He called the injury that destroyed my career "unfortunate." He thought he had broken me, turning me into a prisoner in his mansion, a source of spare parts. But he forgot who I was. With the help of my old mentor, I reclaimed my secret identity as the legendary developer "PixelVixen." And I sent the two words that would bring their empire crashing down: "I'm back."

Chapter 1 Chapter 1

I learned my three-year relationship was a lie from a conversation I was never supposed to hear.

My boyfriend, Hardin, the man I'd saved from a car wreck that ended my career, hadn't lost his memory. It was all a long con to steal my life's work-a revolutionary game engine-for his mistress, my old college rival.

The man who promised to protect me stood by as she publicly humiliated me, left a searing mark of her cruelty on my arm, and orchestrated a jolting betrayal in a darkened alley that left my spirit in pieces.

He plunged me into a chilling torrent of his anger when I fought back.

When I tried to leave, I discovered the chilling truth behind a hospital stay I barely remembered-a truth etched into my body as a permanent sacrifice for his mistress's family.

He called the injury that destroyed my career "unfortunate."

He thought he had broken me, turning me into a prisoner in his mansion, a source of spare parts.

But he forgot who I was.

With the help of my old mentor, I reclaimed my secret identity as the legendary developer "PixelVixen."

And I sent the two words that would bring their empire crashing down: "I'm back."

Chapter 1

Athena POV:

I learned my three-year relationship was a lie from a conversation I was never supposed to hear.

The heavy oak door to Hardin' s study was ajar, just a crack, but their voices sliced through the silence of the mansion, sharp and cold.

"Are you sure she won't suspect anything?" That was Carina Sparks. A voice like honey laced with arsenic.

"She trusts me completely," Hardin's voice, the same one that whispered promises in my ear every night, was confident, dismissive. "She thinks my amnesia is real. She thinks I' m devoted to her."

A cold dread, heavy and suffocating, began to pool in my stomach.

"The wedding is in two weeks. Hardin, I can't have any mistakes," Carina pressed, her tone sharpening. "Morrison Dynamics is banking everything on the 'Phoenix Engine.' My career is banking on it."

"It will be fine," Hardin soothed her. "Once we're married and the game is launched, she'll be irrelevant. I'll make sure the press release is perfect. Carina Sparks, the creative genius who revolutionized the industry."

"And Athena?"

"She'll be tucked away. I've already arranged for the private island. No internet, no cell service. She won't hear a thing about our wedding or the launch. She'll be perfectly content, thinking I'm on a business trip."

My body went rigid. Every muscle locked, frozen by the glacial chill of betrayal. The warmth of the coffee mug in my hands felt like a distant memory.

A pain, so sharp and unexpected it felt physical, stabbed through my chest. It was like my heart had been seized by an icy fist, squeezing until I couldn't breathe.

I stumbled back, my legs giving way. My back hit the cold wall of the hallway with a soft thud, the impact barely registering over the roaring in my ears.

My eyes burned, the sting of unshed tears blurring the ornate wallpaper in front of me.

Three years ago. A winding mountain road slick with rain. I saw his car lose control, a blur of black metal spinning towards the cliff's edge. I didn't think. I just acted. I pulled him from the wreckage moments before it plunged into the ravine below.

The cost was a network of shattered bones in my right wrist. My coding hand. The hand that had made me a legend in the indie game world, the anonymous developer known only as "PixelVixen." The surgery had left me with a web of scars and a permanent tremor that made typing code an exercise in futility. My career was over.

He had woken up in the hospital with no memory. Not of the crash, not of his life, not even of his own name. All he knew, he said, was my face. I was the first thing he saw, and he clung to me like a lifeline.

I stayed by his side, day and night. I read to him, helped him with physical therapy, and told him stories about the world he'd forgotten.

It was only later, when his executives found him, that I learned his name: Hardin Morrison, the ruthless CEO of Morrison Dynamics, a titan of the gaming industry. He was a world away from the vulnerable, gentle man I had come to know.

But he refused to leave my side. He said I was his only connection to reality, his anchor.

