Chapter 7

"Haven't seen him in a while. Tell him to come home for dinner sometime. It's been too quiet around here!" her mom said while busying herself. "Sure! I'll set something up soon," Ariella replied sweetly. "You really grown up over the past couple years. Getting married really changes a person," her mom said with a smile, gently patting Ariella's head. They chatted for a bit longer before her parents left for work. Ariella then used the landline to call Dominic, asking him to come over so they could talk. "Hey, thanks for what you did at the wedding." "So? Did bringing a real pregnant woman crash the wedding like I planned?" he teased. Ariella gave a small shake of her head, sighing. "Fiona's brain must be wired wrong or something. She didn't suspect a thing." "So what now? Want me to come up with a way to split them up?" Dominic asked, half-joking. She shook her head again, this time more calmly. "No... I'm letting the agreement run its course. Once it's over in a few months, I'll leave quietly." "But that's not really why I called. I wanted to ask you about the car accident." The second she brought it up, something shifted in Dominic's expression. Slouching lazily before, he suddenly sat up straight. "What about the accident? You trying to hold me accountable?" he asked, quirking a brow. After all, he was behind the wheel that day. "No, nothing like that. It's just... Some people feel oddly familiar to me. And some of my courses-I pick them up like I already knew them. Dominic, were those two years really just me lying in bed, totally unconscious?" "Uh..." He hesitated, just enough to make her stomach twist. "Of course you were, silly girl." "No-you paused!" "I'm serious, stop digging. I can't say more," he muttered awkwardly. "Please," Ariella leaned in, practically begging. "I can't live not knowing. You've always looked out for me. Ever since we met after the accident, you've been like a real brother. Please, just tell me? I won't ask again, I promise." She scooted closer, grabbing his arm and giving it a playful shake, eyes wide with a pleading look. "Ugh... You always know how to twist my heart," he groaned. "Alright, I'll tell you. But you can't breathe a word of this to your parents. I promised them." "I won't say a word. Cross my heart-this stays between us," Ariella swore with all seriousness, heart already racing with anticipation and dread. "I don't remember everything... but I know it happened late at night." "Wait, what? I thought it was during the day..." Ariella frowned. "It was late at night, I remember it crystal clear. Around four years ago, I was driving past Southridge Villas and out of nowhere, you literally threw yourself in front of my car. I wanted to slam the brakes, but it was too late." Ariella was about to cut in-hadn't her accident happened six years ago? But Dominic was already lost in the memory, so she held back and just let him go on. "I totally freaked out. Got out of the car and saw you all covered in blood. And there was this guy next to you, yelling your name like crazy-‘Ellie,' I think?" That nickname... it felt weirdly familiar and yet distant. "The two of us rushed you to the hospital together. Your parents showed up soon after. You were out cold for days, and only after you woke up did I finally stop panicking. But then... you started saying you got into the accident when you were sixteen. Said it happened in broad daylight near the square, that the sun was in your eyes and you didn't see the car coming. "The guy who was with you that night? He vanished. Didn't leave a name or anything. Later your mom told me they wouldn't blame me. But she did ask me to go along with their story-that you'd had the accident two years earlier, when you were sixteen, and had been in a coma since. She said it was better that way. That remembering the truth might mess you up mentally." Ariella had hoped to finally get some answers. Instead, the more she learned, the more confused she felt. "Dominic, then why do I still remember walking near the square, squinting from the sunlight, and your car speeding toward me?" "I-I don't know. Maybe the crash scrambled some of your memory?" That one sentence hit her like a ton of bricks. No wonder she always felt like something was missing-her head full of broken fragments she couldn't quite piece together. Turns out, she only remembered everything up to sixteen. Everything between sixteen and eighteen, right before that accident-it was just... gone. What really happened during that time? What could've been so traumatic that people feared she'd break if she remembered? And that guy from back then-who was he? Lucian had once told her she wasn't a virgin when she turned eighteen. What did that mean? Could the vanished man have been... him? "You think... it could've been Lucian?" she kept her voice low. "Could it?" Dominic shot the question right back. "C'mon, I'm asking you!" "How would I know? I've never even seen the guy before. Got a pic of him?" "Nope. I'll describe him to you-he's super tall, like six foot one. Really handsome. His eyebrows are thick, super masculine. And his eyes, they kinda have this mixed-race look? Every time he stares at someone, it's like... he's seeing straight through you. His lips... Hey! Why are you laughing?" Ariella paused, realizing midway she sounded totally smitten despite always insisting she wasn't into him. Her face instantly flushed red.