My Husband Erased Our Marriage，So I Found a Better One

The grandfather clock chimed 2:00 AM. I reached across the mattress. Empty.

I pushed the blankets aside and stepped into the dark hallway. A faint light spilled from the guest bedroom door, left slightly ajar.

Wet, slapping sounds echoed into the corridor.

I pushed the oak door open.

Bill had Annie pinned against the headboard. His hands gripped her bare hips, pulling her hard against his groin as he thrust his cock inside her pussy.

"Fuck, Bill," Annie moaned, her fingers digging into his bare back, scratching down his spine. "Fuck me harder. Fill my pussy. Don't stop."

"I'm fucking you," Bill grunted, driving deep into her wetness, the bedframe banging against the wall. "You like my cock in you, Annie? You like how deep it goes?"

"Yes, fuck, yes! Give it to me! Wreck my pussy!"

My stomach violently heaved.

I slammed my hand against the light switch. The chandelier flared to life, illuminating their naked bodies.

"Get off her!" I screamed.

Bill jerked backward, his cock slipping out of her with a wet pop. He scrambled to pull up his boxers. Annie yanked the duvet over her bare breasts, her eyes wide with shock.

"Maria!" Bill shouted, his chest heaving. "Get out!"

"You bring her into my house?" I stepped toward the bed, my fists shaking at my sides. "You fuck her under the same roof as your son?"

"Keep your voice down," Bill snarled, stepping in front of the bed to shield her.

"Why?" I demanded, the volume of my voice rising. "Are you afraid Jason will hear? Are you afraid he'll know his father is a cheating bastard?"

"Shut your mouth, Maria."

"Why are you destroying this family?" I yelled at Annie, ignoring him entirely. "You know he is married! You know he has a child! Why do you keep doing this?"

Annie didn't answer. Her lips lost all color. She grabbed the left side of her chest, her fingers twisting the white sheets. A harsh wheeze escaped her throat.

"Bill..." she gasped, her eyes rolling back. "It hurts. I... need..."

She slumped sideways against the pillows.

"Annie!" Bill lunged forward, catching her shoulders. "Breathe. Look at me, just breathe!"

Footsteps pounded down the hall. Jason shoved past my legs, his pajamas wrinkled.

He stopped, staring at the bed.

"What did you do?" Jason screamed at me, his small face twisting with pure disgust. "You made Ms. Annie sad!"

"Jason, no, I didn't—" I reached for him.

He slapped my hand away. "I hate you!"

He ran to the mattress, grabbing Annie's limp hand.

Bill turned his head, his glare piercing right through my skull. "You selfish bitch. You only care about your own feelings. You never gave a damn about her illness."

"Her illness?" I laughed, a broken, hysterical sound. "She was just screaming for your cock! And you blame me?"

"Get out of my sight," Bill commanded.

***

Two days later, the sterile white walls of the clinic closed in on me. Thick leather straps bound my wrists and ankles to a heavy reclining chair.

"Get me out of here!" I thrashed against the restraints, glaring at Bill. He stood by the door, arms crossed, wearing a perfectly pressed suit.

"Stop fighting it," Bill stated, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"You are strapping me to a chair! Untie me right now!"

"You are entirely unstable, Maria. Your outbursts are hurting Jason. They are hurting Annie."

"I am your family!" I shrieked. "She is a homewrecker who fakes panic attacks! Why don't you believe me?"

"Because you are sick," he replied. "I have to protect my son. I have to protect my home."

"By erasing my mind?"

"When you forget these things, maybe we can start over." He didn't even blink. He simply turned his back and walked toward the exit.

"Bill, wait! Don't leave me here! Bill!"

The heavy metal door clicked shut.

A man in a white coat stepped into my line of sight. Dr. Miller.

"Ten," the doctor began, turning a dial on the console beside my head. A low, rhythmic humming filled the room.

"Stop the machine!" I demanded, pulling at the thick leather straps until my wrists bled.

"Nine. Eight."

A heavy fog rolled into my brain. The sterile clinic walls dissolved into a warm summer night.

I saw Bill kneeling on the grass under a starry sky, holding out a velvet box. *Will you marry me, Maria?*

"Yes," I whispered to the empty room.

The image flickered violently. The stars blinked out. Bill's smiling face washed away into gray static.

"No, give it back," I cried out.

"Seven. Six."

I saw Jason in the hospital nursery, wrapped in a blue blanket. My beautiful baby boy, reaching his tiny fingers up to grab my nose.

The blue fabric faded to stark white. Jason's sweet giggles went completely silent. His tiny face melted into a featureless blur.

"My baby," I sobbed, shaking my head against the headrest. "Don't take my baby."

"Five. Four."

Tears streamed down my cheeks. My chest ached with a crushing, unbearable grief, but the reason for the pain was already slipping through my fingers. The faces, the names, the love—they vanished like chalk wiped from a blackboard.

"Three. Two. One."

The humming stopped.

Total darkness consumed my mind.

***

The private jet soared above the Atlantic, cutting through a thick layer of clouds toward Switzerland.

Bill stared out the oval window, a glass of scotch resting in his hand.

Annie leaned her head against his shoulder. She traced slow circles on his jacket sleeve.

"Bill?" she whispered.

"I'm here," he replied, keeping his eyes on the horizon.

"If Maria wakes up and remembers... will she hurt Jason again?"

He took a sip of the amber liquid. The ice clinked against the glass. "The doctor assured me the procedure is permanent. The aggressive triggers are gone. She won't pose a threat to anyone."

Annie shifted closer, pressing her chest against his arm. She rested her hand on his thigh. "She won't remember this past year. She won't remember us. This is the perfect time to end the marriage, Bill. Cleanly. Without her fighting you in court for custody."

Bill remained silent. He watched the white clouds stretch endlessly below them, reflecting the harsh sunlight.

"She has caused us so much trauma," Annie added, her voice dropping to a sympathetic whisper. "You deserve a fresh start. Jason deserves a peaceful home."

He gave a single, slow nod.

"Okay," he agreed.

He had no idea that by erasing her memory, he had completely destroyed the woman who had spent six years loving him.

***

The leather chair felt cold against my bare arms.

I blinked, my eyelids heavy and sluggish. A bright fluorescent light buzzed directly above me.

I turned my head. A man in a white coat stood by a metal counter, writing on a clipboard.

My throat felt like sandpaper. I swallowed hard.

"Excuse me," I croaked.

The man turned around, offering a polite, professional smile.

I looked down at my hands, studying the strange, thin scars on my knuckles, then back at the stranger.

"Who am I?"