He Forgot He Dumped Me

Xavier, the citys most notorious playboy, wrecked his car. And his brain.

His memory rebooted. He thinks it's three years ago.

He tracked me down, agitation radiating off him like heat waves.

I had dinner with my ex. One dinner. How long are you going to punish me for that?

My breath hitched. I froze.

Slowly, I bent down and lifted the toddler playing on the floor. I met his bewildered gaze, my voice barely a whisper. "Xavier, we broke up three years ago."

I shifted the weight of the child in my arms.

"I'm married. I'm a mother."

Chapter 1

I finally got Kinsley down for the night.

The silence in the apartment was heavy. I slumped against the headboard, the blue light of my phone washing over my face.

A news alert sliced across the top of the screen.

BREAKING: Update on Sterling Capital CEO Xavier, hospitalized after catastrophic crash in London on February 14th.

Xavier involved in a severe collision. Sources confirm critical head trauma. Coma likely.

The photo was a blurry nightmare.

A Bugatti Veyron, crumpled like a tin can. Paramedics loaded a stretcher into the ambulance. Xaviers face was a mask of blood. Even unconscious, his brows were knotted tight. A permanent state of tension.

My thumb hovered over the screen.

Three years.

I hadnt seen his face in over a thousand days.

The phantom sensation of his breath against my neck ghosted over me, followed instantly by the memory of the shattering pain that came after. I used to think that agony would kill me.

Now? It felt like reading about a stranger. A lifetime ago.

My eyelids grew heavy. I moved to lock the screen.

BAM. BAM. BAM.

Violent pounding rattled the front door.

My heart slammed against my ribs. I glanced toward Kinsleys room, terrified the noise would wake her. I shoved my feet into slippers and rushed to the living room. I pressed my eye to the peephole.

The blood drained from my face.

Xavier.

Gauze wrapped around his head. A dark, wet stain of fresh blood seeped through the white fabric.

"Nora, open the damn door!" His voice was hoarse, muffled by the wood. "I know you're in there. The doorman sold you out."

My mind scrambled. Logic short-circuited.

The crash. The coma. The news.

I unlocked the deadbolt with trembling fingers and pulled the door open. "You you were in a crash. You're supposed to be"

Xavier didnt wait for an invitation. He pushed past me, invading the space like he owned it.

He stopped.

His gaze dropped to the floor.

A pair of mens slippers sat by the entryway. Large. Worn.

Xaviers eyes narrowed. His jaw tightened. But he didn't say a word. He just stepped over them.

"Freezing out there."

He peeled off his coat and shoved the heavy wool into my arms, treating me like his personal coat check. "Why the hell are you living in this godforsaken place? What happened to the Hamptons estate I gave you?"

I stood there, clutching his coat, paralyzed by his audacity.

Three years ago, our ending had been nuclear.

I remembered the look in his eyes back then. Dark. Murderous. I thought he might actually strangle me.

Keep your lover away from me, Nora, he had hissed, his voice dripping with venom. Or I won't guarantee he survives the week.

But now?

He acted like the last three yearsthe screaming, the breakup, the silencenever happened.

He collapsed onto the sofa, spreading his arms across the backrest. He looked at me, patting his thigh. Expectant. Arrogant. Familiar.

"Come here."

Chapter 2

The amber glow of the floor lamp carved deep shadows across his face.

His eyes were the same. Slanted slightly upward, sharp enough to cut glass. On anyone else, that look would be cruel. On Xavier? It was just that signature, reckless arrogance. The kind that made women ruin themselves for him.

I took a hard step back, my spine hitting the wall. "Why are you here? Were done. Broken up."

Xavier let out a dry, mocking laugh.

"Please. Give it a rest." He smirked, shaking his head. "I know you, Nora. How many nights have you spent crying in this apartment since the fight?"

"Enough." He waved a dismissive hand, as if swatting away a fly. "I took Scarlett to the hospital. Big deal. Are you really going to be this petty over a simple favor?"

I didn't move. I didn't breathe.

His patience snapped.

He stood up, crossed the distance in two long strides, and grabbed me. His large, callous palm landed flat against my stomach.

The heat from his hand seeped through my shirt, making my skin crawl. His voice dropped, softening into something dangerous. "I get it. You're pregnant. Hormones making you crazy, right?"

He stroked the fabric over my belly, his eyes possessive. "Fine. If you want this baby so bad, we keep it. Ive even got names picked out. If its a boy, we call him Julian. If its a girl"

The air left my lungs.

The baby.

He was talking about the pregnancy from three years ago. The one that didn't

My brain short-circuited. I gripped his wrist, my fingers digging into his pulse, trying to anchor myself in reality. My throat felt like sandpaper. "Xavier your memory. Is it gone?"

He paused. A flicker of confusion crossed his face, but he shrugged it off instantly.

