Help Me Remember (COMPLETED)

Chapter 3

So I noticed that my readers are from entirely different continents. And that's amazing!

Hi! I'm from the Philippines :)

Also a shout-out to @Adorascott! You don't know how much it means to me that you vote for my story so here's another chapter!

Chapter 3

Red

I could not speak. My mind, the stupid organ who decided not to function well and forget everything , was repeating in my head everything that just happened moments ago.

Was I? Was I a... ?

I didn't want to think of the words Zachary's mother threw at me. But I did. And as I remembered the clothes, the red lipstick, the reaction of men inside the hospital to what I was wearing... it made sense.

But everything in me rejected that idea.

No. No. No.

"Scarlett," Zachary cautiously approached from my spot in the floor.

My eyes lifted to him. We were supposedly married, did that mean I was cheating on him the whole time. I couldn't face him it were the case. I didn't want to face him.

Before he got to me, I stood up on shaky legs. And he held out a hand as if to touch me, I recoiled. That hand clenched into a fist as Zachary continued to stare at me.

"H-how about my family?" I asked, almost pleadingly. "M-maybe I could stay with them for the time being? I was wondering why no one ever v-visited me aside from you." Shame was eating me alive. If what his mother was saying was true, I shouldn't stay with him at all.

"You're not leaving." Blue eyes turned to ice and I had to resist the urge to shiver.

"P-please, maybe I could go to my sister—"

"You're an only child."

"Then my parents?" Zach didn't answer. "Or if not maybe some friends? Anyone who'd take me in even just for tonight."

Two hours after leaving the hospital and I was losing my sanity in front of Zachary Harrington. And they said I had a better recovery rate out of there.

There was an almost pained expression on Zach's face as he stood there watching me.

"Why won't you answer me?" how desperate I sounded even to my own ears. "Zach."

He closed his eyes briefly before regarding me again. "I don't think the people you associate with  would ever come close to being called friends."

Was that a veiled insult?

"And my parents?"

He paused, as if assessing me and I exploded. "Zachary!"

His jaw clenched before he shook his head. "Gone. Your mother left when you were five years old and your father... died three months ago."

Everything in me was saying he told the truth... and at the mention of my father, it was as if some covered up wound was being scraped again.

Tears welled up in my eyes. Zach immediately saw and stepped closer and I stumbled back.

"I'm not done yet!" I croaked, the tears clogging my throat. "W-what about what your mother said? Was it true? W-was I a..?" the words wouldn't even come out. I repeatedly opened and closed my mouth but no sound came.

Zach reached out again as if finally having enough and gripped my upper arm despite of my protests. He dragged me to him, pulling me close and I resisted by planting my hands on his chest.

"Look at me, Scarlett." I could not. His mother's words still rang in my head and I felt like a hypocrite to receive comfort from her son's touch.

"Red."

My head snapped up at the nickname. A spark of a memory.

"You called me that before."

But that's all I knew. And suddenly I felt angry at myself. At this amnesia. At him.

"This marriage. What kind of marriage was this? What sort of relationship did we have? Did we fight a lot? Did we know each other well?

Did I even love you?"

There was an incomprehensible look in his blue eyes. Zach's grip on my arm tightened before suddenly letting go.

My heart fell. He wasn't going to answer again, was he? I started to turn away from him—

"I was your first," I stopped on my tracks. "You're twenty four and a virgin and you gave yourself to me. Think about it, Red."

Hope bloomed in me. Did that mean I wasn't what his mother called me?

"Does that answer your question?"

I jerkily nodded.

He sighed, "I think we both need to rest. The doctor said not to force the memories and wait for them to come back naturally. This isn't good for you."

That night, I laid on the king-size inside our room while he laid on the other side. I didn't know how I felt about sleeping with him in the same bed but Zach wasn't asking for permissions. It took a while for sleep to come but when it did, I feel into a deep sleep.

Then the dreams came.

The smoke, the lights and even the sounds inside the club were making me drunk. More drunk, since I just had four consecutive shots at the bar and was holding a beer bottle in my right hand. I was swaying to the music, whipping and grinding my hips as men of varying ages and drunkenness stared at my body hungrily.

I couldn't blame them. I was in the tiniest red bandage dress that hugged my curves in all the right places. Exactly what I wanted as I returned those hungry stares with a bite of my even redder lips.

Someone snaked an arm around my waist from the back and I smiled wickedly.

"Scarlett Noble?"

"Scarlett Noble-Harrington." I corrected with a giggle, showing him my engagement and wedding rings. "I'm married." I spat out the words in disdain.

"That doesn't matter to me." Lips started trailing down one shoulder and I angled my head to give him more room. I closed my eyes, savoring the feel on my skin.

"Good. It shouldn't." I moaned.

In the next instant, I had whirled around and hooked an arm around his neck, pressing impossibly closer to his hard body and crushing my lips to this unknown man.

Thoughts?