Chapter 13
Jackson refused to give up.
He changed his approach.
He said if I wouldn’t admit to being Victoria Hawthorne, that was fine.
We could be strangers.
Since Tyler and I weren’t married yet, he could pursue me.
He began appearing frequently around me.
Sending flowers, jewelry, attempting to recreate our previous sweet moments.
I firmly refused.
“Mr. Gray, please stop harassing me.”
Jackson begged.
“Give me a chance to make amends, sweetheart. Try being with me, and you’ll fall in love with me again.”
He held out a jewelry box, carefully placing it in my hand.
“You once said that physically, I’m exactly your type. When you’re physically attracted to someone, no matter how many times you meet them, you’ll fall for them again.”
I grew impatient.
“If we were so in love, where were you when it mattered? Why did you push me to suicide?”
Jackson’s body trembled, the color instantly draining from his lips.
“Suicide?”
He looked incredulous, his voice shaking.
22:25
Chapter 13
“Not an accident, but suicide? Victoria, are you remembering something?”
I shook my head and threw the box back at him.
“Slip of the tongue. I didn’t commit suicide–your wife Victoria Hawthorne did.”
“Tyler told me, Your so–called love only drove her to death.”
“Jackson Gray, let me tell you one last time: Tyler and I are getting married soon. I love him deeply, and he loves me. I won’t consider anyone else.”
“Please let go. Can you be more dignified about this?”
Jackson fell silent.
He stood alone by the roadside, the streetlight stretching his shadow long.
I walked away without looking back.
For two consecutive days, Jackson didn’t appear.
Just as I began to relax, Vanessa Monroe and Riley showed up at my door.
Riley was aggressive, opening with “bitch.”
Vanessa raised her hand,
“Riley, wait outside.”
Riley stomped her foot angrily.
“Fine! But don’t be too polite with her!”
After the door closed, Vanessa smoothed her hair and looked at me arrogantly.
“I know everything now.”
“Victoria, you lost your memory and returned to your ordinary life. How does that feel?”
“Eight thousand a month must make life difficult, right? So when you saw Jackson Gray, you immediately latched onto him like glue.”
22:26
Chapter 13
She scornfully curled her lip.
“I know what girls like you are thinking, dreaming of marrying into wealth? Unfortunately, wealthy families aren’t so easy to enter.”
“You don’t even know how you died three years ago, do you?”
Vanessa smiled maliciously.
“You won’t survive, Victoria. Even if you marry Jackson Gray ten thousand times, you’ll never live the life you imagine.”
She dramatically described my previous miserable life.
The story chilled me to the bone.
Being repeatedly forced underwater in the pool, nearly drowning.
Being locked outside during a rainstorm, not allowed inside.
Having my ski board deliberately broken while skiing, then being pushed down the slope.
I had no idea Victoria Hawthorne had endured so much.
Not to mention the cold remarks, the exclusion, the malicious treatment.
The only one she loved, Jackson Gray, had watched coldly, never offering help.
No wonder she became depressed and developed trauma responses.
What kind of life was that?
Vanessa warned me.
“Marry Jackson Gray, and you’ll just repeat the path from three years ago. Is that what you want?”
I sat motionless.
Seeing my stunned expression, Vanessa relaxed and pulled out a bank card, pushing it toward me.
“There’s ten million in here. Take this money and disappear from Jackson Gray’s sight.”
22:26
Chapter 13
“You’re a smart person. You know what choice to make.”
I still didn’t move. Vanessa grew impatient.
“What do you want?”
I hurriedly searched my bag for paper and pen.
“Hold on, write a voluntary gift agreement here. Include your ID number, then use this ink pad to make a fingerprint.”
Vanessa paused for a second, then quickly took the pen.
She wrote while smirking.
“I knew it. All that talk about love–you poor people are ultimately motivated by money.”
“I have one more condition. Have Riley come in.”
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