The Husband I Deleted

I have amnesia. I remember everyone. The only one I forgot was him.

I looked at my toxic husband. Handsome, short fuse, and he clearly hates my guts.

I spread my hands. Clear your schedule. Let's get a divorce.

Chapter 1

Holden picked me up from the hospital, and I almost dialed 911. He had to whip out our marriage license just to stop me.

I stared at the photo on the document. The couple in the photo stood side-by-side, but they looked like total strangers.

I asked him a simple question. "Are you really my husband? You don't look like a man in love."

The annoyance on Holden's face froze instantly.

I continued. "I wouldn't marry a man who didn't love me. There must be a mistake somewhere."

Holden drove me back to our home. He unlocked the door. Inside, it was pitch black.

Holden stubbed his toe right at the entryway, cursing as he tripped. "Why the hell is there a step here?" he complained.

I had zero memory of this place. I didn't know how to answer him.

The foyer was too dark. Holden fumbled against the wall for ages, feeling blindly for the switch. He could not find it.

"Where is the light?" he demanded.

I shot back. "Is this not your house?"

Holden fell silent.

After an awkward silence, he finally found the switch hidden behind a vase.

Click.

Warm yellow light flooded the space. It felt like it chased away the monsters hiding in the living room shadows.

A flicker of something hit me.

I remembered that no matter how late it got, the light in the foyer was always on. Waiting for Holden. Just like I used to keep the door to my heart open for him.

I snapped back to reality when I saw Holden holding a sticky note. He had ripped it off the switch.

I leaned in to look. It was my handwriting. "Congrats, Mr. High Schooler! You finally found the switch!"

I let out a dry laugh. Was I always this childish?

Holden had been watching me like a hawk. Hearing that, he crumpled the note and tossed it aside. "Not just childish. Jealous."

My eyebrows shot up. "You have someone else, don't you?"

He sputtered. Then the anger hit. "Stop being dramatic! I don't have time for your games!"

Everyone suspected I was faking it. No car crash. No massive trauma. I just took a nap and woke up with Holden deleted from my hard drive.

I stared straight at him. I did not know this man. I felt absolutely nothing for him.

But the heart inside my chest told me I used to love him. Desperately.

A smile spread across my face. Cold and sharp. "You have a guilty conscience."

Chapter 2

Holden stopped paying attention to me. He walked toward the living room. The light switch was on the left. He slapped it on effortlessly.

He sat on the warm white sofa, refusing to look at me. Sulking.

I stared at the switch. Holden is tall. For him, it's a casual tap. For me? I'd have to stretch my arm all the way up just to reach it.

I really treated myself like dirt.

Holden frowned. "Are you doing this on purpose? I told you, I don't have time for your games."

I sat on the small chair opposite him. I looked around. "No time? Then let's stop playing games."

I pulled out the marriage license he gave me earlier. "Clear your schedule. Let's get a divorce."

He did not even look up. He answered fast. Terrified I would take it back. "Fine. You said it."

I nodded. The hospital stay had drained me. I was exhausted. "Which room is mine?"

Holden looked at me with suspicion. He was trying to figure out if I was lying. If the amnesia was a con.

He led me to a bedroom door. He leaned against the frame, staring at me. Intently.

I rummaged through several drawers before I found my pajamas. I saw Holden's too. Matching couples' sets. Except his were crisp. New. Obviously never worn.

Mine were folded neatly right next to them. Side by side.

I reached past the set. I grabbed a nightgown instead. "I am changing. You planning to watch?"

Holden raised an eyebrow. Then he gave me a warning. "Don't forget. Divorce. Tomorrow morning."

I waved my phone at him. "Relax. Appointment is already booked."

That actually surprised him. "When did you do that?"

I shrugged. "The second I laid eyes on you."

Holden looked like he was about to explode. He pursed his lips, brows jammed together, staring at me for a long time. Finally, he turned around and stormed off without a word.

I closed the door. I collapsed onto the soft bed. The light from the living room sliced through the crack under the door.

I got up to turn it off. I opened the door and found Holden in the living room. He was typing furiously on his laptop.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

The living room light was a stark white. It fell on Holden, making the distance between us feel infinite. Like we were worlds apart.

Suddenly, he turned to look at me. His voice was cold. "Why are you not asleep? Regretting it?"

