Ariana’s POV

I was sitting in the chair beside Alan’s bed, and my hand was holding his. His skin was so pale. I could see the veins under his skin.

I had been sitting here for hours.

Just watching him sleep.

Just holding his hand. I didn’t want to let go. I was scared that if I let go, he would disappear. That this was all a dream. That I would wake up and he would be gone again.

The surgery has been done, and Asher was recovering, but no signs from Alan.

I watched his chest rise and fall.

The machine beside him beeped its steady rhythm. The same sound that had been filling Dante’s room for a month. Now it fills this room too.

His eyes fluttered, and my heart stopped. His eyelids opened slowly blinked against the light. He looked at the ceiling for a moment.

Then he turned his head, and his eyes found mine.

I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move. I just stared at him at my son. At the son I never knew I had.

He stared at me.

His eyes were confused.

Scared.

He pulled his hand away from mine and pushed himself up against the pillows. His body was shaking with the effort.

"Who are you?" His voice was small, hoarse, and scared.

Tears filled my eyes. I reached out to touch his face.

He flinched away.

"Don’t touch me," he said. "Who are you? Where is Margaret? Where is my dad?"

I pulled my hand back. My heart was breaking into a million pieces. "Alan," I said. My voice was shaking. "I’m your mother. I’m your mummy."

He stared at me, his face went pale. His eyes went wide. "What? No." He shook his head. "No, you’re lying...my dad told me my mother is dead. He said she died when I was a baby. Who are you? Why are you lying to me?"

I reached for him again.

He pushed my hand away.

His breathing was getting faster.

The machine started beeping louder.

"Alan, please," I said. "Please listen to me, I’m not lying.... I’m your mother... and right now I need you to stay calm, you’re recovering, I don’t want you hurting yourself, okay?"

His face crumpled as he broke into sobs. "No! You’re lying! My mother is dead! My father told me! He wouldn’t lie to me! He wouldn’t!"

He was crying now.

Sobbing.

The machine was beeping frantically.

The door burst open.

Nurses rushed in with Margaret.

"Alan, sweetheart, what’s wrong?" One of the nurses went to his side she put her hand on his forehead.

He grabbed her arm.

"Make her leave!" he cried. "I don’t know her!"

The nurse looked at me. Her eyes were confused and worried. "Ma’am, I think you need to step out. He’s getting too agitated. His heart rate is spiking."

I stood up with my legs shaking. My hands were shaking, everything was shaking. "I’m his mother," I said. "I just found out about him. I need to be here. I need to—"

"Please," the nurse said gently. "He’s not stable. His blood pressure is dropping. We need to calm him down. Please step outside."

I looked at Alan. He was crying in the nurse’s arms. His face was buried against her shoulder. He wouldn’t look at me. He wouldn’t even look at me.

"I’m sorry," I whispered. "I’m so sorry, Alan. I’ll come back."

He didn’t answer.

He just kept crying.

I walked out of the room. The door closed behind me. I leaned against the wall in the hallway my legs gave out.

I slid down to the floor.

The tears came. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

They came so fast I couldn’t stop them.

Dante did this.

Dante took my son.

Dante raised him.

Dante told him I was dead.

Dante let him grow up thinking his mother didn’t want him.

Thinking his mother was gone.

How could he? How could he do this? How could he take my baby and tell him I was dead? How could he let me mourn a child who was alive? How could he let Alan grow up without his mother? Without his twin? Without his family?

The pain was too much. It was crushing me. It was suffocating me; all I could feel was the hurt.

The betrayal.

The rage.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out with shaking hands.

Marcus.

I wiped my face.

Took a breath.

"Marcus?" My voice was hoarse.

"Ariana." His voice was strange. Heavy. "He woke up."

My heart stopped. "What? Dante? Dante woke up?"

"Yes. He’s awake. He’s talking, but Ariana... there’s something you need to know."

I stood up. My legs were weak, but I stood. "I’m coming. I’m on my way. Tell him I’m coming."

"Ariana, wait." Marcus’s voice was urgent. "You need to listen to me. He’s awake, but he’s not... he doesn’t remember."

I stopped. "What do you mean, he doesn’t remember?"

There was a pause.

A long pause.

I could hear Marcus breathing on the other end of the line.

"He doesn’t remember the last ten years," Marcus said slowly. "He doesn’t remember you. He doesn’t remember the children. He doesn’t remember our marriage. He thinks it’s 15 years ago. He thinks he’s about to marry Melissa."

The world stopped.

"What?" My voice was barely a whisper. "What are you saying?"

"When he woke up, he was asking for Melissa. The doctors said he has amnesia. He’s lost the last ten years of his memory."

I leaned against the wall because my legs wouldn’t hold me. I was going to fall. I was going to collapse.

The world was spinning.

"Ariana? Are you there? Ariana talks to me."

"He doesn’t remember me?" I said. The words felt like glass in my throat. "He doesn’t remember our children? Doesn’t he remember our life? He doesn’t remember any of it?"

"I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Ariana. The doctors said it could be temporary. It could come back, but right now he doesn’t remember. He’s living in the past. He thinks Melissa is his fiancée."

I slid back down to the floor.

My back against the wall.

My phone pressed against my ear as my whole body shook.

Not Dante took

"How is this happening?" I whispered. "How is this happening to me?"

"Ariana, you need to come to the hospital. The doctors want to talk to you. They want to explain what’s happening. They want to make a plan."

"A plan?" I laughed. It was a hollow sound. Empty. "What plan is there? My husband doesn’t remember me. My son doesn’t know me. My father stole my husband’s company. Melissa is winning, probably laughing at me. What plan is there, Marcus? What can possibly fix any of this?"

I closed my eyes, but the tears were still coming.

They wouldn’t stop.

I didn’t know if they ever would.

"Alan doesn’t want me," I said. "He thinks I’m dead. He thinks I’m a liar. He screamed at me and asked the nurses to make me leave."

"I don’t think I can handle this. I don’t know if I’m strong enough."

I ended the call, breaking into a new set of tears with my heart aching.

Just when I thought I had my life back together, everything was crashing down.