Chapter 0138 Hannah I stood there frozen, my heart sinking as Noah shook his head at me in confusion. He blinked at me, pursing his lips; this was no prank or cruel joke. He genuinely didnât rememberâjust as he hadnât remembered our meeting date.
âYou donât... You donât remember?â I all but whispered, trying and failing to keep my voice from quivering.
Noah furrowed his brow at me and shrugged one shoulder like it was nothing. âNo, I donât,â he said. âAre you sure that was us and not one of your friends? You and Viona, maybe?â
I felt as if a knife had been twisted in my gut at those words.
No, it hadnât been me and Viona, It had been me and Noah. Just months before our wedding. The summer that I was nineteen and he was going on twenty. It had been an incredibly hot day, too, and our families had been preparing for the annual summer picnic.
The memory of us stealing those roasted quail eggs was one I had always treasured. Years had passed, but I had never forgotten that day, not for a moment. Even now, I could still taste the sticky yolks of the eggs and feel the summer breeze on my cheek.
he just stood Meanwhile, Noah had forgotten like it was nothing more than a fleeting dream. And now he there staring at me like I was nuts.
1, um...â I froze, my throat bobbing as I swallowed hard. Words failed me then. I just felt... empty, like at puppet whose arms were hanging dumbly at its sides. I opened and closed my mouth several times, but no words would come. What could I even say? What could I even do?
Moments like that day we stole the quail eggs felt so pivotal to me. But not to Noah, apparently. No, they were just blips on his radar, nothing more than a burden to remember.
How much did he remember about his relationship with Zoe, I wondered? Every moment, I guessed. I doubted that he had lost even a second of his time with her to the years, but with me... Hell, I still hadnât forgotten that he hadnât even gotten our meeting anniversary right at that party.
âHarinah?â Noahâs gruff voice snapped me out of my daze. âWhat is it? You look like you just saw a ghost.â
I quickly blinked back the tears that were welling up in my eyes and swallowed hard around the lump in my throat. Part of me wanted to grab his shoulders and shake him, screaming in his face. I wanted to knock the sense back into him, force him to remember But I knew, deep down, that it was no use. He couldnât remember. Or maybe he just wouldnât.
Get it together, I thought to myself. This doesnât change anything. You knew it was this bad.
âYeah, Iâm fine,â I lied, forcing that tight smile of mine once againâsoon, it would stay glued to my face. âI think youâre rightâit was me and Viona. But, um... Iâm getting tired. Iâm gonna head to bed.â
âOkay. Goodnight.â
âNight.â
Without waiting around to give either of us another chance to speak, I turned and hurried down the J