And he had been so good to me. So devoted. He treated my injured wrist as if it were a sacred relic, finding the best doctors, sourcing rare ointments that smelled of sandalwood and herbs.

When I was sick with the flu, he' d personally spoon-fed me soup, wiping my brow with a cool cloth, his eyes filled with a worry so profound it made my heart ache.

He filled my life with gestures that felt like something out of a fairy tale. He once flew to Paris for a day just to bring back a specific brand of watercolor paint I' d casually mentioned loving.

Just last month, he' d gotten down on one knee in this very house, a diamond ring in his hand that glittered with the light of a thousand promises. He told me he couldn' t imagine a future without me. He said we would get married as soon as my wrist was fully healed.

Now, that promise felt like a shard of glass in my gut. He was marrying someone else.

And not just anyone. Carina Sparks.

The name hit me like a physical blow. Carina, my old college rival. The one who stole my senior project, a rudimentary version of a game engine, passed it off as her own, and nearly got me expelled.

My breath hitched. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to force the pieces together.

"The Phoenix Engine is a masterpiece," Carina's voice purred from the study, dripping with satisfaction. "It's a shame her wrist was injured so badly. Such a talent, wasted."

"It was an unforeseen complication," Hardin said, his tone flat, devoid of any emotion. "The accident was only meant to get me close to her. Her getting hurt was... unfortunate."

Unfortunate. He called the injury that ended my career unfortunate.

"Just make sure she doesn't interfere," Carina warned. "If she finds out before the wedding..."

"She won't," Hardin cut her off. "I have her passport. And I've already had a new ID made for her under a different name. After the wedding, I'll tell her we need to get married quickly at a courthouse for tax purposes. She'll believe anything I say."

My breath caught in my throat. I wasn't just a placeholder. I was a pawn. A tool to be used and discarded.

The image of him on one knee flashed in my mind. His earnest expression, the weight of the ring in his palm, his voice thick with emotion as he promised me forever.

It was all for her. The care, the devotion, the promises. It was all a meticulously crafted performance to keep me compliant while he stole the one thing I had left-my genius-to build a throne for my worst enemy.

My legs finally gave out. I slid down the wall until I was a heap on the marble floor. A single, choked sob escaped my lips, and I quickly pressed my hand to my mouth to stifle the sound.

I cried for what felt like an eternity, silent tears tracking paths through the foundation I'd so carefully applied that morning. Then, through the haze of grief, a thought pierced the fog. A memory.

Scrambling to my feet, I ran to my bedroom, my movements frantic. I pulled a small, leather-bound notebook from my nightstand drawer. A notebook. A silly, sentimental thing I'd started after his accident.

I flipped through the pages. Each one was filled with my looping script, documenting Hardin's promises.

Item 1: He promised to take me to see the cherry blossoms in Japan once my wrist healed.

Item 2: He promised to build me a custom studio with a skylight.

Item 3: He promised our wedding would be on a beach at sunset, with only our closest friends.

My hands shook, the pages blurring through my tears. The words that had once been my greatest comfort were now instruments of torture.

With a raw cry that tore from my throat, I ripped the first page out. Then the next, and the next, tearing our fabricated history into tiny, meaningless pieces.

Just as the last page fluttered to the floor, my phone buzzed on the bed. A message from an unknown number.

"PixelVixen, the game world needs you. Are you ready for a comeback? - E.S."

E.S. Eliot Serrano. My former mentor. A respected indie publisher who had tried to recruit me years ago.

A bitter, broken laugh escaped my lips. It was a harsh, ugly sound. Comeback? My wrist was still a landscape of tender scars and unpredictable pain.

But then, I remembered the doctor's words from my last check-up. "Six more weeks, Athena. The final nerve graft is healing perfectly. You should have nearly full function back."

Six weeks.

A slow smile spread across my face, cold and sharp as a razor's edge. It didn't reach my eyes.

I picked up the phone, my fingers flying across the screen, the tremor in my right hand almost unnoticeable.

"Yes," I typed. "Give me two months."

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