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.

Luke stepped out to take a call and told me to wait for him.

While I was deep in thought, my best friend, Sabrina Bell, burst into the room with red-rimmed eyes. She said it was for the best that I had forgotten that bastard, Nathan.

"The doctor said your brain chose to protect itself, so it blocked out the most painful memories."

My chat history held every bitter memory from the past seven years.

Years ago, my mother, Jessica Kane, died in a fire trying to save Nathan. After that, I ended up being raised in his home as his adopted sister.

He cared for me in every way possible, and I mistook it for love. Later on, I threw away my pride and kept trying to seduce him. Yet, all he would do was help me get dressed without a flicker of emotion and promise to marry me.

It wasn't until I saw him confessing his buried desires over the phone to Lily.

"Marrying Willow is just to repay a debt. That way, I won't owe her anything anymore."

That was when I realized how foolish I was.

That night, during our heart-to-heart, I told Sabrina that if I could forget him, I would do anything.

I cried throughout the night.

In the morning, Nathan saw how pale I looked and carried me to the car before rushing me to the hospital. However, halfway there, he heard that Lily had returned to the country and pushed me out of the car.

Right then, a speeding car hit me, and I stumbled off the bridge that crossed the sea.

After that—just as I wished—I really forgot everything about Nathan.

I felt nothing but relief after hearing about the past.

"Sab, I'll take your place and marry Luke," I said.

When Nathan and I announced our engagement, Sabrina was told to go into an arranged marriage too, even though she already had a boyfriend.

Sabrina frowned at my proposal.

"Are you crazy? Luke is Nathan's biggest rival," she said. "He's been having an affair with an actress for years. I can't let you escape one mess just to fall into another."

I held up the surgery form and gave it a shake. Luke's signature was right on it.

"If he weren't Nathan's rival, I wouldn't even consider it," I said. "At least he saved my life and helped me out of an embarrassing situation.

"Besides, it doesn't matter who I marry now. Not to mention, can Hector even say no to the Pattons?"

Back when everyone was tearing me apart, it was Hector Bell who'd declared me as his goddaughter. That worked in shutting everyone up.

Now that the Bells were in trouble, it made sense for me—his goddaughter and Sabrina's best friend—to step in and marry Luke in her place.

In return, Sabrina prepared a grand wedding gift for me. However, she was saving it for Nathan on the day of the wedding.

After sending Sabrina off, I went back to the villa alone to pack my things. I vaguely remembered that the code to the door was my birthday date, but now, it wouldn't open no matter what I did.

I texted Nathan and asked, "I need to pack. Can you tell me the code?"

Just like always, there was no reply to my message.

It wasn't until my whole body had gone numb from the cold that the door lock finally clicked open.

The passcode was Nathan and Lily's wedding date.

A woman's soft, flirty voice spilled through the gap in the door.

"Nate, feel this rosary. Isn't it smooth from all the work I've done on it?"

On the couch, the usually cold and distant Nathan had the damp rosary beads in his grip. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. "Lily…"

In past messages with Sabrina, I had complained that he wouldn't even let me touch his rosary beads. But now, he let Lily defile them however she wanted.

Lily turned her head, her cheeks flushed as she huffed, "You're the worst." She then added, "Nathan, I don't want to wait anymore, okay?"

Nathan's breathing grew ragged. He chuckled deeply, and there was a burning desire in his gaze I had never seen before.

I stood at the door, a sudden chill running through me.

"Willow, how could you be into something like this?" Lily suddenly screamed and buried her face in Nathan's chest.

Nathan quickly pulled the clothes under himself to cover Lily. Then, he stood and yelled at me, "Who let you in?"

So, changing the passcode was to keep me out.

Whenever Nathan shut me out in the past, all I'd do was beg for his love. However, now that I no longer remembered how I felt about him, there was only indifference in my tone.

"I'm sorry. I should have knocked before coming into your house."

Nathan sensed something was wrong and frowned. "You were out there getting tangled up with another man, and now you're saying this isn't your home after just one morning?" He growled.

He added, "Willow, if you have so little self-respect, then maybe it's time someone taught you a proper lesson!"

As he spoke, a housekeeper came out of the room carrying a box of revealing lingerie I had once bought because of him. They were promptly thrown across the floor.

"Burn these shameful things yourself!" Nathan yelled.

Just like that, my little secret was put on full display.

Lily lifted one piece of lingerie with a finger, her expression full of disgust. "You sure are wild, Willow. Did you try something out at the hospital with Luke too?"

But I had no memory of the lingerie. Embarrassed, I denied it right away. "Please don't make things up, Lily. Those aren't mine."

Nathan grew angrier and snarled, "You're still lying?"

He had the household staff force me to my knees to face my mother's photo. He then ordered me to stay there until I admitted my mistakes and apologized for them—no matter how long it took.

I struggled to get up, but Nathan shoved me down and slammed my face to the floor.

"Nathan! We're not even related. What gives you the right to treat me like this?" I yelled.

Upon hearing that, Nathan snapped and lost all his usual calm. "Because I promised Jessica I would keep you in line!" Then, he grabbed the back of my neck and slammed my head into the floor again and again.

The thuds echoed for what felt like forever. When he finally let go, he picked Lily up and carried her upstairs.

Meanwhile, I'd hit the floor, shaking all over. The bandage on my forehead slipped off, and blood quickly soaked into the carpet.

In an instant, pieces of memory came rushing back.

At my mother's funeral that year, Nathan saw how lost I looked and pulled me into his arms. He said he would take care of me for the rest of my life, and I believed him. I just didn't realize he only meant he would be like a brother to me.

The care he once showed had now turned into anger.

In a daze, that feeling of heartbreak tore through me again.