Chapter 6

It was already 9:00 am when I woke up the next day. I stretched my sore neck before freshening up in the bathroom. After getting changed and heading downstairs, I saw the empty living room. Someone was having breakfast in the dining room, though. I walked closer to find that it was Evan. When he saw me, he snorted scornfully and turned away, not wanting to look at me. My gaze dimmed. I headed to the kitchen to get food. There wasn't anything aside from some cold oatmeal and a few pieces of bread. I frowned and got a glass of milk from the fridge to warm it up. Then, I fried a couple of sunny-side-ups. When I brought the things out of the kitchen, Evan looked at me like he'd seen a ghost. I furrowed my brows. "Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?" He pointed at my food. "You can cook?" His doubtful tone made me feel a little uncomfortable. I said coolly, "It's not that hard to fry an egg." He snapped to his senses and glared at me. "Don't try to pull anything funny." I slammed my milk on the table, scaring him. A few seconds later, he got mad. "What the hell are you doing? Are you trying to pick a fight?" I drank my milk and said icily, "You're crazy!" His face became red with rage. "Who are you calling crazy? Don't think you can do whatever you want now that you're out of the hospital, Ariana. I'm here to watch you on Eli and Josie's behalf! Don't even dream of ruining their relationship from now on!" I laughed. That spooked Evan. "Why are you laughing? I'm being serious. This time, I won't let you hurt Josie. And don't think you can scare me off by acting like you're still that high and mighty heiress of the York family. Josie may be scared of you, but I'm not." I held out a hand. "Fine, then. Pay me back." He gave me a knowing look and mocked, "Are you asking for money? What money? I knew you were nothing but a gold digger, Ariana. You pulled all those tricks to marry Eli for our family's money, didn't you? You're so shameless!" I looked at him emotionlessly. "Yes, I did it all for the money. Now, pay up." He became angry when he saw that his words didn't faze me. "What money are you talking about?" I sneered. "What else? The 50 million dollars that I, a gold digger, invested in Linden Group!" Evan was dumbstruck. My sneer grew. "I invested 50 million dollars in the company five years ago. If we were to assume that I'm a regular shareholder, you and your family would owe me a huge sum in dividends. "And if you consider the money a loan, think about how much you'd have to repay me if you were to include interest." I pulled out my phone and started doing the math. "If we were to assume the interest was 11% or 12%... Oh, boy…" Evan's face became blotchy with rage. He probably wanted to curse at me but couldn't find the words. I happily finished my breakfast as he watched me. Then, I wiped my mouth and got up. Evan finally managed to say something. "What the hell are you up to, you freak?" I turned to look at the face that seemed completely different from the one in my memories. I said softly, "You used to call me Ari." He looked like he'd been struck by lightning. He remained rooted to the spot while I headed upstairs. … I couldn't believe it was so tiring just to have a simple breakfast. It only solidified my desire to leave Elijah. I called Teri, who sounded tired when she answered. "What's up, Ms. York? Have you and Elijah made up yet?" "Nope." "What?" she screamed. "What did you just say?" I held my phone away from my ear with a frown. "I didn't make up with Elijah." Teri soon calmed down. "Are you going to give him the cold shoulder for a while? That won't work, you know. He's a Scorpio, and they're great at silent treatments. You can't defeat him in that. Try something else." I sighed. "I genuinely don't want to kiss and make up with him." Teri sounded confused. "What do you want to do, then? Oh, I get it now. You must be waiting for the right opportunity to get rid of Jocelyn!" Her tone turned anxious. "Listen to me, Ariana. Murder is against the law, okay? We have to be law-abiding citizens." I sighed again. "I don't intend on doing anything to Jocelyn." She seemed to choke on her spit. After a while, she said, "Let's stop with this game. Tell me what you want to do, Ariana. You've already made the local trending topics with your suicide attempt. "If not for your family being the major shareholder for several media outlets and your brother being worried about its reputation, the online community would've long since dug up everything they could about you." I rubbed my forehead. "I've genuinely lost my memories, Teri. Elijah might not believe me, but don't you?" She felt awkward at my question and laughed wryly. "I thought you were just putting on an act…" I was lost for words at that. At the same time, I felt bitter. How much trouble had the old me caused to make everyone in my life doubt me? I felt glum. "Take the day off to have lunch with me, Teri. I want to discuss with you what I should do next." Teri was ultimately still my best friend. She still wanted the best for me. She sighed. "What do you intend to do next?" I bit my lip. "Divorce Elijah." She was stunned. … Teri and I met at a cafe. As soon as she saw me, she handed me a bag of stuff. I looked inside to see fever patches, a thermometer, and cold medication. "What's all this for?" She got the thermometer out of the box and said, "Hurry up and check your temperature. Many people have caught the fever bug lately. See whether you have it, too." I frowned after being forced to stick the thermometer under my armpit. "I don't have a fever, okay? I do still have a head injury, though." She slapped her thigh. "Ah, yes. You're not right in the head. It explains why you suddenly want to divorce Elijah. You scared the hell out of me." She patted her chest. Only then did I realize why she'd bought me fever and cold medication. I took the thermometer out and looked into her eyes, my gaze serious. "I'm not playing around, Teri. I want to divorce Elijah." Teri seemed scared by the look on my face. Neither of us moved. After two minutes, she blinked and said, "Got it. Let me go." I released her. To my surprise, she pulled out her phone and placed it before me. She played a random voice message, and a woman's sobs rang out. "I want to divorce Elijah, Teri! He doesn't love me at all! He's giving Jocelyn, the bitch, a birthday present…" I was taken aback. Teri played the next one. "I can't live without Elijah, Teri. I'll die without him in my life. Can you understand that? I'll die! "I love him so much… It hurts, Teri. Why does this have to be so painful for me? Would I feel better if I didn't love him? "I feel horrible, Teri. Why isn't Elijah answering my calls? Isn't he worried I'll die out here when I'm so drunk?" Teri looked at me, her gaze complicated. "I know you've lost your memories, Ari. I'll help you jog them so you can remember how much you love Elijah." I covered my face with my hands. After a while, I looked up and said helplessly, "I'm serious this time. I have to divorce him." She sighed, wanting to play yet another voice message. I stopped her and said bitterly, "I've heard enough. This isn't fun at all."