Promises Forgotten
Chapter 12

***Zachary’s POV***

“She crossed off all the money.”

I didn’t move from where I had fallen back. My hand had touched her shoulder, or what was left of it. Suddenly all her movements with only her left hand made sense. She lost her arm, her whole right arm, saving me. It was enough to do so much damage they just removed it. We also weren’t in Vegas. We were in Greece, for our honeymoon. Not only had we signed the marriage certificate sober but then we went to Greece for our honeymoon.

“What do you mean she crossed off all the money?” Jason grabbed the papers out of Derek’s hands. “Shit. Everything but one million put into a trust account. Literally everything.”

I looked at them before racing down the hallway. Jason was behind me, but I didn’t know if Stacy had also made it out. Almost sliding to a stop, I saw her, standing in front of the elevators. Every time I laid eyes on her my heart did flips. When I walked in and looked at her, her head down reading the document, I thought I was going to lose my mind. I couldn’t remember her and yet I was so drawn to her. My heart knew her, wanted her, but I couldn’t understand any of it.

“Why? Why did you cross off all the money?” I called out to her. She was pressing the down button multiple times.

She looked back at me. The laugh that came out was painful to hear. “I didn’t f*****g marry you for your money, Z. I didn’t want it then and I don’t want it now.”

As she spoke the doors to the elevator opened and she went inside, closing them behind her immediately. I looked at Jason, who was confused and surprised.

“I can’t…I can’t lose her. I don’t understand what I’m feeling now. I don’t understand.” My voice came out broken as I looked back at the elevator.

Stacy came up behind Jason, shaking her head. “That’s because you love her, you just don’t remember. You f*****g idiot. I told you so. She wasn’t going to be paid off. God damn, neither of you listen to me enough. I swear to god.”

I walked over to the other elevator and pressed the button. It opened and I got in. Jason and Stacy followed.

“You guys…”

“Oh no, we have to. Before you make a f*****g fool of yourself. We absolutely do.” Stacy leaned against the back of the elevator, her arms crossed over her chest. She was shaking her head.

Jason rolled his eyes. “What are you going to do?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, but I know I can’t just let her go. I’ll just…wing it…I guess?” It sounded as bad when I said it out loud as it did in my head.

Jason chuckled and patted my shoulder. “Good luck, man.”

The doors dinged and I ran out of the elevators. It was raining outside but I didn’t mind. I pushed through the doors and froze as I watched Evelyn fall to her knees. Her already tiny figure curled up into a ball. I started to walk toward her when I froze. The wail that came from her froze just about everyone around her. Some even brought their hands to their mouths. She started to sob and my heart broke right there. Jason stopped next to me, holding an umbrella over Stacy and I. Stacy had her hand over her mouth like others, failing at holding back her tears.

I did this. I broke this woman. No one in their right mind would sound like that and feel whole. Time stopped for everyone as we listened to this woman cry her heart out. Finally, a man bent forward, helped her up and into a cab. I just watched as she drove away. After that, what right did I have to stop her? It was a pain I couldn’t fix. Not without my memories.

“Jason, I want to go home.”

He nodded. “I’ll have them pull the car around. At least wait inside the building.”

Turning, I walked back into the building. I sat on one of the seats near the entrance, soaking wet and not giving a damn about everyone staring at their CEO looking like a f*****g mess. I felt numb. I needed to speak with Dr. Lemur as soon as possible. I needed to message her. I had to try everything to get her back.

“Stacy…”

I looked up to see her squatted down in front of me. She was still teary-eyed and I reached over to wipe her tears. I should have been taking care of Evelyn’s tears. I should have held the woman who loved me and couldn’t even spite me even after all I had done to her.

“I’ll cancel all your meetings. Don’t worry.”

I nodded and dropped my hands, clasping them together as I leaned on my arms. Closing my eyes, my ears picked up at the last thing I wanted to hear.

“Zach-y! I went up to your office but no one was there!”

I looked up at Stacy. “Get rid of it. I don’t want it near me right now.”

“I’m sorry, Miss Sinclair. Mr. Anderson has somewhere he needs to be and can’t be distracted. Jason should be here any moment and will…”

“Stacy, you are not to get in my way when I am speaking to my fiancé. Who do you think you are?”

I took a deep breath and stood up. At my full height, while Jennifer was taller than the itty bitty frame that was Evelyn, I still looked down on her.

“Don’t you f*****g treat my assistant or my friends like that, Jennifer. I don’t care who you are to me, you do not get to treat them any way other than with the utmost respect.” I growled and she tried to smile, but it faltered on her face.

