"Isabel? What are you doing at the hospital?"

I squatted down in surprise and pulled Isabel Frazier into my arms. She was my little companion during my amnesiac days.

During my time in the hospital, I was terrified and lost. It felt like someone had hollowed out a massive hole in my heart.

I drifted through the days in a constant dazed state and felt completely at a loss, like a piece of driftwood tossed about by a storm. I even struggled with the most basic tasks.

Isabel was the one who had patiently taught me, as if she were guiding a preschooler. She stayed with me, talked to me, and kept me company, so I felt less lonely in the hospital.

"She fell off the swing while playing and hit her head, so we're here to get it checked," her uncle, Fredric Moss, explained. His eyes lit up when he saw me, as if he was clearly pleased.

"Oh, no. Are you okay? Does it hurt?" I worriedly ruffled Isabel's hair.

She hugged my neck and nuzzled my cheek. "I'm okay. I just really missed you."

"I missed you, too."

As Fredric watched us tenderly, his refined features softened into a trace of concern. "Why are you here? Are you sick? Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine. My son had an allergic reaction, so we came to the hospital."

"Oh… That's good," he said with a relieved sigh, then quickly corrected himself. "Wait—that's not what I meant. Is your son okay?"

I couldn't help laughing. "He's fine. He just needs an IV."

Fredric was about to say more when Jude's angry voice rang out behind us. "Serena!"

I turned around to see Jude's gaze shift from Fredric to my face. The smile on my face made him frown.

"Oliver's crying."

I immediately looked over at Oliver. The swelling on his face had partially subsided. Maybe the allergic reaction was too uncomfortable because his eyes were full of tears.

Crying, he angrily and anxiously pointed at Isabel. "Who is she?"

"This is Isabel. She kept me company while I was in the hospital.

"Stop crying now. It'll feel uncomfortable if tears get on your skin. Besides, as the older one, you should set a good example for the little one."

Something about my words seemed to make him even angrier because he started crying and shouting, "I don't know her! Get out! I don't want you taking care of me!"

Oliver had never liked me. He had tried to kick me out of his room more times than I could count.

Seeing him get so worked up that blood started backing up into his IV tube, I turned around and immediately walked out.

I didn't stick around to see him pull a face and start sobbing harder the moment I was gone.

After raising the pay several times, I finally found a nanny who was willing to come in for a tryout. I told Jude and Oliver in advance, "I've found a suitable nanny who'll come by later. Since you'll both be home, you can see if she fits."

Oliver, who had been inexplicably quieter and less hostile since the hospital incident, spoke up in a small voice. "Mom… I-I thought you didn't like having strangers in the house."

It felt like a lifetime since he had called me "Mom." Usually, it was just "hey, you" or my name.

Whenever I scolded him, he would just get more rebellious and say he didn't like a mom like me, and that Maddie was a thousand times better.

For a second, I was so startled that goosebumps crept up my skin. I brushed aside the discomfort and let out a dry laugh. "Having a nanny will make things easier."

Jude adjusted his glasses and chimed in, "It's probably for the best that you're taking a break, but…"

He gave a light snort and continued, "Don't find some ridiculous excuse to fire her once she's here, like claiming she's trying to seduce me."

The mention of my embarrassing past made me cringe so hard my scalp tingled.

That was just what being helplessly in love had done to me.

I remembered that when a nanny had simply forgotten her clothes and stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, I decided she was trying to seduce Jude and kicked her out of the house the same night.

Thankfully, losing and regaining my memory shook off that lovesick mentality. Otherwise, who knew how much more humiliation I would have caused?

Just as I was about to promise it would never happen again, the doorbell rang. Oliver glanced at me cautiously and surprisingly answered it himself.

There was some commotion at the door.

I was wondering what was happening when Maddie walked in, looking youthful and pretty. "So this really is Dr. Dixon's house!

"I saw the listing for a nanny and thought that I should apply since I could help you out. So, here I am."

The calm mask Jude always wore finally cracked. He slammed his glass onto the table and splashed water everywhere.

"I've told you countless times that Maddie and I have a purely professional, doctor-patient relationship—nothing more! Why would you make her come work as a nanny just to humiliate her?"

I scrambled to find words to explain myself.

No nanny could meet the long list of requirements I had set. She was the first to agree, so I had told her to come over before checking who she was.

How could I have known it was Maddie?

Still, there was no point in trying to explain now. All I could do was try to salvage the situation. "I know that I was too sensitive and realized I was wrong about her.

"She's willing to work here as a nanny, and since the two of you spent three months together and got to know each other during the treatment sessions, she seems like a good fit. It makes up for my past mistakes, too…"

My words sounded magnanimous, but Jude's chest tightened as he studied my expression.

I looked relaxed and even carried a radiant smile, as if I had finally shed a heavy weight. I was more beautiful than I had ever been in years.

