Chapter 2

Summer's POV

The day I was discharged, the family sent three black SUVs to pick me up.

My father took the front car. Just as I reached for the door of the second vehicle, a hand blocked the top frame, protecting my head.

Julian stood right behind me. He didn't touch me, but his hand was steady.

This kind of protective instinct was too practiced. It didn't look like the behavior of a man who was supposed to hate my guts.

The cabin was silent with just the two of us. Just as I was about to ask about the Vance Estate, Julian handed me a thick manila folder.

"The doctor said you shouldn't be overstimulated. If you want to know about your past, read this first."

Inside were several board resolutions and an old photo taken in the estate’s greenhouse.

In the photo, I looked radiant but possessive, wrapping a tie tightly around his wrist. He was looking down with a cold expression, but he hadn't pulled his hand away.

On the back of the photo, a line was written in my handwriting: Julian, don't you dare leave me.

Julian was technically my uncle by adoption. His parents had died when he was young, and my grandfather had taken him in. Everyone in the business world said he was ruthless and cold-blooded, yet the old me had clung to him like a parasite.

"Is all of this true?" I asked.

"Half of it," Julian said, staring out the window.

"Which half?"

"The part where you forced me to stay is true. And the part where you claimed an engagement would stabilize the family’s power struggle is also true." He didn't elaborate.

The car rolled through the gates of the Vance Estate.

The first thing that caught my eye in the living room was a massive photo wall.

It was covered in pictures of Julian and me at various high-society galas. I was holding his arm, he was blocking drinks for me, I was smiling at the camera, and he was looking at me.

Staring at them made my chest tighten.

"Take all of these down," I ordered the butler.

Mrs. Higgins froze, instinctively glancing at Julian.

Julian didn't even blink. "Do what she says."

My father came down the stairs, his face instantly clouding over. "Are you throwing a tantrum the moment you get back? Do you know how many reporters are watching us? If we call off the engagement now, Julian's competitors will strip his projects away by tomorrow!"

I threw the board resolutions onto the coffee table and looked at my father. "So I wasn't the only crazy one. You guys needed me to be crazy, too."

The living room went dead silent.

"You don't have your full memory yet. Watch your mouth!" my father snapped.

"I lost my memory, not my eyes." I pointed at the document. "Every single beneficiary listed on this project includes more than just me."

I slid the annulment papers over to Julian. "I'll take the blame for what I did wrong. But we need to clean up the benefits the family squeezed out of you using my obsession."

"Are you turning against your own family?!" my father roared.

I looked up coldly. "Isn't he the son you raised? Why is he family when you need a scapegoat, but an outsider when you don't?"

The slap of my words was loud and clear.

The ice in Julian's eyes finally showed a sign of melting. Yet, he still didn't sign. He only murmured, "Summer, you never used to speak up for me."

"Then I'll start making up for it now," I said, looking at him. "But making up for it does not mean keeping you chained to me."

My father slammed the door and stormed upstairs.

As the photos were taken down one by one, they left pale, empty squares on the wall, like skin torn off a wound. I told Mrs. Higgins to pack them all into boxes and lock them away.

Julian stood nearby. "Aren't you afraid these will be used as weapons against you later?"

"Yes," I admitted. "But I'm more afraid of letting myself play the innocent victim again."

He didn't say another word. But the way he looked at me was different—for the first time, he was looking at a complete stranger.