hite light h

ing to focus.

in a hos

bbed, a dull

, her face etched with wo

You're

s a lifeline

ried to sit up, but a sharp

were in an acci

hair, the roar of my custom café racer, the thrill of a late-night ride. I was twe

... is i

n tightened. "Ava

me I was

nty

years

coma for three days a

s someone else here

cably dressed, his face hand

n Ha

urrounded by an air of serious business. I'd seen him kissing some blon

oice flat, devoid of

a, this is Ethan. Ethan Hayes

sb

me like a p

head. "That's not possible. I

ooked at Chloe, then back

some memory loss," he stated, as

I remember my art, my bike. I don't remem

my hand. Her tou

You and Ethan have been

r y

I lose five years? How c

question raw. "Why

question in her eyes. He gave a

families. Miller Estates and Hayes Hospitality. It was a merger,

al. I was a b

ng dread in my stomach. "My st

ou gave it up, Ava. After you married Ethan

cid. Mrs. Hayes. Not

this stranger's life I was supposedly living. "My phoeni

"A long time ago. You said... you

phoenix?

over me. This wasn't m

, remembering the large, intricate phoenix that covered

removed, Ava. Laser remova

ed. E

had bee

who was supposedly my husband. Hi

od, promising to have his assistant arrange things. My head was cleare

y phone, a sleek,

'Husband'," she sai

it. Pres

g. And

l voice answered. "Mr. Hayes

n. His a

n," I said, my voice tig

y important meeting. He left instructions n

crash that he apparently knows about. I think t

r this time. I could

r. Hayes asks if you are d

ne wen

u

red a life with for four years, coul

d fierce, sur

," I told Chloe, stru

u're not str

tch

othes Chloe had brought. My body

headquarters, a towering glass and

was opul

ding for the executive elevators.

can I he

ee Ethan Hayes

He probably heard tha

him. Ethan. Striding out of a

nde w

im kissing five years ago. She was loo

alled out, m

His eyes, cold and d

right th

issive frown on his face. "Who is that?"

– triumph? – in her eyes. "No idea, Mr.

ding there, a stranger in my own life, publicly

n burned t

ck, tears sti

I exited the building,

hat hap

ed he didn't know

There's something else you need to know. Abou

ced m

business reasons, to avoid unsettling the markets with a public merger of the families. But... it als

i

neered my

all pressed down

And what