I Choose to Forget You

Right before our divorce, I was still stuck in postpartum recovery, drowning in severe postpartum depression. My husband, Julian, was nowhere to be found. Later, I found out that during the three months he was gone, he was traveling the country with his mistress. Once my heart completely broke, I signed the divorce papers without a second thought. Julian didn't hesitate either—he took our son and walked away. I smiled, finally feeling relieved. It was nice. Neither of us would rot in our past or in a false dream. Yet, after I vanished from their lives, they were the ones who regretted it. When they showed up in this sleepy northern town, begging me to come back, I just said: "I don't want you anymore. Keeping this up is just pathetic." On my birthday, Leo bought me an exquisite cake with the money he made from the corner store he managed. Along with it was a stunning vintage silk dress. I froze for a moment. This was the first gift he had ever given me. And that was when it hit me. A whole year had passed since I left Chicago. On my birthday last year, my biological son, Toby, had thrown a massive tantrum, demanding to go to the amusement park. Julian was away on a business trip, so I had to take him alone. Toby ran all over the place like an untethered balloon. I laughed, hurrying after him. "Slow down, Toby! Watch out!" "You're so annoying, Mom!" Toby made a goofy face at me and sprinted straight into the crosswalk. Right at that moment, an SUV ran a red light, speeding too fast to stop. Without even thinking, I dropped everything, lunged forward, and shoved him out of the way. I was hurled fifteen feet through the air. When I woke up from that nightmare in the ICU, both Julian and Toby were standing by my bedside. The knot in my chest finally loosened. I lifted my trembling hand to touch Toby's cheek, but he took a step back, hiding behind Julian's legs. My hand hung frozen in midair. Julian's freezing voice cut through the silence from above. "Why did you take him to the amusement park on your own?" "Toby is the sole heir to the Vance family. What would have happened if he got hurt?" I said nothing. I let my hand drop and looked down. Just as I was about to defend myself, I realized my legs had zero sensation. A creeping panic swept through me. I tried to move my feet, to flex a muscle—nothing. Then Julian added coldly, "Your spine is ruined. You're paralyzed. You can't raise Toby like this. Chloe would make a much better mother for him." "Really, Daddy?!" Toby tugged hard on Julian's coat, his little face lighting up. "Yes." I stared blankly at Toby. His eyes were sparkling with sheer excitement. The very next words he spoke dropped me straight into an abyss. "Can you divorce her already, then? I really miss Auntie Chloe!" So, the son I had almost died delivering already had someone else picked out to be his mother. All at once, the pain burned away, leaving behind pure numbness. Fine. Let them have what they wanted. I walked away with nothing. After leaving Chicago, I traveled alone to a remote, quiet town in northern Maine. I bought a small cottage with my remaining savings. The locals were kind, warm, and welcoming. I picked up my freelance writing again. Being in a wheelchair had its challenges, and I inevitably needed help from time to time. Even though my neighbors always smiled and said, "That's what neighbors are for," I still felt bad about bothering them. I considered hiring a caregiver, but on my way into town one afternoon, I got mugged. Fortunately, a scruffy homeless teenager stepped in and fought the guy off. He was fifteen, covered in dirt and bruises. Feeling both sympathy and a selfish need for company, I took him in. I gave him a job as my assistant, and I paid him a proper wage. He had no family, no records, not even a real name. I gave him a name: Leo. My name is Harper.Leo was actually a remarkably smart kid. He didn't care much for school, though. He only cared about making money—he was utterly obsessed with it. I understood why. When you've starved, poverty terrifies you. I never pushed him too hard, but I always reminded him that he could go to school if he wanted. I told him I could officially adopt him and make him family. He refused, and I never quite understood why. "Do you not like it?" Leo asked cautiously, holding up the silk dress. His voice snapped me out of my daze. I shook my head. "It's beautiful." Only then did a huge grin spread across his face. "I spent hours picking it out. I wasn't totally sure on the size, so I worried it wouldn't fit. Do you want to try it on?" he asked. I took the dress from him. It was crafted from silver-white silk, embroidered with delicate snow lilies. It truly was gorgeous. More beautiful than anything anyone had ever bought me in my past life. "Thank you, Leo." "Don't mention it. You don't ever have to thank me." "All right." Just as the words left my mouth, panicked shouting came from outside the gate. It was Simon, the boy who co-owned the local corner store with Leo. They had built a great little business together. "Leo! We've got a problem! A bunch of guys in black suits just trashed the entire store!" Simon leaned over, hands on his knees, gasping for air. "Who were they?" Leo frowned deeply. "No clue! But they look like serious muscle from out of town!" I looked up at Leo. His eyes lingered regretfully on the birthday cake sitting on the table. I smiled softly. "Go handle it. I'll wait for you to come back." "Okay. Wait for me." With that, Leo turned and sprinted off with Simon. The yard suddenly went dead silent. I stared at the cake for a long time. Before I knew it, three hours had passed, and my phone rang. It was the local police station. When I rushed into the precinct, I never expected to see ghosts from my past. I almost didn't recognize them. After a year apart, Julian looked even more sharp and intimidating. He was leaning back on a wooden bench with his arms crossed, while his high-priced lawyer spoke to an officer. The moment I wheeled myself in, his intense, burning gaze locked onto me. I could see the raw tension and restraint tightening his jaw. Turns out, Toby had ordered his bodyguards to smash Leo's shop. Leo, furious, had fought back. Things turned into a