My Amnesiac Husband Begged for My Love, But I'm Done

The day Ethan cheated on me, I slapped him twenty-two times right outside the hotel room door. Wrapped in a single bath towel, he knelt before me. His voice was chillingly flat. "Are you done? If you are, I need to go back inside. Aria is scared." Twelve years of marriage shattered into dust at that very second. On the day we were supposed to meet at our lawyer’s office to sign the divorce papers, the unthinkable happened. No one saw it coming. A horrific car crash happened on the freeway. To protect Aria Sterling, who was in the passenger seat, Ethan took the brunt of the impact. He suffered severe brain trauma. But when he finally woke up in the ICU, his eyes were clear, innocent, and terrified. He grabbed my sleeve like a scared little boy. "Chloe, please don't ignore me." 1. Ethan was having an affair. When my best friend, Rachel, first told me, I just shook my head and laughed. "Not Ethan. We’ve been married for twelve years. You’ve seen how much he adores me. Rachel, today isn't April Fool's. That’s not funny." Frustrated by my denial, Rachel slammed her phone in front of my face, playing a video she had shot at a VIP lounge. In the dimly lit bar, a young girl with a flushed face took a sip of tequila, straddled Ethan’s lap, and fed it to him mouth-to-mouth. Then, they fell into a passionate, breathless kiss. Around them, a crowd of wealthy heirs cheered and hollered. The noise was deafening. If I didn't know the girl, I could have lied to myself. I could have said she was just some party girl, or that it was just a stupid game of Truth or Dare. But I knew her. Aria Sterling. She graduated from college last year. After joining Vance Global, she was promoted five times in a single year, eventually becoming Ethan’s executive assistant. When those rumors first reached my ears, I only thought she was a hardworking, talented young girl with a bright future. Ethan had mentioned her to me before. He said Aria came from a broken home—a gambling father, a paralyzed mother, a younger brother in school, and her, carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. "You should help her out, Chloe. It’s not easy for a young girl to make it in the city all on her own." Yes, it wasn't easy. Perhaps I should have noticed it sooner—the pride in Ethan’s voice and the spark in his eyes whenever he spoke of her. 2. When Ethan came home smelling of cheap whiskey, I was curled up on the sofa watching TV. Seeing me there, he instantly sobered up. He froze at the entryway for a long time. After a heavy silence, he turned and walked straight into the bathroom. On the screen, the lovers were sharing a tender, sweet moment. Outside the screen, the air between us was freezing. I didn't call him out on his guilt. I just sat on the couch, waiting quietly for an explanation. I watched him walk out of the bathroom. He was six-foot-two, with a sharp jawline and a brilliant mind that made him the most sought-after man in the corporate world. At thirty-four, he was the youngest CEO Vance Global had ever seen. Time had been generous to him. After more than a decade, he was still dazzling. Perhaps the only sign of aging was a slightly softer frame. But time had been cruel to me. I was thirty-nine this year. Biologically speaking, I wasn't young anymore. The endless dermatologist visits, the Botox injections, and the faint lines at the corners of my eyes constantly reminded me that I needed to sleep by ten. Clubbing and partying all night were meant for the young. "Why are you still up?" Ethan asked, drying his hair with a towel, trying to sound casual. "I couldn't sleep. I realized I haven't seen you in forever. I wanted to wait up so we could go to bed together." When your schedules don't align, this is what happens: I hadn't seen Ethan in two weeks. Before, I thought he was just working hard, leaving early and coming home late. I trusted him completely. But now... "The company’s been crazy lately..." Before Ethan could finish his sentence, his phone buzzed violently. He took the call, grabbed his car keys, and rushed out the door without even drying his hair. He left me with a single sentence: "Chloe, something came up at the office. I'll be back late." I squeezed the medical report in my hand until it was a crumpled ball, then tossed it onto the sofa. Then, I dialed the private investigator Rachel had set up for me. Four hours later, I received a hotel room number. 3. In our twelve years of marriage, Ethan and I had never had a single fight. Everyone called us the golden couple. It wasn't until I brought Ethan’s parents to the hotel to catch him in the act, and saw him standing there in a bath towel, desperately locking the door behind him and kneeling before me, that I finally saw the truth. The dream was over. It was shattered. "Chloe, I..." "Ethan, you make me sick!" I slapped him across the face. He didn't flinch. "Is this the 'hardworking girl' you wanted to mentor? Did you think I was some kind of idiot?" We had been married for twelve years and had known each other for twenty. Every look, every gesture of the man in front of me was carved into my brain. He was nervous. He was terrified. But not for me. His hand gripped the doorframe tightly, bracing himself. He was terrified we would barge in. Through the crack in the door, I caught a glimpse of Aria frantically putting her clothes back on. My stomach churned with pure disgust. 