I calmly walked to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of warm water. On my way back past the fridge, I grabbed a bottle of coffee. I handed it to him.

He took it, suspicious. He took a sip. His eyebrows knotted instantly. "Iris, what the hell are you doing?"

Chapter 3

Yeah, judging by that face, he hates coffee.

I took a slow sip of my warm water. "To wake you up."

Holden glared at me, eyebrows twisting. "I am plenty awake."

I smirked. "Good. Because the way you were spouting nonsense earlier, I thought you were sleepwalking."

Holden pressed his lips together. Silence.

I realized what he was doing. He was dodging the fight. "Scared I might change my mind?"

I don't remember who Holden used to be. Maybe he was charismatic. Maybe he was the strong, silent type. But he definitely was not this.

This version of him? Just annoying.

The annoyance followed me all the way to the next morning. Holden drove us to the courthouse.

I woke up too early, and my blood sugar was low. I leaned back against the seat, trying to catch a nap.

Holden suddenly felt the urge to take a stroll down memory lane. He would not shut up.

He talked about how I chased him. How we got our marriage license. How we renovated the house.

Blah. Blah. Blah.

My head started pounding. I finally snapped. "You are such a great storyteller. Why don't you tell me the story of how you met Kaylee instead?"

Holden shut his mouth.

Silence is an admission of guilt. He cheated.

I had listened to his version of "Us." In his story, I was obsessed with him. I made myself small. Like dust looking up at a god.

But now? The filter is gone. And I realized something. Holden is just irritating.

We finally got inside. The clerk looked at Holden twice. Then she smiled at me.

"Folks, there's a mandatory thirty-day waiting period for divorce filings."

Her smile was polite. Her eyes sent a different signal. Don't regret this.

I glanced up at Holden. Tall. Long legs. Striking face. Expensive suit. Every hair perfectly styled. He looked like money and class.

She needs to get her eyes checked. Just because he looks expensive doesn't mean he isn't trash.

Holden was more anxious than I was. He frowned. "Is the wait mandatory?"

The clerk checked her screen. She smiled professionally. "Sorry, sir. It is policy."

I shrugged. "Whatever."

Holden sighed. He snatched our documents back. Then he dropped the cold act on me again. "I have a meeting. I am leaving."

Chapter 4

Holden drove off. Leaving me on the curb.

I had to take the bus. The bureau wasn't far from the station. But the timing was terrible. Rush hour.

The crowd was a wall of bodies. I hated crowds. I shrank back.

My heel came down. I almost stepped on a tail. I apologized to the cat immediately.

I looked up. The owner was staring at me.

He was about twenty. Pale skin. Limbs thin as sticks. He looked like he was recovering from a serious illness.

His eyes crinkled into a smile. "First time I have seen someone apologize to a cat."

I sat down on the bench. Kept a little distance. "First time I have seen someone walking a cat."

The cat was a Tuxedo. Black coat. Four white paws. Like he was wearing socks. He pressed tight against the boy's leg. Frozen.

"He is clingy," the boy said.

The boy smiled. "Animals have spirits. He knows I am dying."

My stomach dropped. "But you are so young."

He looked up at the sky. The light flickered in his eyes. "Youth is useless. Being alive is the only thing that matters."

I wanted to comfort him. But I looked into his eyes, and the words died in my throat.

Buses came. Buses went. The platform emptied. Until it was just us.

The boy kept looking at the sky. Sunlight danced on his eyelashes.

"I'm sick too," I said calmly. "I have amnesia. I remember everyone. Except one person."

Silence stretched.

Then, his voice. Soft. Flat. "He must be important to you."

Important. The word hit me like a physical blow.

My chest caved in. A massive, gaping hole where my heart used to be.

The sun was blazing overhead. But I was freezing. A chill settled deep in my bones. Shaking my bones.

I wrapped my arms around myself. Trying to hold the pieces together.

I lied. Through my teeth. "No. I hate him."

The cat, Lucky, nudged my ankle. I reached down. Scratched his head.

The boy turned to look at me. Bright eyes. Small dimples appeared on his cheeks. He extended a hand. "I am Sage. And this is Lucky."

My bus finally arrived.

Before I got on, Sage exchanged numbers with me. He told me he knew a neurologist. Said maybe we could meet him.

