"Miss Graham, are you sure you want to undergo a temporal lobe resection? While the surgery can cure your epilepsy, you may experience memory confusion afterward ... Even memories tied to emotions could disappear."
The doctor tried to explain all the postoperative risks to me in detail, "You and your husband are deeply in love. If you lose those beautiful memories, I'm afraid you'll regret it ..."
Without hesitation, I signed the surgical consent form, "I won't regret it. Let's proceed with the surgery!"
As the anesthesia was injected, my body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Out of habit, I pressed the emergency call button and Jaden's heartfelt complaints to his girlfriend came through the receiver, "Just thinking about wasting ten years of my youth and love on Richelle makes me feel disgusting all over!"
"You have no idea how revolting she looks when she has a seizure. If it weren't for you cleansing my body and soul these past years, I couldn't even stand to look at her again!" I hung up the call and my body stopped trembling.
The surgery was a success and I successfully forgot everything related to Jaden Carter.
——
"Miss Graham, should we pause the surgery and wait for your husband to arrive?" the doctor asked.
"No need, please continue," I said calmly.
The doctor, mistaking my trembling for fear, couldn't bear to see me undergo the surgery alone. This wasn't the first time I had secretly lain on the operating table.
But every time, I hesitated at the last moment, afraid of losing the memories of being in love with Jaden.
It was precisely these moments of indecision that forced Jaden to repeatedly care for me during my episodes. All the medical staff at the hospital knew I had a devoted husband who never left my side.
But no one knew that each of my episodes meant he would leave to seek three days of excitement and comfort with his secret girlfriend.
When I woke up in the ICU, the doctor congratulated me with a joyful expression, "Miss Graham, the surgery was very successful! Are you feeling any discomfort? Perhaps memory confusion or blank spots?"
Hearing this, I felt a brief pang of sorrow in my heart. It seemed as if I had lost something important, yet it felt inconsequential.
Before I could ask the doctor further, my phone suddenly rang. Seeing the familiar name on the screen, I instinctively frowned and declined the call.
But the person on the other end was persistent and the noisy ringtone began to irritate me.
"Miss Graham, that's your husband's call. Aren't you going to answer?" After seeing me reject several calls, the joy on the doctor's face gradually turned to concern, "You … you haven't forgotten your husband, Jaden, have you?"
The word 'husband' repeatedly struck my mind and I felt inexplicably delighted at the sense of blankness in my memory.
As I zoned out, the doctor answered the call for me and Jaden's anxious voice came through, "Richelle, are you okay? Why aren't you answering my calls?"
In the background, I could hear the rustling of clothes being put on, the clink of a belt buckle and a woman's annoyed hum. In my mind, an image naturally formed of a man climbing out of a woman's bed.
Suppressing my disgust, I calmly replied, "I'm at the hospital. It's inconvenient to answer."
Hearing that I was at the hospital, Jaden's tone immediately changed, "Darling, what happened? Don't be scared. I'll come to the hospital right away!"
He arrived quickly, his wrinkled shirt still mismatched at the buttons, which he hadn't even noticed.
When he learned I had undergone surgery alone, he hugged me tightly in fear, "Richelle, thank goodness the surgery was successful! If anything had happened to you, what would I have done? I'd rather take care of you every time you had an episode than have you risk even the slightest danger with surgery!"
His tears fell unexpectedly onto my shoulder. I disliked being close to men, especially one who lied and found me disgusting, now hugging me and crying. Expressionless, I forcefully pushed Jaden away.
Fear gradually filled his eyes, "Richelle, are you angry because I wasn't with you? Or… have you already forgotten me?"
Although the medical staff had repeatedly told me how much Jaden loved me, I had already checked my scheduled reminder before he arrived.
[Richelle, if the surgery is successful and you are lucky enough to forget Jaden, congratulations on your rebirth! Next steps: divorce and leave!]
I couldn't recall why I fell in love with Jaden, but the recording of that last phone call before the surgery reminded me why I insisted on going through with it.
His tears were so hot that I wanted to mock him, but to avoid trouble, I suppressed my sarcasm and said lightly, "I'm not angry." I had simply forgotten him, along with the ten years of passionate love that consumed my youth.
Before Jaden could ask if I was experiencing memory issues, his phone rang urgently.
I glanced at the screen, where the contact name 'Lizzy' was displayed and reminded him to answer it.
He clung tightly to my hand, hesitated for a moment and then covered the receiver as he answered the call.
Whatever the person on the other end said made his face instantly turn pale, but his eyes were full of desire and his feet instinctively moved toward the door.
"Alright, I'll be right back!" After hanging up, Jaden looked at me apologetically, "Richelle, there's an emergency at home. Can I leave for a bit? I'll be back very soon ..."
"Mm, go ahead," I said casually.
A fellow patient, unaware of the truth, looked at me with envy and teased, "Your epilepsy is different from mine, it's clearly a test of true love." I smiled but didn't deny it.
Just as he reached the door, Jaden rushed back, planted a kiss on my lips and hurried off.
The fellow patient didn't know that what she envied, the epilepsy that 'tested' true love, had revealed nothing but falsehood.
