THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS-Chapter 379: Protecting Him The Whole Time

His world felt like it was collapsing in on itself as Lauren’s words echoed in his mind: ’You were my fiancé, Steffan.’

The weight of those words pressed down on him, tightening around his chest until he could barely breathe.

He stared at her in shock, the woman he had been drawn to but couldn’t fully understand, the woman who seemed to know so much about him yet held back at every turn.

And now, this revelation, this truth he had been desperate to uncover, was more than he could have imagined.

The car felt smaller and thick with emotion.

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. How could he respond to something like this? They were engaged. Engaged.

All the pieces started to click together... her presence by his bedside at the hospital when he first regained consciousness, the look on her face when he asked who she was and how his parents treated her like a part of the family... even doting on her more than him their child. And most importantly the chemistry they shared which he had never felt with any woman was inexplicable.

He closed his eyes tightly as her words echoed in his head and the ache in his head returned, sharper now, as he tried to see the past she painted but everything was like it belonged to someone else.

He couldn’t recall anything and the most annoying part was that it was all the parts that was connected to her. Why were those the only parts that were erased from his memory?

He wanted so badly to remember their past together but what he couldn’t comprehend was what she was now doing with George. Had she given up on him and their future because he failed to remember her and what they shared?

The silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating, as the weight of the revelation pressed down on him.

For Lauren, the silence was unbearable. She could feel the walls closing in as her emotions threatened to spill over.

But more important than that, she wanted to see Steffan’s reaction and the effect it was having on him. Was their going to be a relapse just as they had feared?

"Why didn’t you tell me sooner?" she heard him ask in a strained voice.

"I thought... I thought I could handle it, Steffan," she whispered in a shaky voice as she wiped the tears from her face.

"I told myself I could stay strong, that I could be patient until you remembered. But every day that passed and you still didn’t know, it killed me a little more."

"I kept telling myself that you would get better, that it was only a matter of time before you’d remember everything and we could pick up from where we left off. But time kept passing, and nothing changed. You didn’t remember. And I was terrified that maybe... maybe you never would."

"You were protecting me this whole time," Steffan said softly. It was more of a realization than a question. "Even though it was tearing you apart."

Lauren nodded as fresh tears streaked down her face. "I didn’t know what else to do. You were so different after the accident. You looked lost, confused, like you didn’t know who you were and the doctors said pushing you too hard could cause more harm than good, so I held back, hoping you’d regain your memories naturally."

"But then Dolly showed up and started carving a niche for herself in your heart and I just couldn’t stand by and watch anymore. But how was I supposed to just tell you that I was your fiancée and that we were about to get married? How was I supposed to say that and then watch you look at me with those same confused eyes, like I was just a stranger trying to take advantage of your lost memories to get close to you?"

Her voice broke again, the pain in her words slicing through Steffan like a blade. He clenched his fists, struggling with the surge of emotions swirling inside him.

Anger at the situation, anger at himself for not remembering, and guilt...overwhelming guilt for the burden she had been carrying alone.

He wished he could remember, could reach back in his mind and grasp the life they’d shared, the love they’d built together. But all he could find was an emptiness where those memories should be.

"I don’t remember," he whispered regretfully. "I don’t remember any of it, Lauren. I can’t even picture it. It can’t picture us, standing in that church, ready to start a life together. It’s all just... blank. And I hate that. I hate that I can’t give you back what you lost," he let out a frustrated groan.

"Everything’s gonna be fine," Lauren comforted.

"Yeah, but what about George?" That was a major part of the puzzle that he needed a sincere answer to. How did he get into the equation making it a more complicated mess?

"Em... about George... he’s been so patient, so understanding and stood by me when I was at my lowest."

’So he was her rebound guy?’ Steffan took a shaky breath, torn between the whirlwind of emotions surging through him... anger, hurt, betrayal, but also a strange sense of longing for something he couldn’t fully remember.

"So where does that leave us now?" he asked with a rough tinge to his voice.

Lauren looked at him with tearful eyes, her face a mask of conflicted emotions. "I don’t know," she confessed.

It all depended on him if he would want to give his all into the relationship without insisting on knowing what past they had together or he’d want to wait until he regained his memory which might never come.

"I’m still trying to figure that out. But if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that, what we had... was real. And it’s something I haven’t been able to fully let go of, no matter how much I try."

Steffan’s heart twisted painfully at her words. He could sense the sincerity in her voice, but it only deepened the ache inside him.

"Why use the tense was?" he finally asked.

"Am I wrong? You can’t remember anything and we both seem to have different interests now."

"Speak for yourself," Steffan snapped. "You know very well that there’s nothing going on between Dolly and I except for our long term friendship and being my colleague," Steffan reiterated.

"She does not think that way."

"And what freaking business of mine is that? She’s free to think whatever shit she likes," Steffan snapped. "Back to my question. Are you and George in a relationship?"

"Yes we are but it’s not what you ...?"

"Make me understand, Lauren. Are you dating him?" Steffan interrupted tersely.

"No!"

After the monosyllabic response from Lauren, the car moved in silence for a moment as they both tried to process everything that had just been laid bare between them.

The driver navigated the quiet streets, vaguely aware of the storm of emotions brewing in the backseat as the partition had been dropped to give them some privacy.

Steffan felt relieved that at least Lauren wasn’t dating George rather he was the one who’s been engaged to her.