I leaned against the bus window. My mind drifted, wandering aimlessly.

I got to the studio. I did not see Ellis walking toward me.

Crash.

I walked right into him and his wooden easel.

Ellis. Thick black frames. Always looking at his shoes. Avoiding eye contact like it was a sport.

The only time he speaks is payday. A whisper. "Thanks, boss."

Chapter 5

Ellis is a gloomy guy. A shadow in the corner of the room.

But his art? It is pure light. Every canvas he touches has a beam of hope breaking through the darkness from somewhere far away.

I scrambled up from the floor. I rushed to check on him. "You okay?"

He refused to look at me. He hugged his easel like a shield. He panicked and scurried away without a word.

Jade swooped in. She grabbed my hand and inspected the damage. "You scraped your palm. You're an artist, Iris. These hands are your paycheck. Try not to ruin them, okay?"

"It was my fault. I walked into him."

Jade found the iodine. She started dabbing it on the wound. Stinging. She capped the bottle. Then she looked at me. "Did your husband give you a hard time yesterday?"

I looked at her. "Why would he give me a hard time?"

Jade rolled her eyes so hard I thought they might get stuck.

"Oh, please. Holden? The guy with the God complex? You publicly called him a kidnapper yesterday. You bruised his massive ego in front of everyone. I am surprised he did not serve you divorce papers right there."

Jade clearly hates his guts.

I nodded. "We are done. I initiated it. Just got back from the bureau."

Jade's eyes went wide. She froze.

Then she clasped her hands together. She looked up at the ceiling in mock prayer. "Thank you, God. My birthday wish actually worked."

"What?"

Jade shot me a look. "I wished for three things. Get skinny. Get rich. And get Iris out of her misery."

"That is accurate."

I paused. "I just cannot figure it out. Why did I marry a guy like Holden?"

I loved him. My chest knew that. But not this Holden.

Something must have happened. Something in the memories I lost. I looked at Jade. Expectant. Hoping for answers.

Jade and I go way back. We sat next to each other in high school. College classmates. In the black hole of my missing youth, she is the constant. My best friend.

Everyone else thinks I am faking the amnesia.

Jade? She just looked at me. Suspicious for a second.

Then she grabbed a cup of hot tea from the table. "The old Holden? He would have blown on this until it was perfect. Then fed it to you himself."

She poured the tea into the waste bin.

Splash.

"But the current Holden? He would pour it down the drain and not even glance at you."

Her voice faded.

Bam.

A sledgehammer hit my skull. Shards of memory sliced through the black fog in my brain.

Winter.

Holden wrapped in a heavy coat. Standing downstairs. Looking up at me. Smiling.

His lips were pale. Frozen. Moving silently. But I could hear him.

Iris. Let's get married after graduation.

Suddenly, hands clamped onto my shoulders. Jade shook me. Hard. Forcing me back to reality. "Iris. Stop. Don't look back. The current Holden isn't worth it."

My heart was a mess of tangled wires. But I looked at her. And I nodded.

Chapter 6

When I left work that evening, Holden was waiting.

He was leaning against his car. Expensive suit. Arms crossed over his chest. Staring at the ground. Twilight clung to him. He looked gloomy. Only the breeze was his salvation.

Jade pinched my arm. "Don't look back."

I smiled at her. She sighed and walked off with her boyfriend.

Holden heard us. He looked up. His voice was flat. "Get in."

I pulled the back door open. I slid into the rear seat. He glanced at me. Said nothing.

Silence. It felt heavy. Familiar.

The scenery outside started to change. I did not recognize the streets. I finally broke the silence. "Holden. Where are you taking me?"

He did not look at me. His profile was cold. "French cuisine. It's Monday. Isn't that your rule?"

A rule from a past I do not remember?

I kept my voice low. Muffled. "I don't want to eat. Just drive to your house. I'm moving out. Today."

Screech.

Holden slammed the car to the curb. He twisted around in his seat. His eyes were full of disgust.

"Iris. When does the drama end? I memorized your list of demands. Is that not enough for you?"

Snap.

Something in my brain broke.

I ripped my bag off my shoulder. I hurled it straight at his hateful face. "I am not creating drama! I already divorced you!"

Holden's face darkened. Like ink spilling in water. He hit the button, rolling the window down. He grabbed my bag. And tossed it out onto the street.

