Waiting for a Heart Long Dead

Everyone in the city knows Nathan Cooper only agreed to marry me because he had no choice.

No matter how many times I tried to seduce him over the past seven years, he would just run his fingers over his rosary beads. Never once had he shown a trace of desire in his eyes.

It isn't until that night, when I see him answer a long-distance call from his first love.

Upon hearing her voice, Nathan loses control. It's as if heat was surging through his body like a live wire.

The next day, Lily Hunt flies back.

Nathan shoves me out of the car and drives off to pick her up.

As I fall from the bridge and lose my memory, news of Nathan's proposal to his beloved sets the whole city ablaze.

The next day, he shows up late to the hospital.

As Nathan stands by my bedside, he says he will marry me, but only if he can hold a wedding ceremony with Lily. Then, he announces the wedding date.

I lean against his bitter enemy, Luke Patton, and look at Nathan in confusion. "Sorry, who are you?"

Nathan Cooper coldly snorted at my question. "What trick are you pulling now, Willow Turner?" He grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of Luke Patton's arms.

I instantly jerked my arm back from his touch. "Who are you? Don't touch me!"

Nathan's eyes turned even colder when he heard that. "You don't know me? You followed me around for seven years," he said. "Willow, I already agreed to marry you. I'm just giving Lily a wedding at the same time too.

"Do you really have to pretend you don't know me?"

In my confusion, I looked at Luke, the man beside me who claimed to be my boyfriend. I saw nothing but mockery in his gaze as he stared at Nathan.

He said, "Mr. Cooper, even jokes have their limits. Willow's your sister. How could the two of you possibly get married?"

Nathan's eyes narrowed, and his grip on the rosary beads tightened. "You even brought him into this? Too bad I'm not falling for your little game."

He then added, "My sister? Fine. You can attend the wedding as that."

In the middle of the argument, Lily Hunt barged into the hospital room to ease the tension.

"Your brother's just angry and didn't mean it. I'll have a word with him when we get home," she said. "Our wedding is in three days, Willow. You have to come."

When I heard that, I was even more certain that Luke hadn't lied about my relationship with Nathan. "Sorry, I forgot. So you're my brother…"

Nathan frowned, as if he didn't like how that sounded.

Lily quickly stepped in to calm him down and planted a quick kiss on his lips.

Upon seeing how affectionate they were, Luke turned to watch my reaction. I understood what was going on and didn't want to cause more trouble. "Don't worry. I won't cause any trouble at your wedding," I said.

Nathan froze for a moment and took a deep breath. "Pack your things now! You're coming home with me," he snarled. There was no room for argument in his tone.

Before I could respond, Lily suddenly collapsed into his arms. She blamed her dizziness on the jet lag.

Nathan quickly scooped her up with an anxious look on his face. Before he left, he told me to stop pretending to be sick and to walk home as punishment.

Then, the hospital room fell quiet again.

At that moment, I started to wonder why he was the only person I had forgotten.