A look of surprise flashed past his eyes and his face lit up as the corners of his lips twitched upwards to a smile
"You do? You remember me now?" He asked in a hast, hope gleaming in his dark brown eyes as we locked eyes.
He rushed forward, reaching his arms up, wanting to pull me into a hug but I stepped away to create a distance between us. I watched as his face fell in an instant as he looked at me with a puzzled look etched onto his face.
"What's wrong?" He asked with a tiny frown resting between his brows.
"Why didn't you tell me the truth?" I asked, my voice trembling ever so slightly as a hint of doubt laced the words that left my lips. Then it clicked in my head as realisation dawned upon me the very next second. "Was that why you didn't want me to meet your parents? Were you afraid that they were going to reveal the truth and spoil it all for you? Did you do something?" I questioned this time, my words dripping with accusation.
There was a brief pause as silence enveloped us both and the air crackled with unspoken tension as we continued to keep our gaze on one another.
"Yes, I didn't want you to know the truth," he admitted after what seemed like an eternity, his voice remained unwavering. He hesitated for a moment before the next few words rolled off the tip of his tongue. "I didn't want you to find out because… I was afraid you would leave me again like you did 3 years ago, and vanished into thin air…" his voice cracked towards the end of the sentence as his features softened.
I couldn't lie, the look on his face hurt me. I reached out and we interlocked our fingers as our eyes met.
"Xavier… I didn't leave you. I loved you with all my heart and I was excited for our wedding," I confessed. "All I could remember was that I woke up in the hospital and the next thing I knew… my mother was packing our things up and moving to another state without a single explanation. She didn't once mention your name at all to me."
Then I felt my heart once again sink to the pit of my stomach when I realised that my mother had been keeping me away from him all these years for god knows why.
The silence felt heavy, like it was weighing me down. "She didn't tell me that I was once engaged… to you…"
A cold chuckle emerged from his throat when he finally understood what happened over 3 years ago.
"I called you and texted you every single day back then, but there was no reply. I didn't know that you were in an accident and so I went to your house to find you, hoping to see you once again. But your mother told me that you left the country to study art with another man. I was angry at first, betrayed and heartbroken but I came to accept it eventually… until I saw you collapse on the side of the road on a rainy day 3 years later."
His words were like knives stabbing at my chest as my mind registered the words that echoed in my ears.
The last few years of my life were all just a lie… I was living in another reality that wasn't supposed to be mine.
"My mum… she lied to you and she lied to me…" I mumbled more to myself as a frown crept onto my face. I looked up at him. "I don't… I don't understand. Why? Why would she do that? Why would she hide this from me? Why did she lie?" Hot tears stung my eyes and soon enough, tears started streaming down my flushed red cheeks as I broke down crying in his arms.
He simply wrapped his arms around me, holding me close to him the entire time I was sobbing.
I looked up to meet his eyes and he wiped the tears off my face. "How did you know? How did you know about my amnesia? How did you know to check my records?" I asked this time, my voice laced with a hint of curiosity as my eyes held his captive.
"It just clicked inside my head. Since I saw the scar on your thigh and you told me that you didn't remember much after your accident. Then the day where we first locked eyes in the hospital popped into my head. And everything suddenly made sense…" his voice trailed off and his mind buzzed with thoughts. "Your mother lied to me."
***
I showed up at the Lloyd's mansion again. This time, I was demanding to see my mother.
"Jennifer!" I yelled, a look of determination plastered across my face. "Come out here! We need to talk!"
"Ma'am, I'm going to need you to leave," one of the guards commanded as he stepped forward, putting his arm up between us to maintain a distance.
I looked up at him and my eyes fell on his face. "I need to see my mother today," I deadpanned with a serious expression hanging on my face. "I need to talk to her. Get her out here and I will leave."
As if on cue, my mother walked out of the front gate with an expression of disapproval and disdain that masked her features.
"Have you shouted enough yet? You are lucky they are not home yet," She snapped in frustration, her voice carrying a sharp edge to it. "What are you doing here causing a nuisance in broad daylight?" She asked, narrowing her eyes right at me.
"We need to talk."
"There's nothing we need to talk about." She spun on her heels to leave when I reached out and wrapped my fingers around her arm to hold her back. "Let go of me!" She shrieked, her high-pitched voice piercing through the air.
I was unfazed by her as I tightened my grip around her arm. "I'm not letting you go until you answer my questions," I insisted with a firm voice as I glared at her with a fiery blaze in my dark eyes.
"I don't have any answers for you!" She snarled with a disdainful scorn as our eyes met.
"After the accident, I woke up…Why didn't you tell me about Xavier? Why did you lie to him that I went abroad with another man?!" I yelled this time, unable to hold back the anger that was boiling beneath the surface.
I watched as her eyes widened slightly and a look of surprise flashed past her eyes in a fleeting moment as I released my grip on her but I was still staring at her, anger swimming in my dark eyes.
"How did you…"