My blood boiled. "Holden, pick it up."

He laughed. A cold, sharp sound. "Do you think I'm your dog? Who do you think you are? Some entitled princess barking orders?"

Crack.

My palm connected with his face. Hard.

The car went dead silent. Holdens eyes went wide. A red handprint started to bloom on his cheek. He did not see it coming.

The violence sobered us both up.

"Holden. Marriage is two people. It is not a shackle. It is not a list of demands. It is supposed to be a home."

A dull ache spread through my chest. Right where the missing piece of my heart should be. Striking him hurt my hand. But it shredded my insides.

Holden half-turned. Watching me. Silent.

Then it hit me.

A tsunami of foreign memories. Crashing down. Drowning me. Choking the air out of my lungs.

I remembered. High school.

Holden sat at the desk in front of me. He used to turn around just like this.

Back then, he would raise an eyebrow. His smile was full of boyish swagger.

Chapter 7

He said: Iris. At the game this afternoon. Cheer for me. Only me.

He said: Iris. First snow. Can I call you?

He said: Iris. You look so cute when you frown at those math problems.

He said: Iris. Run. Run as fast as you can! No matter where you go, I will always catch you.

Eighteen-year-old Holden. Always standing in the light. Standing in the breeze. Smiling at me while I was stuck in the dark.

He loved calling my name like that. He said it made me sound sweeter.

My heart will always race for the eighteen-year-old Holden. But twenty-eight-year-old Iris? She will never love twenty-eight-year-old Holden again.

Holdens cheek was swollen. His eyes were rimmed with red.

I opened the car door. I stepped out. I refused to look at him again.

Inside the car, Holden reached for me. His hand trembled in the air. Then it dropped. And the price of time.

I did not look back. He wasn't worth the neck strain.

I moved out of our house that same night. Holden watched me, his face dark. "In such a rush?"

I dragged my suitcase to the door. I didn't even glance at him. "Every second counts."

Holden went silent.

Click.

He quietly flipped the foyer switch. Turning on the light for me.

I reached the door. Suddenly, his voice cracked behind me. "Iris."

My feet stopped. Automatic brakes.

Holden is a proud man. But his voice was low. Pleading. "If if we went back ten years would you"

The answer was the door slamming shut.

Bam.

Wednesday.

I accepted Sage's invitation to meet the neurologist. The moment I stepped into the clinic, a wave of dj vu hit me.

I had never been here. But it felt familiar. Confusing.

The doctor seemed to read my mind. He handed me a glass of warm water.

His voice was magnetic. Soothing. "Relax. I'm Theron. I minored in psychology. I specialize in using the environment to influence the mind."

I looked up at him. He was smiling. Kindly. His face was a stranger's face.

But my gut screamed familiar. "Have we met before?"

He sat down opposite me. Interlocked his fingers. He smiled. "I have an eidetic memory, Miss Iris. We've definitely never met."

His voice was slow. Hypnotic. It carried a strange authority. It made me want to believe him.

My vision started to blur. The edges of the room went soft.

The last thing I heard was his voice. "Miss Iris. I hope you do not regret your decision."

I stumbled out of the office. My head was swimming. My brain felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

Sage was waiting at the door. He saw me come out. He handed me my bag and my phone.

Chapter 8

"Are you okay?"

I leaned against the wall. I forced a smile at him. My brain felt heavy. Like static.

I felt like I had forgotten something crucial. But the harder I reached for it, the further it slipped away.

Sage waited with me at the hospital until the dizziness passed. My head was still buzzing, but my legs worked again.

We said goodbye at the entrance. He waved and turned to leave.

Guilt pricked me. "I dragged you all the way here. Let me buy you dinner."

Sage smiled. A soft, sad thing. "No need. You already paid me back."

I froze.

He added quietly. "In the parts of your memory that are missing we were friends."

The drive back was a blur. Sages words kept looping in my mind. I tried to remember him. I tried to find a single trace of his face in my past. Nothing.

I got back to the studio and started sketching. I was supposed to be drawing a vase.

I looked down. The charcoal lines on the paper weren't a vase. They were a boy. Sage.

Jade rolled her chair over. Teasing. "Nice. Turning a bottle into a pretty boy? New fling?"

I denied it instantly. "Of course not. He is twenty."