"The doctors said I scrambled my brain. Total bullshit." He leaned in, his forehead resting against mine. "Things are fuzzy. But it doesn't matter. The important stuff is right here."

He pulled me closer, his eyes swimming with a terrifying, delusional affection. "You can fill in the blanks later."

It was a nightmare. He was looking at me like the last three years of hell never happened.

I shoved him away. My hands shook violently. "Xavier, listen to me. We broke up. I"

"Nora."

He cut me off. The warmth vanished from his eyes. His smile turned icy.

"Stop the drama."

His lip curled. Pure, unfiltered arrogance. "You think I buy that? Youve been with me for years. If you were going to leave, you would have done it ages ago."

He stepped closer, towering over me, sucking the oxygen out of the room. "You can't live without me."

Click.

The sound of a door handle turning shattered the tension.

I scrambled back, putting desperate distance between us.

Kinsley stood in the hallway light.

She rubbed sleep from her eyes with a tiny fist, her other hand dragging her favorite worn-out bunny by the ear. "Mommy?"

She frowned, her little face scrunching up as she looked at the bleeding, bandaged stranger in our living room. "Who is that?"

Chapter 3

The implosion of "us" didn't happen in a vacuum. It was the inevitable end to a rigged game.

I wasn't just adopted by the wealthy Sterling family. I was acquired.

A companion. A stabilizer. A human shock absorber for their volatile heir.

From day one, the mandate was clear: Yield to Xavier. Protect Xavier. Absorb Xavier.

I was three years older, cast in the role of the responsible sister. But Xavier? He was a prince raised to be a tyrant, spoiled rotten and mean as a viper.

In the beginning, he made my life a living hell.

Hed slip snakes under my duvet just to hear me scream. Hed gather his rich, sneering friends to mock my "charity case" status.

I still remember the nights hed kick my door open, dragging me out of sleep by my hair, his face twisted in a cruel sneer. "Don't get it twisted, Nora," hed hiss, looming over me. "You aren't my sister. You're just the stray my parents fed. You're just a dog we keep."

I took it. I swallowed the insults and the fear because I had no leverage.

I was grateful to Clifford and Constance. They plucked me from the state home, saving me from a fate far worse than a spoiled brat's temper. The Director of that orphanage had a taste for pretty childrenand a roster of wealthy buyers.

If the Sterlings hadn't taken me, I would have been sold to the highest bidder before my twelfth birthday.

But childhood cruelty is fickle.

Over time, my constant yielding wore him down. The torment stopped. He started seeking me out. He wouldn't let anyone else touch me. On nights he couldn't sleep, he'd creep into my room, curling up like he sought sanctuary.

He started calling me "Nora."

I thought that was it. I thought I would play the role of the shadow sister forever.

Then came nineteen. Then came Scarlett.

Old money meets old money. Scarlett was the quintessential heiressdazzling, untouchable, the campus queen bee. She caught Xavier's eye, and the world made sense.

They were perfect on paper, but volatile in practice. Two fires consuming each other.

During one of their nuclear arguments, Xavier decided to weaponize me.

To punish her, he grabbed me. Right in front of her.

He didn't kiss me with affection. He kissed me like he was branding cattle.

That moment shattered the sibling illusion. The air between us curdled, heavy with things unsaid. He never explained it. We never spoke of it. But the safety was gone.

Three years later, Xavier and Scarlett finally crashed and burned. She fled the country, nursing a broken heart.

Xavier nursed a bottle of whiskey.

And then he found his way to my bed.

I can still feel the phantom weight of him from that chaotic night. He reeked of top-shelf bourbon and desperation. He pinned my wrists above my head, his grip bruising, trapping me against the mattress.

"Don't push me away." His voice wasn't a command. It was a guttural plea, ragged and broken. "Don't you dare refuse me."

His body was a furnace, heavy and overwhelming. I couldn't move. I could barely breathe under the onslaught of his heat.

My voice trembled, barely a whisper in the dark. "Xavier do you know who I am?"

He didn't answer with words. He buried his face in my neck, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin, sending a jolt of electricity straight to my core.

Hours later, as exhaustion finally dragged me toward sleep, I heard it. A rough exhale against my ear. A confession.

"You're Nora."

Chapter 4

We didnt date. We collided.

There was no grand confession. No "I love you." No labels.

I was still the frantic fixer in his life, managing his chaos, but the boundaries had dissolved.

The intimacy was a secret addiction. We walked on beaches bleeding with sunset colors. We watched movies in the suffocating dark, limbs tangled. We slept through thunderstorms, his heavy arm holding me close, grounding me while the world shook.

For a flicker of time, I hallucinated happiness.

I didn't know the exact second I fell in love with him. I just knew I was in deep water, and I couldn't swim.

So when Scarlett came back, I swallowed the jealousy like broken glass.

When he ghosted my birthday dinner to comfort her? I took it.

I loved him. I convinced myself he was just a boy who hadn't grown up yet. I told myself I was the only one who could wait for him to become a man.

