My ex-wife got into a car crash and lost her memory. She turned into a twenty-year-old girl, her memories perfectly frozen at the time she loved me the most. “Declan Davies, so ten years from now, you’re my husband!” Chloe Hayes jumped off the hospital bed, her face alight with shock and joy. She rushed over, wrapping her arms around me in a tight embrace. “I’m not dreaming, am I? Oh my god, my secret crush actually came true!!” I stood there, stunned by her embrace, but my heart was filled with nothing but desolation. “Chloe,” I said softly, “You forgot. We divorced last month.” “And,” I added, my voice cold, “you cheated.” 0 During a time when everyone else was buzzing with holiday cheer, I was the biggest sucker, waiting bitterly outside City Hall. I waited all day. I waited until the staff went home, but my ex-wife never showed. Damn it. She was the one who proposed the divorce, the contracts were signed, and now she was playing hide-and-seek with the final paperwork? Seriously? My eyes blazed with fury as I furiously dialed her number. But her phone was off. By the time it was dark and City Hall closed, there was no way I was getting divorced today. I trudged into the parking lot, ready to drive away. Just as I started the car, my phone rang. “Hello, are you Ms. Chloe Hayes’s family? We’re from General Hospital. Ms. Hayes was in a car accident…” 0
Great. Couldn’t even get divorced, and now I was getting a scam call. Without a second thought, I spat, “Yes, I’m Chloe Hayes’s husband. Is she dying? Don’t waste medical resources, just let her go!” “Yes, I said it. I’ll take full responsibility. Just wheel her straight to the morgue!” The person on the other end was clearly taken aback. “Ms. Hayes just has a fractured leg…” The doctor sounded young, clearly not used to dealing with frantic family members. His voice was a bit shaky. “We’ve already put a cast on her leg and set the bone. Would it be convenient for you to come down?” His words were vague. I frowned, a strange feeling stirring in my gut, but I politely waved it off. “No need. A fracture isn’t a big deal. I’m very busy, so I won’t be coming.” “Oh…” He sounded a little disappointed, but still asked, “Also, Ms. Hayes was in the car accident with Mr. Brandon Lee. We can’t reach Mr. Lee’s family. Do you know him?” At the mention of that name, I instantly perked up. “I know him. What happened to him?” “He’s severely injured, with extensive contusions all over his body. His hand might be permanently disabled, and he’ll have large scars…” “I’ll be right there!!!” I was overjoyed, practically bursting with delight as I yelled, “General Hospital, right? Which floor, which room? I’ll be there in twenty minutes!!!” Doctor: “We’re in the West Wing, fifth floor…” I hung up immediately, slamming my foot on the gas. My black SUV shot out like a shark, cutting forcefully into the bustling traffic. After that call, the gloom that had hung over me instantly dispersed. Yeah, my ex-wife broke her leg in a crash, who cares about her? But— That pretty boy getting disfigured, potentially left with a lifelong disability? That kind of good news doesn’t come around often. How could I miss a show like that?! 0
When it came to Chloe Hayes, I was completely indifferent. But hearing Brandon Lee was disfigured, I raced there, even impatient for the hospital elevator, practically scrambling up five flights of stairs. I was genuinely anxious, terrified I’d miss it. The doctors couldn’t believe how fast I arrived. With a beaming face and overflowing excitement, I burst into the ward. “Where’s Brandon Lee? How’s his hand disabled? How big are the scars? Let me see! Let me see!” Everyone in the room stared at me, their faces awkward. I wasn’t awkward at all. I just felt a surge of pure joy. “Where is he? Where is he??” But the next second, the curtain around the bed opened. Chloe Hayes, one leg in a full cast, looked at me with a bewildered, uncertain expression. My face instantly darkened. Yet, she gazed at me, her voice trembling, and confused. “Are you… are you Declan Davies’s… brother?” Me: “?!” I scoffed. “I’m your father!” That comment seemed to hit something in Chloe. She clutched her head, a pained expression on her face, and collapsed back onto the bed. The doctor pulled me out of the room and explained, “Ms. Hayes has a concussion, and her memory is scrambled. She answers general knowledge questions fine, but when we ask her age, she says she’s twenty…” I wasn’t listening properly. The doctor seemed to catch on. “Mr. Lee’s room is on the sixth floor. He’s still not entirely out of critical condition. You can see him through the glass.” Without a word, I sprinted off. Everyone exchanged bewildered glances. When I finally reached the sixth floor and saw Brandon Lee… I personally saw this pretty boy, who had destroyed my marriage, and who had been strutting around like a peacock just days ago. Now he lay there, covered in bandages, his right hand strangely curled into a deformed claw. His once handsome face was a mess of injuries. Out of common decency, I almost felt a pang of pity. But then I thought of what he’d done to me, and my sense of decency vanished instantly. I was no longer a decent person. 0