Jade tsked. She leaned in, studying the sketch. Then she frowned. "He looks empty. Not like a living person. More like a still life."

That was exactly how Sage felt. A cat trapped in the dark. Only his eyes held the sun.

He was waiting to escape the shadows. He was waiting for a miracle.

Friday.

Sage was admitted to the hospital. Theron dropped the bomb. Without surgery, Sage had three months. Max.

I asked the obvious question. "Why hasn't he had the surgery?"

Therons voice was clinical. Cold. "Because the success rate is ten percent."

I went to visit Sage. I bought flowers. I tried to keep the mood light. Cracked jokes.

Sage smiled back, but his gaze kept drifting to the window. To the sky. "I miss Lucky. Shame they do not allow cats here."

I asked carefully. "Do you have any other family here?"

I wanted to hear what they thought about the surgery.

Sage turned to me. His smile was forced. "I have no family. Car crash three years ago. I was the sole survivor."

He looked back out the window. "And now, I am leaving too."

Sunlight pierced through the glass. It wrapped around him. Kissing his hair. He looked so pale. Thin. Fragile. Like an iris about to shatter.

A knot tightened in my chest. But words felt useless in front of him.

I visited often. The first week, we could still go outside. Sit in the sun.

The second week, he was in a wheelchair. Coughing up mouthfuls of blood.

The third week, his hair was gone. Shaved.

He lay in bed, weak. He smiled at me. "Iris. What is the one thing you want to do most in this life?"

Chapter 9

I thought about it. Hard. I realized I had nothing left that I wanted to do.

Sage did not care that I had no answer. He handed me a set of keys and an address. "Help me take care of Lucky."

That night, I went to pick up Lucky. He was curled up next to the portable pet camera. The exact spot where Sage could see him if he turned the feed on.

"Lucky. Good boy."

He meowed at me twice. His voice was hoarse. Like he had been crying out for a long time.

He could not find Sage. So he guarded the only place where his master's voice used to exist. Waiting for a ghost.

The next day. I unblocked Holden.

The waiting period was over. We could finally make the divorce official. My appointment was at nine.

Holden showed up late. His suit was wrinkled. His hair was messy. He looked wrecked.

He saw me. A spark lit up in his eyes. Then it vanished. Ash.

I saw him walking toward me. I turned to leave. His hand clamped onto my arm.

I tried to pull away. I could not. I frowned at him.

Holdens eyelashes trembled. His voice was raw. Broken. "Iris. Do you not want me anymore?"

Snap.

My spine went rigid. A phantom blade twisted in my chest. Scraping against the bone. Agony.

I had loved him. Viscerally.

"No."

I forced the words past the lump in my throat. "Holden. I do not want you."

That sentence unleashed a decade. Ten years of Us. Crashing down on me.

It was him in his school uniform. Drenched in sunlight. Bouncing a basketball. Smirking.

Iris. Why are you late? If you are not watching, who am I showing off for?

It was him resting his chin on his hand. Watching the teachers leave school. Tilting his head at me.

Iris. Wanna go get spicy noodles after school?

It was him huddled in a corner. Flu. Acting like he was dying.

Iris. I am fading fast. My entire fortune is a dollar bill tucked in my math book. Page twenty-seven. It is yours Cough Why did you hit me?

It was him. Face flushing red. Kneeling in a sea of flowers.

Iris. From now on, you are my entire fortune.

It was the clock ticking past midnight after we got married.

It was him holding me, talking about our future, while his phone lit up on the nightstand.

I feel sick. Can you come over?

It was the annoyance growing in his eyes. It was the silence where his words used to be.

It was my birthday. The one he missed. The pathetic lie he told to be with her.

The office cat is sick. Someone needs to watch it.

That was our decade. The golden boy drifting away. Until he was a stranger.

Two hot tears streaked down my face. Unstoppable.

"Holden. I do not want you."

Chapter 10

Paperwork filed.

I shook off Holden, who was still trying to cling to me. On my way to visit Sage, I stopped to buy a bouquet of flowers.

At the hospital elevator, I ran into Theron. The neurologist. He saw me. He raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"Miss Iris. Do you remember me this time?"

I remembered him.

Six months ago. When I confirmed Holden had betrayed me.

I spiraled into depression and anorexia. It ended with me passing out on the side of the road. A kind boy brought me to the hospital.