Then, the stick turned pink.

I stared at the pregnancy test until my vision blurred. I took a picture and sent it to him.

Silence.

Hours later, my phone buzzed.

His voice was distorted, crackling with irritation. "Nora, I'm not doing this."

The rejection was instant. Brutal.

"I'm not ready to play house. I haven't even finished having fun. Get rid of it."

The line went dead.

My hand dropped. I felt cold. Hollowed out.

Thirty minutes later, my phone lit up again. A message from Brittany, my old college classmate interning at Mount Sinai.

Sent an image.

It was a candid shot in a hospital corridor.

Xavier.

He was holding Scarlett. One hand on her waist, the other cupping her elbow. Gentle. Reverent. As if she were made of spun sugar and would shatter if he breathed too hard.

Brittanys text followed, confused and gossipy:

Wait, isn't this your guy? Why is he at the OB-GYN with this girl? Shes showing, Nora. Who is she?

The air left the room.

My lungs seized. A sharp, physical pain radiated from my chest to my fingertips.

I finally understood.

It wasn't that Xavier didn't want a child.

He didn't want my child.

From the beginning, Scarlett was the only one who mattered. She was the one that got away. The obsession. The golden girl.

I was just the placeholder. The warm body.

She was back. The queen had returned to the board, and the pawnand her unwanted mistakehad to be swept away.

I texted him two words: Its over.

But Xavier wouldn't let go. He stalled. He gaslit me. He refused to accept the breakup, treating it like another one of my tantrums.

Desperate, I had to burn the bridge myself.

I called Declan, an old college classmate, and begged him to help me stage a betrayal.

Ill never forget the look in Xaviers eyes that day.

He stared at me, his irises consuming the whites of his eyes, pure black hate. He looked like he wanted to set me on fire.

"Nora," he had growled, his voice vibrating with a lethal promise. "You and your lover better stay the hell away from me. Or I won't guarantee he survives."

Chapter 5

His final words to me that night were a guillotine drop.

"You're nothing but a stray I took in."

His lip had curled in disgust. "Remember this, Nora: I discarded you. You didn't leave me."

We hadn't spoken since.

He left for Europe. He expanded the empire. He got engaged to Scarlett.

The tabloids ate it up. The billion-dollar merger. Two dynasties uniting. The engagement party photos were splashed across every screenScarlett in diamonds, Xavier looking like he owned the world.

And now?

He was standing in my living room, bleeding, his brain reset to a time before the ring, before the headlines, before he threw me away.

The silence in the apartment turned viscous. Thick. Suffocating.

Outside, the city traffic was a distant hum, but in here, the air was static.

I scooped Kinsley up, pressing her small, warm weight against my chest. My barrier. My reality check. I met Xavier's bewildered gaze. My voice was quiet, but it didn't shake. "Xavier we're done. We broke up three years ago."

I took a breath.

"I'm married. I'm a mother."

He froze.

For a long moment, the only sound was the clock ticking. Then, a look of pure, unadulterated absurdity crossed his face. He reached for me, his hand shaking slightly. "Bullshit."

He wasn't arguing with me. He was arguing with the universe.

"Impossible. You? Married to someone else? You're obsessed with me."

His eyes snapped to the child in my arms. A twisted, desperate hope lit up his face. He forced a jagged smile. "I lost my memory so this is mine, isn't it?"

He stepped closer, invading my space. "You kept the baby from three years ago? You hid it from me?"

I stepped back, clutching Kinsley tighter. "Xavier, stop. You're sounding insane."

"She isn't your daughter."

The light in Xavier's eyes died, instantly replaced by a pitch-black void. The playboy was gone. The monster was back.

"Not mine?"

He lunged, gripping my wrist. His fingers dug into my skin. "Then whose is she? Who the hell did you sleep with, Nora?!"

"Mine."

The voice was low. Baritone. Absolute.

The front door swung open.

Declan walked in.

He didn't look at Xavier. He walked straight to me and effortlessly lifted Kinsley from my trembling arms, settling her against his hip like it was the most natural thing in the world.

The midnight dampness clung to his black bespoke suit, making the fabric sheen under the hallway lights. He should have looked disheveled from the late hour, but he didn't.

He looked lethal. A king surveying a peasant who had wandered into his throne room.

He finally turned his gaze to Xavier. His expression was one of mild, almost bored amusement.

"We have a guest," he murmured, his tone smooth as velvet. "You should have told me."

He handed me a small, pristine white box, completely ignoring the murderous energy radiating from Xavier. "Your favorite cheesecake. The place was closing, but I convinced them to keep the ovens on."

Xavier sized him up. A predator recognizing a bigger, more dangerous predator.

His knuckles turned white. The veins in his neck pulsed.

"Nora."

He spat the name, his eyes darting between Declan and me.

"Since when are you sleeping with him?"

Chapter 6