When I returned to the fifth floor, I immediately pulled out the cash from my wallet, ready to hand out bonuses to everyone present. Yes. I wanted everyone to share in my happiness. And they certainly did. The doctor’s hand trembled slightly as he took the money. “Mr. Davies, the patient’s condition is a bit complex, and our medical facilities here are limited…” I waved my hand dismissively, feeling utterly generous. “She thinks she’s twenty? Then she’s twenty. Doesn’t matter.” “I think you guys are great! Treat her. If she dies or gets worse, I won’t make a fuss!” A heavy silence fell, everyone speechless. They had nothing to say. In the room were doctors, nurses, and huddled in a corner, Chloe’s secretary and lawyer. They were so desperate not to be seen by me, they squeezed themselves into a corner, trying to disappear. I smirked. “I can’t speak for Chloe’s treatment.” Finally, I admitted to the doctor, “Although we haven’t completed the legal procedures, we’ve already signed the divorce agreement. I can no longer act on her behalf.” “These are her assistant and lawyer.” I pointed to the corner. The people I pointed at visibly flinched. They were too ashamed to face me, shrinking further away. “You should consult with them,” I said. The secretary and lawyer were just meekly nodding. Seeing that, I found it hilarious. “You guys helped with the divorce, but you’re just employees.” I pulled out a cigarette, placed it between my lips, but didn’t light it. I gave them a smile. “No need to be afraid of me. I’m not a bad guy.” The secretary stood there awkwardly, utterly mortified. And the lawyer, who seemed young and a bit stiff, actually blushed at my smile. Her pretty, scholarly face, even with her wire-rimmed glasses, couldn’t maintain its professional composure. “Mr. Davies,” the lawyer’s face was flushed. She told me, “You didn’t have to come…” “Hmm.” I was in a good mood, and quite nonchalant. “I’m actually about to leave now.” At those words, the curtain around the bed was suddenly pulled open. Chloe had just endured another headache and was now lucid. The secretary rushed to her side. But Chloe, with her twenty-year-old memory, looked around, completely ignoring her own trusted confidantes. She stared at me, her expression bewildered, hazy. “Declan… how did you become like this?” “You look… a little older.” I touched my face. Right. It had been ten years, after all. Who wouldn’t age? I didn’t bother arguing with this potentially insane woman, nor did I feel like responding. I simply turned and walked away. But then, a loud thud sounded behind me. It was Chloe, dragging her broken, cast-clad leg off the bed. She’d lost her balance and fallen. She lay on the floor, frantically scrambling towards me, like a madwoman. “Declan, don’t go!” The secretary rushed to help her up, but Chloe pushed her away. This CEO, with the memory of a twenty-year-old, no longer recognized her own key personnel. Her face was a mix of confusion, disbelief, and urgent desperation. “I don’t even know you!” “Leave me alone!!” “Declan, wait for me, take me with you!” She lay on the ground, shouting towards the door, feeling utterly abandoned, desperately calling out for her only lifeline. “Don’t leave me behind!” 0
I had already stepped out of the ward door. Hearing the commotion, I was genuinely startled and turned to look. Chloe Hayes was a scorching hot tech new blood. She had started from scratch, gained fame young, and by twenty-five or twenty-six, she was a renowned female CEO. Everyone respectfully called her “Little CEO Hayes.” Along with her fame came her reputation for being strict, cold, hard to get along with, and keeping people at arm’s length. Now, she was sprawled on the floor, completely losing her composure, frantically crawling towards me— I suddenly walked back, knelt in front of her, and asked, “Do you really only recognize me?” “Who am I?” Chloe reached out and grabbed my arm without any hesitation. She was clearly terrified I’d run off again. Chloe answered without missing a beat: “You’re Declan Davies, you live next door to me. Your dad is Mr. Davies, your mom is a high school teacher, and you’re severely allergic to peanuts and seafood. Just a tiny bit and your whole body swells up.” That… that was all perfectly accurate. My mouth twitched. “You… you think you’re twenty, right?” “Then think about it, when we were twenty, we were sophomores in college. Look at your face now, do you look like a college student?” Chloe touched her face, then looked at me. For some reason, her face actually turned red. Me: “…” “I, I heard the doctor call you.” Chloe, dragging her broken leg, sat on the floor. Her expression was very serious, but her gaze started to drift back and forth. “I know I’m not twenty. The moment I saw you, I knew. I must have hit my head and forgotten these past few years.” She squeezed my arm, and finally said, “You… you’re my husband now.” I didn’t say anything. At that moment, I felt exhausted. After all, before coming here, I had already spent a grueling day waiting at City Hall, witnessing countless couples marry, and countless others part in bitterness. There, I had told myself that when Chloe and I finally separated, I wouldn’t be consumed by such love, hate, and anger. At the very end, I wanted to maintain my composure. I was a man who valued his dignity. But I never expected this stupid Chloe, who apparently didn’t value her life, to recklessly swerve at high speed and crash into a barrier with that pretty boy. So I stood up then— Because Chloe was clutching my arm, refusing to let go. I had no choice but to pull her up with me. With one leg in a cast, Chloe had to stand on one foot. She watched the secretary and lawyer