After losing my memory, I married my childhood friend
Chapter 1
My fiancé, Garrett, jetted off overseas to chase his “one true love,” leaving me to dramatically announce my engagement to my childhood sweetheart, Chase.
My friends thought I’d lost my mind.
After all, I’d been head-over-heels for Garrett.
I practically begged my parents to approve our marriage— a real drama queen, I was.
Garrett returned, sneering about my “antics.”
I hid behind Chase, feigning complete ignorance. “Who are you?” I asked, my voice flat.
The day Garrett left, I became a trending topic. #Whitelightgate
Fans claimed Bailey, Garrett’s alleged “one true love,” was forced to leave her career in the States.
The villain? Me, the heiress of the Lynn Corporation.
The day Garrett and I announced our engagement, he showed up at a charity gala with Bailey, arm in arm.
They were practically inseparable.
When reporters questioned him about the engagement, he just smirked and refused to comment.
The next day, “concerned citizens” started spilling the tea.
They said I’d threatened suicide to force my parents to let me marry Garrett.
They spun a tale of Bailey and Garrett’s college romance, claiming my jealousy fueled my supposed revenge.
The rumors spread like wildfire, even convincing my friends that I was hopelessly in love with Garrett, and he just didn’t care.
The truth? The engagement was arranged by our families; I had no say in it.
Hesitantly, I called Garrett.
It took forever for him to answer.
His voice was laced with impatience.
“What now?”
I paused. “Where are you? I need to talk.”
He scoffed. “We’re not even married yet. What gives you the right to question me?”
I heard airport announcements in the background, a frown creasing my brow.
“You’re at the airport? Where are you going?”
His annoyance was barely concealed.
“It’s none of your damn business!”
“Lin Raina, I underestimated you. My parents practically blackmailed me into this engagement.”
He chuckled bitterly. “You’ve learned to play dirty, haven’t you?”
My jaw dropped.
He’d agreed to the engagement because of that?
I’d foolishly believed he’d done it willingly. What a joke.
In college, I had a crush on Garrett.
But then Bailey appeared.
When she was alone with me, her eyes practically spat venom.
With Garrett, she was a completely different person.
Garrett and I started arguing constantly.
Bailey was always at the heart of it.
One day, the campus forums were flooded with posts mocking me as Garrett’s obsessive “simp.”
I went from “campus queen” to the subject of everyone’s gossip.
I broke up with him.
He was silent for a long time before finally nodding.
I moved on.
Five years later, it felt like history was repeating itself.
“Garrett, about the engagement…”
He cut me off.
“Don’t worry,” he sneered. “I don’t like you, but I’m not giving up the company.”
“Lin Raina, you want the title of Mrs. Garrett, you got it.”
“But don’t expect anything else.”
Chapter 2
The next day, photos surfaced of Garrett and Bailey shopping in a foreign country.
Bailey clutched a mountain of luxury shopping bags, smiling radiantly.
Garrett stood beside her, looking perfectly content.
One photo showed them kissing.
The person who took the pictures posted it online with the caption: “High-fashion couple spotted abroad! So cute!”
It quickly went viral.
“OMG, is that Bailey? And the guy…is that Garrett?!”
“Someone’s definitely seething right now.”
“Haha, power and money don’t mean anything. Mr. Garrett still chose our Bailey! Miss Lin is just a fiancée in name only.”
Everyone gushed about how perfect they looked together.
People started digging up old posts from our college days.
“Holy crap, this Lin Raina seems to have bullied Bailey back in college.”
Seeing the screenshot, I vaguely remembered.
Bailey hadn’t done her work, and I didn’t nominate her for the department’s “Employee of the Year” award.
She cried in my office, begging for the award.
“Please, I really need this,” she sobbed. “I need it for a scholarship.”
She conveniently left out her slacking.
Garrett happened to be there.
“Raina, there are plenty of awards. Why don’t you give it to Bailey?”
I refused. “It’s unfair to those who worked hard.”
He disagreed. “Others may not need it, but Bailey needs this scholarship.”
I wouldn’t budge.
“She should have worked harder. There are tons of other opportunities for scholarship.”
For the first time, he snapped at me, calling me heartless.
He then added Bailey’s name to his own project.
Bailey got the scholarship.
Now, this was being twisted.