4. I slapped him twenty-two times. I slapped him until my hand went numb and I couldn't lift my arm. I slapped him until his parents, who had always adored me, grabbed my hands. "That's enough, Chloe. Every man makes a mistake or two." "Ethan knows he messed up. He'll cut things off with that girl the second we get home. Chloe, sweetheart, I promise you, his father will keep an eye on him. If he ever does this again, we'll disown him." Ethan didn't say a word. Until... He heard Aria sobbing inside the room. He snapped his head up to look at me. "Aria, I'm so sorry. Let's go home and talk about this, okay?" "Chloe, I'm sorry. Do whatever you want to me, I'm a monster. But please, let's go home first." "Are you done? If you are, I need to go back inside. Aria is scared." Before he could even finish, I couldn't hold it in anymore. I turned around, gripped the trash can in the hallway, and threw up. Cold sweat poured down my forehead. A sharp, violent pain in my abdomen almost made me collapse. My legs were shaking uncontrollably. If anyone had cared enough to look closer, they would have noticed how deathly pale I was. I stumbled out of the hotel and called Rachel. "Come pick me up. I can barely stand." 5. "The fetus isn't in good shape. Under normal circumstances, we wouldn't recommend trying to save the pregnancy. But Mrs. Vance, since you've worked so hard for so many years to conceive, we will do everything in our power to help you." "Don't bother. Abort it." I didn't need it anymore. I touched my belly, trying to feel a heartbeat, but there was nothing. For all these years, Ethan and I had wanted a child. But because of my fertility issues, we could never get pregnant. "It's okay, Chloe. We don't need kids to have a perfect life. Having you is enough for me." How could it be enough? We both loved children so much. At our business partner's daughter's baby shower, Ethan had looked at the baby girl with eyes full of longing. I had endured countless hormone injections and swallowed endless pills to finally get pregnant. But Ethan's betrayal made me realize one thing. He didn't deserve to be a father. I grew up wrapped in love. My parents were high school sweethearts, and we were incredibly wealthy. But if my child couldn't be born out of pure love from both parents, and if she couldn't have a whole, happy family... Then there was no point in bringing her into this cruel world. 6. I was hospitalized for a week, and Ethan didn't send a single text. During my weakest moments post-miscarriage, I would open my phone, only to find a blank screen. My last text exchange with Ethan was from the night before I caught him. He had written: "Go to sleep first, Chlo. I'm drowning in work here." Rachel had to call him over a dozen times before he finally picked up. The background noise of blasting club music and girls laughing clashed violently with the quiet of my hospital room. "Ethan, have you lost your mind? Chloe has been in the hospital for days! Do you even care?" "Hospital?" Ethan’s voice sounded heavily intoxicated. The noise on his end quieted down for three seconds, and then a chorus of drunk laughter erupted. "Hey CEO Vance, why is your wife in the hospital? Did she get too much filler? Hahaha!" "That's what happens when they get old!" Rachel’s eyes went red with fury. She almost smashed her phone, screaming the vilest insults she knew. In contrast, I, the actual victim, was incredibly calm. I took a sip of water, took the phone from Rachel, and spoke in a cold, steady voice. "Ethan, let's get a divorce." "Stop throwing a tantrum, Chloe. I'll come home and make it up to you once I'm done with this project. We've been married for twelve years. I admitted I was wrong, so drop it. Don't make things difficult for me." "Divorce." "I already told Aria it was a one-time mistake because I drank too much. It won't happen again." "I'm not going to repeat myself a third time." A long silence followed. "Fine, Chloe. If you want a divorce, fine. We’ve been married for so long, I highly doubt you'll find anyone better than me. I made one mistake, and you're holding a knife to my throat. Fine. Tomorrow at eight, at the lawyer's office. If you don't show up, you're a coward!" 7. I hung up without shedding a single tear. He wasn't worth it. The next morning, I put on my best makeup and my favorite designer dress. But I didn't see Ethan at the lawyer's office. Instead, I got a call saying he and Aria had been in a horrific car accident. To his credit, Ethan had acted like a man. To protect his precious little assistant, he had taken the brunt of the impact. He was now in the ICU, comatose. His parents were practically crying themselves blind. While Ethan was in a coma, I went to the hospital several times with the divorce papers, but he never woke up. Aria, however, was always by his bedside. I had no desire to look at those two, nor did I want to speak to the girl, so I usually turned around and left immediately. But today was my unlucky day. Aria saw me and blocked my path. "Are you happy now? You miserable old hag. All you do is nag and whine. Thanks to you, Ethan might never wake up. You're his wife, but you don't care about him at all!" "I heard Ethan took the hit to save you. Is that true?" "At least you know! It was so terrifying. Thank god Ethan pulled me under him. He is such a good man. It's a shame he ended up with a wife like you." Rachel, who was standing behind me, couldn't take it anymore. She stepped up. "You realize he’s in this mess because of you, right? They're getting a divorce, and you're still playing the devoted little secretary. Honestly, I think your bad juju is the reason he's lying there." Rachel snickered. "Actually, maybe it's just karma. The bastard brought this on himself." "Who are you calling karma? You bitch, I'll rip your face off!" Aria, triggered, tried to lunge at Rachel, but a passing security guard shoved her back. "This is the ICU hallway, not a playground! You want to fight? Take it outside!" I watched Aria’s hysterical tantrum with a cold smile. I didn't expect this young girl to play the innocent victim so desperately. Just then, a nurse ran out. "The patient is awake. Who is Ethan Vance's family?"