The Amnesia Alibi Chapter 1

The day I got into a car accident, my best friend Sienna insisted I use it to test my boyfriend.

"Just say you have amnesia. See how he reacts."

Unable to argue with her, I nodded.

When Julian Vance rushed into the hospital room, looking anxious, I pretended not to know him.

"Who are you?"

The next second, Sienna linked her arm with his.

"Silly, this is my boyfriend. Don't you recognize him?"

Her hand trembled slightly, staring at Julian with eyes full of expectation.

Julian froze for a moment, then held her hand.

He whispered: "Yes, I am Sienna's boyfriend."

I looked at them for a while.

Suddenly laughed out loud: "Should I congratulate you then?"

Hearing this, Julian's face sank instead.

* * *

I didn't understand.

What was he unhappy about?

And I didn't care to think.

Staring at their intertwined arms, my mind went blank.

One was my best friend of fifteen years.

Hearing I was hit by a car, she ran so hard she broke her heel.

The other was my boyfriend of seven years, whom I was about to marry.

A 2000-mile distance, a 3-hour flight, he arrived in 3 hours.

Were they pranking me together?

But today isn't April Fools'.

Just as this thought popped up, Sienna stood on her toes and kissed the corner of Julian's lips lightly.

"Julian, I told you Hazel would bless us."

"You were worried for nothing, refusing to tell her."

She turned to me, smiling brightly.

"Hazel, you will, right?"

I felt like an invisible hand was choking my throat. I couldn't speak.

No cameras in the corner. No one recording my clown-like frozen face.

This wasn't a prank show.

I couldn't help looking at Julian.

He turned his head slightly, avoiding my gaze.

Eyelashes fluttering rapidly, locking away the truth I wanted to know.

Just last night, he looked at me with those same eyes on video call, as if I was the only one in his world.

"Hazel, I'll fly back tomorrow night and take you home."

"This time, no matter how my parents object, I will marry you."

He came back early.

But the promise seemed void.

I pinched my palm hard, forcing a smile.

"When did you... get together?"

Throat dry, I whispered: "How... how did I not know?"

Sienna smiled sweetly.

Just as she was about to speak, I interrupted softly: "Don't let her do all the talking. I want to hear what your boyfriend says."

I stared at Julian, nails digging a bloody mark into my palm.

Dull pain.

He pursed his lips unconsciously: "Start of the year."

The tone was the gentleness engraved in my bones.

That hand I could recognize with my eyes closed was holding someone else.

"We met on a blind date, felt a connection, so we got together."

I froze.

The Vance family is a famous academic dynasty. Both parents are professors at Ivy League schools.

Me? My father is in prison, mother remarried years ago.

At the beginning of the year, Julian's mother threatened suicide to force him to go on blind dates.

I had insomnia all night and proposed breaking up.

Wishing him happiness.

Julian stood downstairs in the rain all day.

He hugged me, trembling all over.

"Hazel, I only want you. Let's not break up, please?"

I touched his face, unable to distinguish between tears and rain.

So, it was all fake?

"Hazel."

Sienna interrupted my thoughts.

"Actually, Julian and I are a better match, aren't we?"

Right.

Sienna's parents are also professors. A perfect match for the Vances.

She smiled.

"It doesn't matter if you forgot the past due to amnesia. Now, it's your turn to bless me."

My heart suffocated.

I remembered the summer after high school graduation. I excitedly ran to tell Sienna that Julian and I were dating.

She widened her eyes, dropping her water glass.

Crash. Glass shattered everywhere.

"How? Julian rejected even the Prom Queen. How could he..."

I was too anxious pulling her away from the shards.

Forgot to think deeply about the complex emotions in her eyes.

Time changes things.

We swapped roles.

I drank some water, swallowing the bitterness in my throat.

As if swallowing those sharp shards from years ago.

Just as I was about to speak, the doctor pushed the door open.