Wanyin didn't sleep that night.
How could she? Every time she closed her eyes she kept thinking about what her mother said, what Qian said. Mistress. Four years. She kept trying to remember something, anything, but there was just nothing there. Like someone had taken an eraser to her brain and wiped out five whole years.
The nurse came in around 6am to check on her.
"How are you feeling Miss Xu?"
"Like my entire life is a lie," Wanyin said and then laughed because what else could she do? "Sorry. I'm fine. Physically I mean."
The nurse gave her a sympathetic look while checking her IV. "Your mother mentioned the amnesia. That must be really difficult."
Difficult. That was one word for it.
"The man who's been visiting. Shen Jingwei. Did he come yesterday?"
"He did." The nurse lowered her voice even though they were alone. "I told him you were sleeping like you asked but he didn't believe me. He wanted to come in anyway. Security had to... suggest he leave."
Oh god. So he was that kind of person. The kind who thought rules didn't apply to him.
"Is he coming back today?"
The nurse nodded slowly. "He called this morning already. Said he'd be here by 8am and that nothing would stop him from seeing you this time."
Wanyin looked at the clock on the wall. 6:47am. She had about an hour before her past walked through that door.
"Can I get a mirror?"
The nurse hesitated. "Miss Xu, you've been through significant trauma. Your appearance right now—"
"I don't care. I just need to see myself. Please."
A few minutes later Wanyin was staring at her reflection in a small handheld mirror and barely recognizing the person looking back.
Her face was covered in cuts and bruises, some still fresh, some already turning yellow and purple. There was a bandage on her forehead covering what the nurse said was a gash that needed fifteen stitches. Her lip was split. Her left eye was still a little swollen.
But it wasn't the injuries that made her feel like she was looking at a stranger.
It was everything else.
Her hair was longer than she remembered, dyed a lighter brown color. She had makeup on even though she'd been in a coma, someone must have put it on her at some point, probably expensive makeup too from the look of it. Her nails were done, perfect gel polish in a soft pink.
She looked... maintained. Like someone's kept thing.
The thought made her stomach turn.
"Miss Xu?" The nurse touched her shoulder gently. "Are you alright?"
"No," Wanyin said honestly. "I don't think I am."
She spent the next hour trying to prepare herself. Trying to figure out what she'd say to a man she apparently loved enough to destroy her life for. A man whose face she couldn't picture, whose voice she didn't remember.
At 7:58am the door opened.
Wanyin's whole body went rigid.
The man who walked in was... tall. That was the first thing she noticed. Tall and expensive-looking in a dark suit that probably cost more than her entire wardrobe used to cost. He had sharp features, the kind that would photograph well. Dark eyes. Hair styled perfectly even this early in the morning.
He was objectively handsome. She could see why someone might be attracted to him.
But she felt nothing. Just nothing. Like looking at a stranger's photo.
"Wanyin." His voice was deep, controlled. But there was something underneath it, something that sounded almost like relief. "You're awake. Finally."
Finally. Just like her mother had said it.
He moved toward the bed quickly, like he was going to touch her, maybe grab her hand or stroke her hair. Wanyin flinched back instinctively.
He froze.
"Don't," she said. Her voice came out shakier than she wanted. "Don't touch me."
His expression shifted. Confusion first, then something harder. "What are you talking about? Wanyin, I've been waiting for three weeks—"
"I don't know you."
The words hung in the air between them.
Shen Jingwei stared at her like she'd slapped him. "What did you just say?"
"I don't know who you are." Wanyin forced herself to meet his eyes even though her heart was pounding. "I have amnesia. I don't remember the last five years. I don't remember you at all."
For a second he didn't react, just stood there processing. Then his jaw tightened and he pulled out his phone.
"This is ridiculous. I'm calling the doctor."
"They already told you!" Wanyin's voice rose. "The nurses told you yesterday that I have amnesia. You just didn't believe them!"
"Because it's convenient." He turned back to her, his eyes narrowed. "Too convenient. You crash your car after running away from me and suddenly you don't remember anything? You expect me to believe that?"
Running away from him. So it was true then. She'd been trying to leave.
"I don't care what you believe," Wanyin said. "It's the truth. I remember being twenty-three. I remember my modeling contract with Star King. I remember nothing about you or Tianyi Entertainment or..." she swallowed hard. "Or being your mistress."
Something flickered across his face when she said that word. Mistress. But it was gone too quick for her to read.
"The doctors will confirm this is real," she continued. "And when they do, I want you to leave. I want you to stay away from me."
"That's not going to happen." His voice went cold, the kind of cold that probably made people in boardrooms scared. "We need to talk about what happened before the accident. About the things you said—"
"I don't remember what I said!"
"Then I'll remind you." He moved closer despite her earlier warning and this time Wanyin couldn't back up because she was already pressed against the pillows. "You said you were done. You said you were leaving me. You said a lot of things, Wanyin, and then you got in your car drunk and nearly killed yourself."
"I wasn't drunk," she said automatically.
"The police found alcohol in your system."
"Then someone put it there because I don't drink and drive, I would never—" She stopped. But would she? She didn't know what she would or wouldn't do anymore. Five years was a long time. People changed. Apparently she'd changed a lot.
Shen Jingwei's expression softened just slightly. "Wanyin. I know you're confused right now. I know this is hard. But we can work through it together. You just need to trust me."
Trust him. Trust the married man she'd been sleeping with for four years.
"No," Wanyin said quietly but firmly. "I don't need to do anything. And I'm not going back to... whatever we were. I don't know you. I don't remember you. And from what my family's told me, I don't want to remember you."
His face went hard again. "Your family. You mean the family that cut you off? The mother who wouldn't even visit you in the hospital until I paid for your father's medical treatments? The sister who blocked your number?"
Each word hit like a punch. But Wanyin kept her chin up.
"At least they're honest about not wanting me around. You're just here because you lost your favorite toy."
The silence that followed was dangerous. Shen Jingwei's eyes went dark and for a second Wanyin thought he might actually grab her, might force her to listen.
But then he stepped back. Adjusted his tie. His face went blank, carefully controlled.
"Fine," he said. "You want to pretend you don't know me? Pretend we meant nothing to each other? Go ahead. But you should know something, Wanyin. That apartment you'll want to go back to? I own it. Your parents' medical bills? I pay them. Every single expense in your life for the past four years? Me. So where exactly do you think you're going to go when you leave this hospital?"
He was right and they both knew it. She had nothing. No career, no savings probably, no family support. He'd made sure of that, made sure she was completely dependent on him.
"I'll figure it out," she said even though she had no idea how.
Shen Jingwei looked at her for a long moment and then he did something unexpected. He smiled. But it wasn't a nice smile. It was the smile of someone who knew they'd already won.
"We'll see," he said. "The doctor will be here soon to confirm your amnesia is real. And then we'll talk about what happens next. Because one way or another, Wanyin, you're not getting away from me that easily."
Then he walked out and Wanyin finally let herself shake.
She'd just met the man who apparently owned her life.
And he'd made it very clear he had no intention of letting her go.