brawl, and Toby had gotten a tiny scratch during the scuffle. "Are you Leo's guardian?" an officer asked, stepping over. "I am." "Right this way, please." I nodded quietly and moved to push my wheels, but Julian was suddenly behind me. His hands gripped the handles of my wheelchair, taking over. I went stiff for a split second, then said politely, "Thank you." Julian flinched visibly. Inside the private office, Leo sat with his head down, while Simon was still muttering curses under his breath. "Leo, your guardian is here." Before Leo could even lift his head, the little boy responsible for the whole disaster threw himself straight into my lap. I didn't dodge in time. There was nowhere to dodge. He buried his face into my chest, nuzzling against me, vibrating with wild excitement. "Mommy!" "Daddy wasn't lying! You really didn't abandon me!" "Mommy, I came all this way to celebrate your birthday!" I kept my expression mild, gently and deliberately pushing him off of me. Then, tilting my head slightly, I smiled. "Sweetheart, you shouldn't call strangers that." "Your real mother would be very hurt if she heard you." His little face froze in utter confusion. He looked back at Julian, but Julian remained silent, his expression unreadable. In the blink of an eye, the eight-year-old burst into hysterical sobs. "Mommy! Are you still mad at me?! I'm sorry, Mommy! I was wrong!" A headache began pulsing behind my temples. My brows pulled together. Julian stepped forward, kneeling in front of Toby. "Stop crying. Your mother hates it when kids cry." Right. Chloe hated it. That was why Toby was always on his best behavior around Chloe, laughing and smiling. Only when Chloe wasn't there would Toby throw fits and scream. And he only ever screamed at me. He never gave me a single smile. All he ever had for me was contempt. As if having me as his biological mother was the greatest embarrassment of his life.Leo watched me quietly from across the room, as if waiting to see how I would react. I let out an exasperated sigh. "Let's go, Leo. The cake's going to melt if we wait any longer." Hearing that, a bright smile returned to his face. He stepped over naturally and took the handles of my wheelchair. Just as we turned toward the exit, Toby, who had barely quieted down, erupted into an even louder scream. "Daddy! Go after her! Bring Mommy back!" "She doesn't want me! She threw me away!" "I want to eat cake with Mommy!" He yanked furiously on Julian's arm, trying to drag him toward the door. No matter how loud he screamed, I didn't look back once. Just like the day they left me alone in a hospital bed on my birthday, paralyzed and forgotten. Leo pushed my chair very slowly, almost as if he were trying to give Julian a chance to catch up. He didn't need to bother. "Leo," I said softly. "You're the only family I have." "No one else. Understand?" "Yeah. I understand." Right outside the station doors, Julian's voice called out behind us. "Harper. Can we talk?" Honestly, there was nothing left to say. Between Julian and me, it was always a story of a powerful man demanding devotion, only to throw it away the moment his true love reappeared. I was an orphan. My education had been funded by the Vance family foundation. When Julian was a sickly child, they brought me out of the foster home and into their sprawling estate. The home director told me my only job was to take care of Julian, play with him, and keep him company at school. I was his shadow. A climbing vine meant to cling to him for survival. Julian had always treated me well back then—gentle, respectful, never crossing the line. We grew up side by side. My teenage crush was so obvious anyone could see it. Even though his wealthy family looked down on my background, they looked the other way because Julian wanted me around. Then, she appeared. Chloe. The daughter of a world-renowned classical pianist, a prodigy in her own right. Whenever she sat at a grand piano, she practically glowed. Julian was completely captivated. The very first time he stood me up for a movie date was because it was Chloe's birthday. After that, the dozens of times he broke his promises to me were always for the exact same reason: Chloe. The fantasy shattered. I began pulling away from Julian, studying tirelessly until I earned a scholarship to a top university in another city, finally moving out of the Vance mansion. Three months later, Julian tracked me down like a madman, begging me to come back. He stood in the pouring rain outside my dorm, burning with a fever, gasping my name over and over. He told me, "Harper, you're the one I love." "You can't leave me. You can never leave me." My resolve cracked. Love is a stubborn thing; a single spark is all it takes to reignite a raging fire. We intentionally erased Chloe from our conversations, pretending she had never existed. Getting married and having a child seemed completely natural and effortless. Until the day Chloe sent me a text, smashing my life to pieces once again. Harper, you'll never belong in Julian's world. You're just a charity case. Julian only stays out of pity. Even your own son thinks you're pathetic. Attached was a photo of the three of them at a theme park, looking just like a happy little family. When Julian came home that night, I had trashed the living room. Broken glass littered the floor, and I stood there with bloodshot eyes, demanding to know: "Are you still seeing Chloe?" He didn't even deny it. Instead, he sighed with obvious annoyance. "We're just friends. Stop being so paranoid." Even my five-year-old son piped up: "Auntie Chloe is so nice! She takes me on all kinds of fun rides! Mommy is mean, Mommy never takes me anywhere fun!" That was the first time I felt completely hollowed out. From that day forward, I slowly picked up the shattered pieces of my heart—not to glue them back together, but to throw them away. The northern town was quiet at night, save for the occasional rustle of pine needles in the wind. Leo didn't stop pushing. And I didn't ask him to. Why would I stop to chat with a stranger? Julian sprinted ahead and blocked our path, his chest heaving. "Harper, are you really turning your back on your own child?" I looked up at him, my expression calm and polite. "Excuse me, sir. Do I know you?"