“But baby, I just wanted to talk to you and see you. I wanted to have some time with you. Your mom said that now would be a good time…”

I leaned down. “Do you think I give a shit about when my mother thinks is a good time, Jennifer? I don’t. You don’t just get to barge into my place of work and bother me just because you haven’t seen me in twenty-four hours or even forty-eight. You are marrying a pocketbook, that’s what you wanted. Someone to fuel your parties and your trips across the world. If you think any different then you should speak with your parents now.” I keep my voice low, but it was loud enough for Jason to hear, who had just walked up. Stacy and the two girls she was with also heard.

“But Zach-y…” Jennifer was trying to fake cry and I shook my head.

“You will start behaving like an heiress and a fiancé. I suggest you stop spending so extravagantly and stop going to party with random people. You want the full f*****g experience, darling? Then start by acting like my fiancé. You will be Mrs. Anderson and that will carry weight and it will carry a responsibility that apparently your father never instilled in you. But I f*****g will if I need to cut off all your spending to do so. Remember that, darling. Now excuse me. I’m heading home for the day because I am done with my work and there is nowhere else I want to be.”

Nodding to Jason, I followed him and I nodded back to Stacy as well. She had a hell of a smirk on her face and turned away from Jennifer who looked like she is going to break out in tears any moment. But her cries sound like child’s play next to the mourning cries the few of us witnessed outside. I don’t think any of us will forget that level of wail. I was afraid to go to sleep, not to relive a memory but to have to hear that cry again. It was going to haunt me for a long time.

“Straight home?”

“Yeah. Please contact Adrian as well. Tell him I’m locking up, just in case.”

Jason sighed. “I can just…”

Shaking my head, I leaned back against the seat. “Honestly, if I even debated going to the bar after this, I’m sure you are also wanting to do so. I don’t want to go out, though. Adrian can take a night, it’s fine.”

“Thanks.” Jason mumbled. “That was rough hearing…probably worse for Stacy and I, because we know why, but for you…”

I looked out the window. “Knowing I’m the cause of it?”

Jason didn’t reply and I didn’t elaborate. Taking out my phone, I brought it to my ear.

“Well well, isn’t it our infamous skip-out-on-our-check-ins. What can I do you for?”

“I want to try it. The hypnotherapy or whatever it is. I need to get them back…” I almost allowed my voice crack and I took a breath, pinching the bridge of my nose.

There was silence for a moment before Dr. Lemur replied. “You sure? I know you were….”

“I don’t care what I said! Whatever it takes! I need them back. I need to know.”

“Alright. I’ll get into contact with my colleague. I’ll call you when I have a better timeframe.”

I sighed. “Anytime, doc. I’ll move my life around it. I don’t care. Just make it happen.”

“Alright. But we are going to talk about this vibe you’re giving off later. I need to be in with a patient right now.”

I didn’t even wait, I just hung up on her. Pulling up my phone, I texted Derek.

Z: With the next draft of the paper, request Evelyn to send photos of the weeks we were together. She can send them directly to my email. Please provide it to her.

D: I don’t think that’s a good idea.

Z: I don’t give a shit what you think about this, Derek. Just do it. It wasn’t a request for you, it was an order.

I turned my phone on silent and placed it in the pocket of my jacket which was laying next to me. We pulled into my penthouse building and I didn’t even have Jason park. Jumping out at the elevator, I held up my jacket and the system scanned my phone and rose to my floor. Locking the door behind me, I threw my jacket on the kitchen counter. Taking off my tie and unbuttoning the top two buttons, I grabbed the whole bottle of whiskey on my way to the balcony, part of which is covered by an overhang so that it’s shielded from the rain. I sat my a*s down on the chair and took the cork out with my teeth. Downing multiple gulps, I leaned back and listened to the rain.

After a few minutes, all I heard were her cries. I could still hear sobbing and I could see her shaking form curled into a ball. Cursing, I went into the house and opened up the second bedroom. Under the bed, I pulled out a trunk. Inside the trunk are things I deemed useless junk, one of which is an old acoustic guitar. Taking it, I brought it back outside. After three more giant swigs of whiskey and some tuning, the hum of the strings sounded good enough.

I closed my eyes and felt my fingers brush the strings once before starting up a song. For a while it was just the guitar, but it wasn’t enough. The sound of her pain still echoed in me. I wanted to remember where I last played this song, last heard it. The words spilled out from my lips before I even knew what I was doing. For the first time in a decade that I remember, I played and sang until my fingers bled.