When I woke up, the boy was sitting by the window. Quietly soaking up the sun.

He smiled at me. He reached out a hand. "Hi. I am Sage. And I have a cat named Lucky."

Back then, he was just thin. Malnourished. But his eyes were always bright. Like they were hiding the sun inside them.

I was kept for observation. Moderate depression. Severe anorexia.

Holden was on a business trip. Schmoozing. Drinking. He had no idea I was in the hospital.

The first week was hell. I curled up in the corner. No food. No water. Staying alive on IV drips.

I cried late into the night. Sometimes I would wake up from a med-induced sleep and just scream at the empty corner.

Sage visited often. He brought fresh wildflowers from the roadside. He ripped open the curtains. He chased away the gloom.

The second week. He introduced his doctor to me. That man was Theron.

He minored in psychology. Held a master's degree. An expert at hacking the human mind through environmental variables.

In front of him, I always felt a strange calm.

After half a month of treatment. Theron sat across from me. Fingers interlaced. Smiling kindly.

"I know the source of your pain, Miss Iris."

He leaned in. "The partner you walked with since youth has given his heart to another. You are not holding onto the man he is now. You are mourning the boy he was."

His voice was smooth. Hypnotic. "So why not discard the old memories? Reset. Re-evaluate the person beside you now. See if he is still worth looking back for. What do you think?"

My brain was mush. I could barely hear him. But I knew one thing. This was my only way out.

The next six months. Theron used a series of psychological suggestions and medication. He made me genuinely forget Holden. Temporarily.

He told me the trigger. "When you decide to let go, the memories will return."

So.

One day I woke up. I had amnesia. I remembered everyone. Except him.

Chapter 11

I stepped into the elevator. I smiled at him. "Thanks."

The metal doors slid shut. Sealing us in. Just the two of us in the steel box.

Theron tilted his head. The professional, polite mask dissolved. His eyes changed. A fanatical, feverish light ignited in them.

"No, thank you. You were an excellent test subject."

I knew Theron was using me. I was a lab rat to him. But I was grateful. I walked out of the fog. I dumped the past. I owed him that.

It did not change the fact that he was an academic lunatic. A mad scientist using living people as raw data.

I did not want to engage. I stayed silent.

Theron asked a few more questions. When he saw I was bored, he lost interest.

Silence returned. The elevator chimed. Doors opened.

I stepped out.

"Miss Iris."

I looked back. Theron stood in the shadows. The polite, formulaic smile was back on his face. Perfect. Plastic.

"Sage agreed to the surgery."

Joy spiked in my chest. I nodded, thanked him again, and rushed straight to Sages ward.

When I walked in, Sage was curled up in the chair by the window. The sunlight paved a golden road across his body. Inch by inch. Warming him.

I pulled the dead flowers from the vase. I replaced them with the sunflowers I brought. I misted the petals with water.

Water droplets clung to the yellow petals.

I laughed softly. "You really are like a sunflower. Always chasing the light."

Sage half-opened his eyes. His breathing was shallow. Weak.

"I agreed to the surgery. If I get lucky if I live paint me a sunrise in Lhasa."

He had mentioned this when I was deep in my depression. I had forgotten.

Guilt pricked me. "When you get better, I will take you to Lhasa myself. We will watch the sunrise together."

He closed his eyes. He did not answer. He looked exhausted.

The surgery was scheduled for the next afternoon. Before they wheeled him in, he gave me a hug.

It was small. Light. A fragile weight against me.

His last words were a whisper. "Iris. Remember me."

My eyes burned. I patted his back. Trying to ground him. "You are young. You will be lucky."

He smiled at me. Closed his eyes. And went silent.

Eight hours.

I waited outside the operating room until evening. Then I left to feed Lucky.

Sage has Lucky. He will be fine.

But Lucky seemed to know. He refused to eat. Not a bite. He lay flat in front of the camera. Motionless.

Nine o'clock.

I was getting ready to go back to the hospital to keep watch. Suddenly, Lucky started to wail.

I had never heard a cat make a sound like that. Hoarse. Guttural. Screaming.

He kept rubbing his head against the lens of the camera. Desperate. Trying to find warmth in the cold machine.

But the cold machine wouldn't comfort him forever.

Chapter 12