warily, like an injured animal separated from its pack. To get away, I pulled the secretary over and told her, “You are Chloe Hayes, thirty years old.” “You are currently the founder and CEO of Longview Tech. This is your secretary and company legal counsel. You can trust them.” Chloe looked at them, frowning. I smiled at her. “Even if you don’t remember, congratulations. Chloe, at thirty, you’ve truly made it big.” But she just stared at me blankly. She said, “How many years have we been married?” I was very patient. “Five years.” Chloe mentally calculated the time, her eyes starting to drift again. “We ended up together right after college graduation, so… do we have any children?” I paused. “Yes,” I said calmly. “But at four months, we couldn’t keep the baby.” Chloe took a step back. Those words seemed to stab her like a needle. She instinctively released my arm, and her body began to tremble. But she herself didn’t know where this sudden reaction came from. She stood there blankly, shaking violently. A sudden pain assaulted her, tearing at her heart, even making her lose control. “I…” She clutched her head again, pain wracking her as she said, “Declan, our… I…” I watched with cold eyes, unaffected. Until Chloe, still clutching her head, collapsed again. With my hands in my pockets, I watched her tremble as she fell back onto the hospital bed, her features contorted, her head clutched in her hands, tears streaming down her face. Doctors and nurses rushed to her side, everyone else caught off guard. In the midst of the chaos, I told the secretary, “Please reschedule. Book an appointment at City Hall. We’ll finalize the paperwork next Wednesday.” The secretary looked at me in a panic. She hesitated, unsure what to say. But I had already turned and left. 0
I got married when I was twenty-five. The timing was neither too early nor too late, right when we were at our poorest. Back then, I couldn’t even scrounge up a hundred bucks. So I bought a fifty-eight-dollar strawberry cake, lit candles, and proposed to Chloe with it. It wasn’t just simple. It was downright shabby. Most couples who achieve their happily-ever-after have flowers, diamond rings, and romantic dinners. We only had that cake. We squeezed into a rented apartment, eating cake, getting it all over our faces. After the cake, we were still hungry, so I went into the tiny kitchen and cooked instant noodles. The kitchen was cramped, the whole room filled with steaming vapor from the pot. Chloe suddenly walked in and said, “How about we get married?” I paused, then said, “Okay.” Just like that, we finished our noodles, and the next day we went to City Hall, got our license, and became legally wed. We had been neighbors since childhood, childhood sweethearts. My heart mirrored hers, from naive youth all the way to thirty, when we were supposed to be established. No lost loves, no sneaky rivals, no sudden interlopers. We were soulmates, fighting side by side. Finally, at thirty, my company secured several projects through its technology, and investments poured in like a tidal wave. We rode that wave, reversing our fortunes directly to become city new money. But at thirty-one, I caught Chloe and her male secretary, Brandon, in the act. Our marriage shattered instantly. At that very moment, it was in my own home. Chloe lay on the bed, still hungover, unaware of what was happening when we burst in. I grabbed a bottle of mineral water and splashed it directly on her face. Meanwhile, Brandon Lee, wrapped in a towel, was cornered in the bathroom by my friends. With so many of my friends backing me up, he was utterly panicked, practically wanting to grovel. “It… it was Ms. Hayes who asked me to stay with her!” He stammered, “As an intern, how could I refuse my boss…?” Is that all? My friends immediately started rolling up their sleeves, ready to throw punches. “If I’d known you had this kind of talent, I would’ve transferred you to the marketing department,” I smiled at him, a chilling smile. “Our client, Mr. Thompson, likes young guys. Since you can’t refuse people, why not take advantage of the situation and close that deal? Your year-end bonus would be more than a hundred grand!” Brandon hadn’t expected my mind to work in such mysterious ways. For a moment, he was speechless. Seeing that I was actually planning to exploit him, Brandon could only cling to the single towel that covered him, weakly trying to argue. “I’m sincere about Chloe.” How low-level was this kept man? How stupid could one person be? At the time, I even laughed at his foolishness, but my laughter quickly died. Because Chloe wiped the water from her face, got dressed, and calmly rose from the bed, proposing divorce to me. Yes. She was ready to divorce me. Disregarding the loss of shared assets, ignoring the company’s business operations— She was determined, resolved to take the wedding ring off my finger within three months—she even packed her things that very night and moved out of our home. I raged, I cursed, I even trashed the company office. But our marriage was already in ruins. This severely impacted my mental state, leading to me getting stabbed in the back by her trusted secretary during the divorce negotiations. In the divorce agreement, the company was no longer mine, and I would only get a third of our shared assets; even the house my parents paid for, our marital home, Chloe wanted half of. I couldn’t believe it. But it was too late, the damage was done. Just as I finally accepted reality and agreed to the divorce, that foolish woman, Chloe, got into a car accident and lost her memory. 0
