---- Chapter 6 Khloe Rojas POV: The invitation arrived the next morning. Thick, cream-colored cardstock with embossed gold lettering. You are cordially invited to celebrate the birthday of Helena Castro. The location was, of course, 'Our Eden' . It was a command performance, a public execution of my memory, and Julian expected me to be there to witness it. Something inside me snapped. | was done hiding. | was done grieving. If he wanted a scene, | would give him a goddamn opera. | arrived at the party just as the sun was setting, casting the island in hues of blood orange and bruised purple. | wore a simple, elegant black dress, a stark contrast to the glittering gowns of the other women. | was in mourning, after all. For my brother. For my marriage. For the woman | used to be. My entrance caused an immediate stir. Whispers followed me like a cloud of insects. | saw the pity in some eyes, the schadenfreude in others. | ignored them all, my gaze fixed on the happy couple holding court in the center of the terrace, Julian had spared no expense. The island was draped in fairy lights and Helena' s favorite flowers, white orchids, their cloying scent filling the air. He stood with his arm wrapped ---- possessively around her waist. She was wearing a breathtaking couture gown, dripping with diamonds. A European businessman | knew, a man named Francois, approached me, his eyes wide with surprise. He gestured towards Helena. "Khloe, my dear, you look... different. Is that anew dress?" Before | could correct him, Julian' s voice cut through the air. "Francois. You must be mistaken. This is Helena." He pulled her closer, his smile tight. "Khloe is over there." He nodded in my direction, his eyes cold and dismissive. Francois looked from me to Helena and back again, his face a comical mask of confusion. He patted my arm awkwardly. "My apologies, my dear. These rich men and their... types. You have my sympathies." | watched them, a ghost at the feast. | saw Julian present Helena with her birthday gift-a rare, pink diamond necklace worth millions. The same necklace he had promised to buy for me on our tenth anniversary. He fastened it around her neck and kissed her, a long, passionate kiss for the cameras and the crowd. The guests clapped and cheered. | felt hundreds of pairs of eyes on me, watching for my reaction, hungry for my tears. | gave them nothing. | sipped my champagne, my expression serene, as if | were watching a mildly interesting play. My heart wasn't breaking. It was already a pile of dust. You can't break something that's already been obliterated. ---- | found a quiet chair in the shadows, away from the main party, and closed my eyes. | was so tired. Suddenly, a scream pierced the night. My eyes flew open. Chaos had erupted on the terrace. A man, wild-eyed and desperate, was holding a knife to Helena' s throat. | recognized him-a small tech entrepreneur Julian had ruthlessly bankrupted a year ago. "You ruined me, Gallegos!" the man shrieked, his voice cracking with despair. "You took everything from me! Now I'm going to take what you love most!" Helena was sobbing hysterically. "Help me, Jules! Help me!" Julian' s face was a mask of cold fury. His security was moving in, but the man was erratic, the knife shaking dangerously close to Helena' s neck. Then, Helena did something truly despicable. Her tear-filled eyes found me in the shadows. "Take her!" she screamed, pointing a trembling finger at me. "Take his wife! She's the one he really loves!" The desperate man' s eyes darted towards me. He didn't know about the amnesia, about the divorce. The whole world still thought | was the cherished Mrs. Gallegos. | saw the calculation in Julian's eyes. In that split second, he made a choice. He looked from Helena's terrified face to mine. "He's right," Julian said, his voice ringing out with cold ---- authority. "Take her. She's the one you want." He offered me up. He served me on a silver platter to save the woman he now loved. He sacrificed me without a second thought. The man, seeing his opportunity, shoved Helena away. She stumbled and fell, scrambling away into the arms of the guards. He lunged for me. It happened so fast. One moment | was in my chair, the next he had me, his arm like a vise around my neck, the cold steel of the knife pressed against my ribs. "Now we're even, Gallegos," the man snarled. But before he could do anything else, another scream went up. Someone had pushed him from behind. We both went tumbling over the terrace railing, down towards the dark, churning water of the ocean below. As we fell, | felt a sharp, searing pain in my side. The man had stabbed me. The shock of it, the cold of the water as we hit, stole my breath. | was sinking, my lungs burning, my life bleeding out into the dark sea. The last thing | saw before | lost consciousness was Julian. He wasn't diving in after me. He was kneeling on the terrace, cradling a sobbing Helena in his arms, his back turned completely to the spot where | had disappeared beneath the waves. He didn't even look for me. ---- A memory, sharp as a shard of glass, pierced the encroaching darkness. A few years ago, we were swimming off this very beach. A rogue wave had pulled me under. Julian had dived in without hesitation, pulling me from the water, his face pale with fear. He had held me tight on the sand, his heart hammering against mine. "If | ever lost you, Khloe," he'd choked out, "my life would be over. You are my life." Another beautiful lie. He had a new life now. And | was not a part of it.