Erased Memories, A Second Chance At Love

They found me days after the avalanche, a bloody canvas against the stark white snow. When my fiancé, Gabriel, finally arrived, I thought I was saved.

But he wasn't there to rescue me; he was there to blame me. His mistress, Candace, clung to his arm with a tiny scratch while my leg was a mangled, frostbitten wreck.

"What in God's name did you do?" he spat, his voice like ice.

Back at the hospital, Candace and her therapist brother convinced him my injuries were minor. They secretly withheld my treatment, laughing at my silent agony while Gabriel accused me of faking it all for attention.

He called off our engagement, reminding me I was just a burden he was forced to care for after my parents died saving his family. His disgust and her lies finally broke me.

So I made a deal with a goddess. I threw myself from the hospital balcony, trading my love and all my memories of him for a new life.

When I opened my eyes again, the man who had destroyed me was a complete stranger.

Chapter 1

Briana Bond POV:

They found me days later, a bloody canvas against the stark white snow, but the man who rushed to me wasn't there to rescue; he was there to blame.

The helicopter blades roared overhead, churning the already biting wind into a furious gale. My body was a screaming protest, every nerve ending ablaze with pain. I barely registered the faces of the rescue team, their movements a blur through the haze of agony and exhaustion. All I knew was the cold seeping into my bones, a cold that had been my only companion for what felt like an eternity.

Then, a familiar silhouette detached itself from the storm-tossed chaos. Gabriel. He moved with the desperate urgency of a man who had lost something precious. My heart, a bruised and battered thing, fluttered with a faint, foolish hope. He was here. He found me.

But the hope died a swift, brutal death when I saw her. Candace. She clung to his arm, a picture of delicate fragility against the harsh backdrop of the mountain. Her head was bandaged, just a small, neat white patch. A stark contrast to the mangled mess that was my leg. The blood on her bandage was probably just a smudge. The blood on my leg had stained the pristine snow crimson for miles.

Gabriel' s eyes, usually a calm, intelligent stormy grey, were now alight with a chilling fury. He didn' t reach for me. He didn' t even see me, not really. He saw an inconvenience, a problem, a source of endless trouble. His gaze flickered to Candace, then back to my prone, broken form, and his face twisted into a mask of disgust.

"Briana," he bit out, his voice sharp against the howl of the wind. "What in God's name did you do?"

My mind, dulled by pain, struggled to form a coherent thought. I blinked, trying to clear the ice from my vision. He knelt beside me, not with tenderness, but with a harsh, demanding posture.

"Always causing a scene, aren't you?" he spat, his words like sharp icicles. "Do you have any idea the resources, the days we've wasted looking for you? The entire rescue team, up against a blizzard, all because you can' t just stay put."

Stay put? My lips felt cracked and useless, but a bitter laugh threatened to escape. Stay put where? In the snow, waiting for the wolves? Waiting for my blood to freeze solid in my veins?

"Why can't you just be normal?" he raged, his voice loud enough to carry over the rotor wash. "Why do you always have to make things so difficult?"

The winter air bit hard, a constant reminder of the long nights I' d spent curled beneath a meager cover of snow, listening to the predatory snuffles and howls in the darkness. I had stayed put, at first. Frozen with terror, believing he would come, that he would be my hero. That was my original mistake.

But the nights dragged on, endless and stark. The cold was a living entity, gnawing at my fingers and toes. My meager rations of dried fruit had vanished on the third day. Hunger, a dull ache that turned into a consuming fire, compelled me to move. I crawled, then stumbled, through the deep snow, searching for anything edible. My leg, already protesting from the fall, met a jagged tree branch hidden beneath the snow. It tore through my flesh, a searing pain that made me scream until my throat was raw. Blood gushed, painting the snow a horrifying red. I remember thinking, this is it. This is how I die.

Days blurred into a single, agonizing smear. The hope I clung to, the image of Gabriel coming for me, had slowly, painfully, withered away. It was replaced by a cold, hard resolve: survive. Just survive.

Now, lying here, the accusations rained down on me, heavy as stones. I simply lowered my head. What was the point? He had always viewed me through a distorted lens, a troublesome orphan, an unwanted burden. My protests, my explanations, had always been met with dismissal, with that same infuriating, unshakeable belief that I was inherently flawed.

"Unbelievable," a new, hushed voice murmured. It was one of the younger rescue workers, his face pale with concern as he looked at my frostbitten leg. "The conditions out here are brutal. How did she even survive?"

Candace, still clinging to Gabriel, let out a soft gasp. "Oh, is she... one of your new employees, Gabriel? I didn't recognize her." Her tone was laced with feigned innocence, a subtle poison.

The young worker, visibly uncomfortable, stammered, "No, ma'am. I'm new myself. I just meant-"

"I see," Candace interrupted smoothly, her gaze flickering to me, a predatory glint in her eyes. "Perhaps she was trying to charm you with her… enthusiasm."

Gabriel' s face darkened, a storm brewing in his eyes. He turned on the poor worker. "You're fired," he barked, his voice devoid of any warmth. "Get out of my sight. And anyone else who thinks my fiancée's antics are something to discuss, remember this moment."

The remaining crew stiffened, their faces shuttered with fear. They averted their gaze, shrinking back as if afraid to breathe. Candace then moved towards me, a picture of false sympathy. She extended a delicate hand, adorned with perfectly manicured nails, as if to help me. I watched her, a hollow ache in my chest.

"Gabriel," she demurred softly, her voice a soothing balm. "Don't be too hard on her. I'm sure she didn't mean to cause so much trouble. She probably just got lost." She shot me a quick, veiled look, a silent warning. "Let's just get her back to the city. This cold is terrible for her wounds, and for my arm."

Gabriel' s gaze, which had softened slightly at Candace' s 'defense' of me, hardened again. His voice dropped to a cold, dangerous whisper. "You will be punished for this, Briana. Severely." He paused, his eyes narrowing. "The engagement party is off. Indefinitely."

My breath hitched. The engagement party. The last thread of hope I unconsciously clung to. He was cutting it. He was cutting me loose. "You were reckless, roaming around the restricted area," he continued, his voice echoing with finality. "But I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. After all, a debt of gratitude is the only thing keeping you here."

The helicopter lifted, leaving me, once again, in a state of suspended agony.