Chloe truly remembered nothing. Years of experience had vanished instantly. With one car accident, she had literally achieved the impossible: “After years in the cutthroat world, she was back to being an innocent girl.” Company operations, business dealings, all that complicated stuff—she understood none of it. Chloe, with her memory frozen at twenty, could only solve college-level math problems; she couldn’t manage a company. She sat there, looking at the documents Sarah brought, her mind a complete blank. But—she still remembered me. I couldn’t even recall what I looked like at twenty. But twenty-year-old Chloe was so vibrant and lovely, it was hard to pretend not to see her. Especially since I was the only person she recognized. 0
To be honest, the one thing that truly surprised me after all these years was Chloe’s trusted secretary, Sarah, and her unbelievable nerve. After all, when Chloe and I were going through our messy divorce, that woman had screwed me over big time. This trusted secretary had secretly helped Chloe transfer company shares, then used the board of directors to kick me out of the game. She stripped me of my management and control over the company, and a lot of my equity. It cost me at least fifty million dollars. Out of all our marital assets, I only got a third. That last time at the hospital, I was just being polite, putting on a bit of a show. But what I never expected was that she’d take my politeness literally. That trusted secretary actually brought Chloe directly to my house to corner me. Because Chloe wanted to see me. Sarah used me as bait, fooling the extremely immature CEO into acting like a proper executive and attending an important meeting. Then, she fulfilled her promise and brought Chloe to find me. 0
When they arrived, I was in the middle of moving. The day I caught Chloe cheating, she moved directly out of our shared house. With the divorce looming, I naturally couldn’t live there anymore either. My friend had found me an apartment, and I’d completed the purchase last month. Most things were already set up, but I couldn’t bear to leave the good furniture behind. I figured I might as well take it. After all, none of these belongings were cheap, and that house was about to get a new male occupant to enjoy them. So, it was better if I just moved out. Therefore, the atmosphere when we met was… delicate. Sarah was incredibly awkward, seeing as she’d cost me so much money. And I felt a bit guilty too, given that I was secretly moving our marital assets. This time, Sarah decided to strike first. She proactively said to me, “Declan, you know, I’m just an employee. Each to their own boss, right?” “Ms. Hayes gave me my big break, so I couldn’t afford to be confused on such an important matter.” I rolled my eyes at her. Right, right. A big break, so she’d die for her boss. So I was just supposed to take it? She only lost her boss, but I lost a solid fifty million dollars! The two of us were muttering to each other on the balcony, while Chloe had already explored the entire house. When she saw Sarah and me whispering intimately, she instantly looked unsettled. She walked over and pulled us apart. She pointed at the packed moving boxes and asked, “Is this going to be our new home? I thought this house was perfectly fine. Why are we moving out now?” “Or are we moving to a bigger, grander place?” I looked at her. “I’m moving out. You’re still living here.” Chloe didn’t understand. I said coldly, “Because we finalized our divorce last month. The reason was your infidelity.”
I was completely unprepared for Chloe’s reaction. When she heard my words, she first froze, then burst into laughter, as if she’d heard the most absurd joke in existence. She clutched her stomach, her laughter hearty and clear. “Don’t joke like that,” twenty-year-old Chloe said, still laughing. “Why would I ever divorce you?” I looked at her, my expression calm. “There’s no endless feast, even you and I will eventually part ways.” “Impossible,” she declared, cutting me off. Her words shot out without thought. “If you said we never got together, fine. But since we’re married, there’s no way I’d ever leave you.” Her words made me want to laugh. Because she truly had forgotten so much. She’d forgotten the cruel, even harsh, and incredibly unfavorable property division that I had to endure; She’d forgotten the cold, still, numb expression on her face when she placed that divorce agreement in front of me. She’d forgotten saying to me herself, “Let’s just end it. We’ll both be free.” That’s how Chloe was, with her memory stuck at twenty. She remembered nothing, knew nothing, blindly believing that our future together was destined, that we’d be forever united, never to be separated. So, at that moment, malice churned in my heart. Why was it always me, the man, who got hurt or victimized? No. I wanted to hurt her too. I wanted to make her suffer. So, I asked her in return, “Why?” “Why do you think we won’t part ways?” Chloe looked at me. At that moment, the twenty-year-old and thirty-year-old versions of her seemed to merge, converging into one. But her gaze was so focused, so earnest. She looked at me intently and said, “Because I’ve liked you for so many years.” “After finally getting you, how could I ever let go?”
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