A strange, suffocating sensation rose in his chest, along with the sudden fear that something important was slipping through his fingers.

While he was silent, Maddie's eyes reddened.

"Am I causing you trouble, Dr. Dixon? I'm so sorry. You gave me free treatments, stayed up with me every night until midnight, and even took me abroad into the mountains for psychological therapy.

"I feel grateful and indebted, so that's why I'm here.

"I didn't realize I'd be the cause of a fight. I'm so sorry. I'll leave right away."

…

After all that explanation, of course, Maddie stayed. Jude even went out of his way to warn me to remember what I had said and not make things tough for her on purpose.

With that, he gently brushed my cheek and murmured in a low voice, "You don't have to force yourself to behave just to please me, Serena. I'm used to the noisy you.

"I changed the sheets in the master bedroom to your favorite set. Come back and sleep in the room tomorrow."

His words seemed to ring a bell in my mind.

They brought me back to the times in college, when Jude was the campus star. He had good looks and was cool and brilliant in his studies.

So, when I finally managed to win him over, I was so thrilled that I announced it to the world and staked my claim everywhere. I even yelled at the ladies who gave him love letters.

It drew a lot of gossip and mockery. People said Jude and I were completely mismatched, that I behaved like a shrew, and that we would sooner or later break up.

I was upset for two days.

Jude heard about the comments. For the first time, he skipped class to find me and pulled me into his arms. "I like how noisy you are. That means you love me very much."

But after we got married, my constant jealousy and tantrums wore him down. He went from comforting me to thinking I was too insecure, and eventually grew annoyed.

He grew colder with every passing day until he finally scrawled a single line of diagnosis on the psychological evaluation form assessing my mental state.

"Perimenopausal shrew."

Goosebumps rose all over my arms again.

That was when a sudden thought struck me—Jude probably wanted the spacious guest room for Maddie.

The next day, I swapped rooms with her and moved into the nanny's room myself. But Jude's eyes darkened with suppressed, simmering anger. He was so distracted that he didn't even notice the coffee in his cup splashing scalding liquid onto Maddie's arm.

That evening, he took Maddie into his study and even shot me a look just before he entered the door, but I kept scrolling through my phone, unbothered.

No one in the house but me, not even Oliver, was usually allowed in the study. But she was Maddie, so exceptions were unsurprising.

Later, Jude started to enjoy making comparisons. He would praise her cooking as better than mine, how she kept the house cleaner than I did, and how she organized the study more efficiently than I ever had.

I rolled my eyes in exasperation. He could praise Maddie all he wanted since she did a great job, but was it necessary to drag me down while he was at it?

Seeing that I wasn't giving him the reaction he craved, his mood grew darker. I found it baffling and soon couldn't stand being in the same room as him.

"Maddie just gave me a piece of candy, Mom. Can I eat it?" Oliver, who had been uncharacteristically quiet these days, asked while holding up a wrapped candy.

"Eat it if you want," I replied without looking up from my phone.

"But it's a nougat cluster."

"So?"

He suddenly burst into loud, frantic sobs. "Don't do this, Mom! Don't stop caring for me! I'm allergic to nuts, and you never used to let me eat them!

"I know that I've messed up. You were always doing what was best for me, so don't ignore me. I promise I'll behave from now on!"

My mind genuinely took a moment to catch up. Since recovering my memory, I had often been slow. Things I used to keep burned into my memory were slowly fading.

Watching Oliver break down into a pathetic mess, I was completely at a loss and turned to Maddie. "Maybe you should comfort him. He's always liked you."

As she pulled him into her arms to soothe him, I seized the chance to make a quick exit and leave his wailing behind me.

The woman I used to be would have felt a sharp pang of distress or guilt at the sight of his tears. But as I pressed a hand to my chest, I now felt nothing.

During my amnesiac days, I would sometimes cry for no reason. My heart would ache so deeply that I couldn't sleep for nights.

Perhaps I had simply run out of tears. My emotions had been drained dry, and I no longer had the strength to care.

That evening, Jude went into the bathroom to shower. Minutes later, he called out, "Serena, bring me my bathrobe."

I was painting my nails and didn't want to ruin the polish, so I looked over at Maddie. "Can you do it? I'm busy."

Maddie's cheeks flushed red, and a shy, youthful glow lit up her eyes.

She bit her lip and nodded. "Of course. If Dr. Dixon needs help, I'm happy to do whatever is necessary."

After she went in, I didn't give it a second thought and focused on admiring my manicure. But moments later, a roar of pure fury erupted from the bathroom. "Get out!"

It was followed by the sharp, crystalline crash of a fist shattering a glass pane.

Seconds later, Jude's hand dripped blood as he stomped toward me in rage.

"What the hell are you playing at, Serena? In the past, you would never let another woman near me, but now you're sending her straight to my door!"