“Reina?”
My muscles lock as I turn to my side. Pain explodes in the back of my head and I wince. It’s like a dull ache gripping my entire system.
“Take it easy, Rei.” An older man’s face comes into view as he helps me into a comfortable sitting position.
He’s wearing a dark brown, Italian-cut suit. His short, dark hair is styled to perfection and his sharp green eyes look so much like…Asher.
“You’re Asher’s father?”
“You remember me.” He smiles, and it reaches his eyes. “I was worried when the doctors mentioned amnesia.”
“I still don’t remember. You just look so much like him.”
“I see.” He unbuttons his jacket and sits down on the stool beside me. “I’m Alexander Carson, Asher’s father and your guardian of sorts.”
“My guardian? Aren’t I twenty-one?”
“Almost twenty-one, yes. I was your legal guardian until you turned eighteen, and since you continued to study in Blackwood, I remain your next of kin.”
Oh. Okay.
“Then that should mean Asher and I aren’t engaged.” I couldn’t hold in the smile in my voice even if I tried.
It was a nightmare.
“Yes, you are, Rei.”
My good mood falls like an atomic bomb. “I can’t be engaged to my foster brother.”
He smiles in a reassuring kind of way, like the nurse. “I became your legal guardian your senior year of high school, but you and Asher were engaged long before that. Besides, you never really lived together. Asher has been studying at Oxford for the past three years.”
Oxford. That’s in England. Phew. So he’ll go back there and leave me here in peace.
Problem solved.
I focus back on Asher’s father with newfound interest. Unlike Asher’s, his eyes are a lighter green with a meaner shape. His lips are thinner, too. It’s a profile of a man in power, I don’t know how I know it, but I do.
“You said you became my legal guardian my senior year?”
He passes me a glass of water, and I drink even though I’m not thirsty. “Correct.”
“W-what happened to my parents?” My heartbeat skyrockets and I grip the glass tight as I wait for his reply. Something tells me I won’t like it.
A sheen of sadness covers his features. “Your mother died during childbirth and you lost your father in an accident. Gareth was my best friend and partner. He named me as your guardian in his will.”
Oh.
Pressure builds behind my eyes and a strange sense of grief hits me. It’s not only because of my parents’ deaths, but also because I don’t remember any of it.
How could I forget my own parents?
No.
I have parents. Deep down, I think I do have parents somewhere.
Alexander pats my hand with deep sympathy that touches my heart. His attitude is a million times different from that of his devil son. If it weren’t for the uncanny physical resemblance, I would’ve never linked the two together.
“One step at a time, Rei.” He offers a reassuring look. “We’ve got this.”
A wave of tears assaults me, welling in my eyes.
Those are the words I’ve yearned to hear the most since I woke up with my head wiped clean. I wanted someone to console me and tell me everything will be okay. Instead, I had my freaking fiancé calling me a monster and threaten to break me.
I swallow back the need to cry. “Thank you, Mr. Carson.”
“It’s Uncle Alex to you, or just Alex if you don’t feel the familiarity yet.” He pats my hand once more before standing. “You should freshen up. The police are here for you. Remember, don’t answer anything you don’t feel like answering. I’ve already informed them about your memory loss. They’re well aware your testimony won’t be much, but they’ll try to push anyway.”
I nod slowly.
The nurse from yesterday comes inside, wearing a serene, welcoming expression.
I can’t help searching behind her, expecting the nightmare from yesterday to show up with the intention of harvesting my soul.
Oxford, remember? Our engagement can’t even be real if we’ve lived apart for more than three years. Long-distance relationships aren’t known to work—not that I had any relationship with that psycho.
The nurse, Erika, exchanges some pleasantries with me as she helps me into a wheelchair.
Aside from the pain at the back of my head and my shoulders, my arms are sore and my legs are covered in blue and green bruises as if someone beat me up with the intention of killing me. I can’t stand up on my right leg; the doctor mentioned something about a bad sprain.
After Erika helps me use the toilet, I place both arms on the sink as support and stand up. Pain snaps to my nape and my one good, unsteady leg. I bite my lower lip and remain still, panting, trying to let the agony pass.
I freeze as I stare ahead.
A galaxy of green, blue, and purple bruises cover my cheek, starting near my eye and spanning down to the hollow of my neck.
Still, the face that greets me in the mirror is familiar.
Way too familiar.
I have a slim, tall body like a model. My round breasts are high and perky, and I appear fit as if I work out for a living.
My exotic, blue eyes are so huge it’s scary with all the bruises surrounding them. It’s almost as if whoever beat me was seconds away from clawing my eyes out.
A shiver dances down my spine at the thought.
What could I have done to elicit such strong hatred? Or was I simply a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time?
My strawberry blonde hair reaches my shoulders in waves. Light blondish highlights add a beautiful hue at the tips. It’s greasy and could use a wash, though.
What type of dye did I use to achieve this color?
I’m a natural, bitch.
The voice in the back of my head startles me.
Okay, natural it is.
For long seconds, I continue watching my image in the mirror. If I recognize that face as my own, how come I don’t remember anything about myself? How come I don’t even remember why my face looks like it’s just come out of a battlefield?
My head hurts just thinking about it, so I let Erika wheel me back to the room.
“Do you feel better today?” she asks.
“I’m good, thanks.” Now that Asher the jerk isn’t here, I feel a whole lot better.
The smile she offers me is motherly and warm. “Asher spent the entire night with you and didn’t leave until your guardian came. How sweet is that?”
Not at all.
I’m seriously contemplating asking if they have surveillance cameras so I can see if he did something to me in my sleep.
Paranoid much? Probably, but I don’t trust that asshole. Not at all.
As soon as we’re in the room, we’re greeted by two police officers and an older man wearing a hat.
Alexander takes me from Erika with a polite nod. He maneuvers my chair so he’s behind me and I’m facing the officers.
“Reina,” he says, “This is Detective Daniels.”
The detective appears to be in his mid-forties with a strong bone structure and sharp brown eyes that have been watching me closely since I came in.
He offers his hand, and I take it. “I’m sorry for what happened to you, Miss Ellis.”