I wiped the corner of my mouth with a disinfectant wipe and continued reading the series of messages I had written to myself before the surgery.
As expected, Jaden's location eventually stopped at the seaside villa. So, the seaside villa where he hid his mistress was his real home.
I stayed in the hospital for five days and Jaden didn't show up once. Even the medical staff started wondering why the famously doting CEO was missing during the time I needed him most. Love doesn't just disappear without reason.
The messages and photos popping up on my phone explained everything: [Richelle, so what if your surgery was successful? The image of you foaming at the mouth like a lunatic will forever linger in Jaden's mind, it was disgusting, nothing but disgusting!]
[Do you know why he never kisses you? Because he's afraid he won't be able to stop himself from throwing up!]
The attached photo showed Jaden with his eyes closed, tenderly kissing Lizzy, utterly captivated.
I ignored Lizzy's provocation and continued clearing the trash on my phone.
Our couple's app, filled with ten years of daily love records, was completely deleted and I resolutely deactivated the account.
Less than half an hour after deactivating the account, Jaden stormed into the house, panic written all over his face, "Richelle, why did you delete the couple's account? That's all of our beautiful memories from the past ten years! I wanted us to show it to our kids someday ..."
A notification about him running two red lights told me how hastily he had rushed back. But there was no 'someday' left for us anymore.
"I accidentally deleted it," I said casually.
Frantically, Jaden called customer service, trying to recover the account and all the moments of our so-called love.
A simple 'sorry' from customer service brought tears to his eyes.
When I was by his side, he never cherished me. Now, he treated those irretrievable memories as treasures, how laughable.
Jaden saw me smile and his panic turned into relief. He wiped the corners of his eyes and tried to pull me into his arms for a kiss. "Are you feeling sick?" he asked.
I watched him approach calmly, observing as he shifted the kiss meant for my neck to my lips to hide the trembling in his pupils.
I was certain he wouldn't dare to kiss me for real and sure enough, he clenched his fists, wrestling with his thoughts. Luckily, his phone's ringtone saved him.
He glanced at the caller ID, sighed in relief and deliberately answered impatiently, "Even if the sky falls right now, don't bother me. I'm spending time with my wife!"
The next moment, a message popped up on my phone: [Richelle, if I were you, I'd find some deserted place to quietly die instead of shamelessly clinging to someone else's man!]
The sobbing voice on the other end of the call made Jaden frown with concern, though he pretended to cut off the call in annoyance.
Or maybe it wasn't an act, after all, he had sincerely despised me for ten years. That expression had long become second nature to him.
Seeing me staring at my phone, he leaned closer with a look of deep affection, "Richelle, what are you looking at?"
The cloying scent on him, one that didn't belong to me, made my stomach churn.
As I ran to the bathroom, vomiting so violently the world seemed to spin, he panicked, sweating profusely, "Richelle, don't scare me! Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"
I said, "Stay away from me. The smell on you is revolting."
Just as he was about to call the doctor, he froze in place, staring at me in disbelief, "Richelle, what did you say?"
The hurt expression on his face disgusted me once more, "I'll go change my clothes right away!" Sniffing himself, Jaden fled to the bedroom to change and then brought me a cup of warm water.
During those five minutes, Lizzy sent over a screenshot of a bank transfer made three minutes earlier: [He gives you the responsibility, but the love, sex and money are all mine. How much longer are you going to keep clinging to him?]
I turned off my phone and pushed away the kiss he intended to use to comfort me.
Annoyance briefly flashed in his eyes, but the next second, he was back to being full of affection, gently carrying me to the couch and setting me down.
"Richelle, my dear wife, I was wrong! It's all my fault for being too busy with work and neglecting you. You can scold or hit me however you like!" With that, he took out five small gold nuggets and half-knelt before me, "Honey, your little treasure chest has grown again!"
I asked, "What are you doing?"
The guilt on his face stiffened instantly, "Richelle, did you forget? We agreed that for every day I didn't spend with you, I'd make up for it with a gold nugget. In the past, I was only ever away for three days at most. This time, I had no choice ..."
I immediately understood, every time he went to see Lizzy before, it was never more than three days. This time, it had stretched to five days.
Skillfully, he placed the gold nuggets into the collection box, even musing aloud about creating a pure gold crown for me someday. A crown of pure gold, symbolizing betrayal?
Though I no longer had memories of loving him, the sight of those glittering gold nuggets still stung my eyes. Each gram was evidence of his infidelity.
To celebrate my recovery, Jaden happily gave all his employees a three-day holiday and personally organized a banquet.
After finishing the evening's festivities, he was busy appeasing Lizzy, completely oblivious to the fact that everything belonging to me in the house had already been almost entirely cleared out.
What he didn't know was that I had already asked a lawyer to draft a divorce agreement and bought a ticket to leave three days later.
On the day of Jaden's grand banquet, he gifted me a rare sapphire necklace. As guests raised their glasses and exchanged pleasantries, everyone admired my 'fortunate' life.
In return, I presented him with a gift box in front of everyone. "Thank you for your unwavering companionship over the past ten years," I said.
Inside the box were my memory loss diagnosis report and the divorce agreement.