“She blocked Bailey from getting the award because Bailey was close to Garrett. Lin Raina is seriously messed up.”
“Bailey was a low-income student. If it weren’t for Garrett, she wouldn’t have been able to pay her tuition.”
The unearthed incident enraged Garrett’s fans.
They cyberbullied me relentlessly, finding all my social media accounts.
Even my pet videos were flooded with hate.
“That cat is cursed to be with you.”
“Even the cat doesn’t deserve this spoiled brat.”
The DMs were even worse. Someone even sent a photo of my family.
“The whole family deserves to burn in hell.”
Days of relentless cyberbullying sent me into a high fever.
My head was pounding. I kept calling Garrett.
Feverish and aching, I called him again and again, but he never answered.
The hateful comments swirled in my mind, and regret washed over me.
Why did I agree to that engagement?
Why did I ever like a guy like Garrett?
I kept calling, ready to break off the engagement the moment he answered.
He never did.
In a haze, I accidentally dialed the wrong number.
“Why are you calling me?”
A cool male voice answered.
Chapter 3
I woke up in a hospital bed.
A handsome young man stood beside me.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, his voice cool yet concerned.
Recognizing him, I burst into tears and threw myself at him.
“Quincy! You’re finally back!”
He stiffened. “Lin Raina?”
I sobbed, “I had a high fever, and I couldn’t reach you!”
“Our wedding is in a month! Where were you?!”
Quincy looked shocked. He paused.
“Who are you?”
I was confused. “You’re Quincy, the second son of the Qin family, my fiancé, my childhood sweetheart!”
“What are you talking about?” His eyes widened.
I glared back. “What do you mean?”
His eyes flickered. “You’ve always liked…”
I interrupted, furious. “Quincy, our wedding is next month! Are you trying to back out?”
Quincy and I stared at each other, then he pressed the call button.
“Nurse, please come quickly. The patient seems to have memory issues.”
The diagnosis came back: temporary memory loss due to a high fever.
Physically, I was fine, but my memory recovery was uncertain.
My parents spoke with the doctor while Quincy and I were left alone.
I tugged on his sleeve, confused. “My memory really is messed up?”
“But I clearly remember our wedding is next month.”
Quincy’s breathing hitched.
“Lin Raina, you heard the doctor.”
“If you marry me, and then your memory comes back…”
I interrupted. “I won’t regret it.”
“I’m a grown woman. I take responsibility for my choices.”
He looked stunned.
“But I can’t force you to do something you don’t want.”
I hugged my knees, feeling dejected.
“If I’m mistaken, then forget it. It’s my memory problem, not your fault.”
He took my hand.
He looked me in the eyes.
“Let’s get married.”
His breath was shallow. “Next month.”
I was discharged soon after.
My family avoided talking about the past.
My phone was gone; I must have lost it on the way to the hospital.
My parents readily agreed to my request to marry Quincy next month.
Wedding preparations began.
I dragged Quincy around, choosing rings, dresses, and decorations.
After picking out the rings, I took a sneaky photo of Quincy and posted it on social media.
“Picked out our rings! His taste isn’t as good as mine.”
I expected congratulatory messages from my friends.
Instead, my comments exploded.
“Huh?”
“Wait, am I seeing things? When did Garrett get plastic surgery?”
“You’re blind! That’s Quincy!”
I was still confused when my best friend, Molly, bombarded me with texts.
“You dumped Garrett?”
I typed: “Who’s Garrett?”
Before I sent it, Molly sent me a bar location.
“Meet me tomorrow, my treat. We need to talk.”
The next afternoon, I arrived at the bar.
A stranger approached me.
“Raina, why did you suddenly get engaged to Quincy?”
“It must’ve been hard convincing your parents to approve the Garrett marriage. Did you give up because of all that online drama?”
Molly returned with our drinks, overhearing the conversation.
“Why are you bringing that up? We’ve said this a million times. Raina would never cling to Garrett; he’s nothing special.”
“If you don’t stop, I’m leaving. We’re done being friends.”
The girl shut up, embarrassed.
The air was thick with awkwardness. I spoke up.
“What are you guys talking about?”
“I’ve always loved Quincy. Even if it was an arranged marriage, the Qin and Lynn families are old friends. There’s no way it would’ve been someone else.”
Silence.
Everyone looked past me.
I turned around. I met a pair of icy eyes.
