He Killed My Parents, Then Called Me His Fiancée

Lucy's POV

"You really fell for her, didn't you?"

I stopped walking. That was Ivy's voice, coming from the stairwell just ahead.

"Ivy..." Gino sounded tired. "Don't do this. Not here."

"Don't do what? Ask questions? Tell the truth?" Her voice cracked in a way I'd never heard before. "You love me. You've always loved me. You can't have forgotten what happened four years ago, the accident, Gino. You crashed your car chasing after me because you loved me that much!"

Four years ago.

I felt like someone had just punched me in the stomach. My legs suddenly didn't want to hold me up anymore.

Four years ago, I woke up in a hospital bed with no memory of how I got there. Four years ago, they told me my parents were dead. Four years ago, my entire life ended and I don't even remember it happening.

"I don't allow you to marry her!" Ivy's voice got fierce now, "You can keep delaying the wedding all you want, but I won't let you actually go through with it. I won't."

There was this long, horrible silence where I could hear my own breathing way too loud in my ears.

"Ivy," Gino finally said, "We need to go back. People will notice we're both gone."

That's it? That's all he's going to say? He's not going to deny any of it?

I heard movement and quickly stepped back around the corner, pressing myself into the shadows. They came out of the stairwell together, and even in the dim lighting I could see it clearly. Ivy's lips were swollen and red. Gino's tie was crooked, pulled to the side.

Oh my god.

This was supposed to be a simple weekend. Gino's friends wanted to get together, so we drove up to Napa. Just a casual hangout, he said. Catch up, have some wine, relax.

Ivy came too. Of course Ivy came. She came back from studying abroad in France this year, her degree finally finished. Gino's stepsister, his mom's daughter from her previous marriage. She's been back for six months now and I've been trying so hard to be nice to her, to be patient with her, even though she looks at me like I'm something stuck to the bottom of her shoe.

Then, they went to the bathroom. Both of them. First Ivy got up and left, and then five minutes later Gino followed. I watched him go and tried to ignore the sick feeling in my stomach. Ten minutes passed. Fifteen. Everyone else was laughing and drinking and didn't seem to notice, but I noticed.

So I went looking for them.

And now I wish I hadn't.

I waited until they were completely gone before I let myself breathe again. My hands were shaking so badly I had to shove them in my pockets.

I pressed my forehead against the cool wall, trying to process what I'd just heard.

Four years ago. Since I woke up in that hospital room with Gino holding my hand, his face the first thing I saw. "You're awake," he'd said, and he was crying. "Thank god, Lucy, you're awake." And then he had to tell me. About my parents. About the drunk driver who crashed into their car on Highway 29. About how I'd been in my own car right behind them, how I'd swerved and hit a tree trying to avoid the collision, how they died instantly and I'd been in a coma for two weeks.

I didn't remember any of it. I still don't. The entire month before the accident is just gone, wiped clean like someone took an eraser to my brain.

My throat felt tight.

Gino was there for everything. He held me at the funeral. He helped me relearn how to do basic things while I recovered. He told me stories about my parents to fill in the gaps in my memory. He promised me we'd find out the truth about what really happened that night.

And I believed him. When Ivy came back and started making these little comments, these small digs that everyone else seemed to think were just sisterly teasing, I ignored it. I told myself she was just protective of her brother. I told myself I needed to be the bigger person, to be patient, to be understanding.

I pushed off the wall and made myself start walking back to the private room. My legs felt like they belonged to someone else.

My hand was on the door handle. I could hear laughter from inside, music playing, the clink of glasses. Normal sounds. A normal evening.

"Four years ago... the accident... chasing after me..."

Four years ago, Gino told me he'd been in some minor fender bender around the same time as my accident. He said it was nothing serious, just bumped someone's car or something. He said he was totally fine.

But that's not what Ivy just said. She said he crashed his car. She said he was chasing after her.

Four years ago. The exact same time my parents died. The exact same time I lost my memory.

That can't just be a coincidence.

I opened the door.