The Lie That Erased My Life

ur wedding day gave him amnesia, and his family used it as an excuse to erase me. For five years, I watched another woma

rd him talking

my life." He admitted our whole relationship was a lie-a

is new fiancée announ

ad orchestrated five years of my torment, from the

e broke me.

s broadcast with the whole world watching, I'm going to expos

pte

Mile

love is

und, a gaping chasm I willingly fell into, only to

hought I'd finally found my fairyt

forget me, watching his family erase me,

ved orchestrated my to

the kind they write about in boo

rvor that swept me off my feet. He showered me with gifts, whispered pr

d, proving his devotion with a fierce, al

thout me, that I was his ox

ed our union, their disdain

ll. He promised to break free from their gilded cage, t

ned, I

atant snubs from his parents, Craig and Henrietta. For h

niverse of private jets, sprawli

side of the tracks, found mysel

firm on my lower back, a possessive claim. He convinced me that their disap

e grew into a

the last. He filled Times Square with my pictures, bought a full-page ad in The New York Times

intensity, but his persi

eart overflowing with a hope

ited whispers, and the scent of a thousand roses.

adiant smile on my face, a sharp, m

ening

ed, then plung

ith the smell of antiseptic. My head throbbed,

car crash. A drunk driver had veered into our mo

t barely. He had a t

w him, his eyes were blank.He

ed, his voice flat, d

en him from me. It h

ery whispered secret, e

as

es, their faces tight with a mixture

her voice a venomous whisper. "You were always a

he accident, for Dayton's condition,

s hospital room, then

ma," Craig declared, his words a

r eyes, meant erasin

t haunting the edges of

idy Mclea

pharmaceutical dynasty rivaling the Reeds. She was

s shadow, his care

throat, as she gently tutored him on his "past,"

, on society pages, holding hands, smiling. He looked a

ces every time, each shard carving a

med internally, he j

notes, reminding him of our secret picnic spots, our f

peat, a chilling echo

pped, that the real Dayton was still

rigger a memory. I carried our first anniversary gift

n in the gard

holding out the box. "R

tched the box, his fingers closing aroun

spat, his voic

st a stone fountain, the pieces

grip bruising, and drag

st the gravel, pain shooting up my arm, but it was nothing compared to the agony in m

t," he threatened, his voice low and dangerous. "I don't kno

hysical blow, worse tha

ve. Cassidy stood beside them, a smirk playing on her lips, her arm linked thro

voice dripping with fake concern. "She's

a speck of dirt, then he turned back to C

estures he had made to win my heart-they

man who once declared me his reason for bei

rough the wrought iron. Dayton and Cassidy were dancing, bathed in the soft glow of fairy li

cold, hard knot of j

oice carry through the night air. He was talking to his father, the

voice laced with a bitterness I hadn't heard before. "And al

an cold. G

onement for the Miles family. Their parents died in our

o the shadows, a dizzying wa

a Reed-owned plant, a tragedy I had always believed was a terrible, i

uckled, a cruel, mirthless s

ot Cassidy, and solidified my position. Who kne

s. My world, already

aked

the cold rejections-all a lie

in, my slow destruction. My parents' dea

himmering gown, glided over to the

, "I have wonderful n

across his lips. "That's incredible, my love!" he

remaining air from my lungs. A baby. Their baby.

ultimate betrayal. My heart didn't ju

n to her dominated every gossip column and social media feed. My name was dra

with pity or disgust. I walked through the city,

m

no more tears, no mor

ew, the one who loved

g new, something hard and un

t.My break

ve. I would

face the crushing re