Chapter 23: Move On

Alena Fleur

"I'm sorry, Alena. I can't," Elian replied.

I gritted my teeth and spat out, "I can't believe you're rejecting me again, even after knowing that I'm now aware of our past!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't afford to bring you back into this life and hurt you again. Last time, they were going to kill you. The accident kind of saved you, to be honest. Otherwise, who knows what they were going to do to you? And this time, I didn't mean for you to get involved. I thought this was a company problem, but—"

He stopped talking when he noticed that our backup had arrived. A few sedans came and tackled our chasers.

"You can park somewhere now, and I can take over the driving," Elian said.

I ignored his words and said, "No, I still don't get it. Elian, don't you understand? I want you back."

"And I don't," he said sharply. "You should move on, Alena. It should be pretty easy for you, considering you still don't remember our past."

My eyes were starting to get blurry from tears, so I parked the car near a children's park and asked, "Have you, Elian? Have you moved on from me?"

"Like I said, it doesn't matter—"

"It matters, okay? Both of our feelings matter. I'll get it if you don't love me anymore. But can you look me in the eye and say that you don't? Because if you can, I won't bother you anymore, Elian."

I waited for him to shift on his seat and turned to look at me, but it seemed like he knew his acting limit. That was all the confirmation I needed.

"If the only reason you don't want me back is that you think you will bring danger to me, then I'm not giving up on you, Elian," I declared.

Before I got to know our interconnected past, I was thinking that I only liked him, but it was never just 'like' with him. It has always been love. 'Like' could never be enough to describe my overwhelming feelings for him.

I loved Elian, and I knew my previous self loved him as well.

I could see the love I carried for him in my eyes in those photos, and I could see that love reflected in Elian's eyes.

All this time, for the last three years, I had felt that I was missing something very important in my life. I had never truly felt happy. Little did I imagine it would be the love of my life whom I was yearning for.

It was ironic how I was falling in love with Elian, even without knowing our past. I fell for the same man twice. And I didn't want to lose him again.

By losing him once, I had lost my true happiness. I didn't want that again.

I wanted him to be happy as well. My heart clenched as I remembered my past two years in Storm Dynamics. Elian had never seemed happy, like his heart was broken beyond repair. I never guessed I was the reason behind it.

"Elian, can't you please give us a second chance?" I pleaded.

Elian stayed quiet.

I took off my seatbelt and got closer to him. "Hey, talk to me. Tell me what you really want."

He turned his head to look at me, but his breath hitched when he found my face too close to his. "I—I want you to move on, Alena."

He tried to turn away, but I placed my hand on his cheek so that he couldn't remove his eyes from me.

I glanced down at his lips—the lips that I had been dying to have my first kiss with for the last few days. God, I had even forgotten our first kiss and had been thinking my lips were still virgin.

"Do you really want that, Elian?" I whispered against his lips, and I could see him getting intoxicated by our closeness.

I could feel his heart race just like mine when I placed my other hand on his chest.

"Elian," I breathed out, and that seemed to have broken his control as he pulled me closer by the waist and made our lips crash.

My position was awkward, especially with the gear lever pressing against my stomach, but I didn't care, not when our lips were finally moving in sync.

It was odd how I just knew how to work my lips against him; it was like two puzzles falling into place.

Throughout our kiss, several memories flashed in my head, accompanied by its partnering headache. The flashes contained visuals of a girl and a guy kissing in various places—like on the beach, underwater, on the white couch of the penthouse, in an unfamiliar bedroom, in front of an apartment door, in the kitchen, on the street, and many other places I didn't recognize.

All this time, I was thinking they were just weird flashes caused by trauma. Who knew they were my own memories trying to come back?

###

Elian dropped me in front of his mansion, instead of taking me to the penthouse.

"Now that the cops are off our back, you will be safe here. There are guards and maids. Let them know if you need anything," Elian informed.

"You will be back after finishing off the Blacklist gang?" I asked.

"Yeah. I will be late."

"Okay, be safe," I said and was about to lean forward to give him a kiss, but he rolled up the window.

I pouted at the blatant rejection. He gave me a forced smile and drove away.

I sighed.

Even after our heated kiss in the car, Elian didn't cave in. He was still hell-bent on not having an official relationship with me.

As it stood, both of us loved each other, but Elian didn't want a relationship.

Like hell, I was going to let him abandon me again. I was going to get him, by hook or by crook.

With that determination, I went inside Elian's mansion. I had come here once after becoming the COO, so the maids recognized me and greeted me.

"We have been waiting for you, Ms. Fleur. We have made all the arrangements Sir asked us to," the head maid said.

I gave her a smile and said, "I would like to eat something first, if you don't mind. I'm starving."

The maid returned my smile and guided me towards the dining hall.

After filling up my stomach, I freshened up in the guest room and got dressed up in the clothes the maids readied for me, then I unrepentantly announced, "I'm going to Elian's room."

"Ms. Fleur, I'm afraid you can't. Sir didn't say anything about that, so I don't think you're allowed," the maid said politely.

"Oh, don't worry. It's me. He won't mind. And if he does, just blame it all on me," I said, grinning and happily making my way towards Elian's room.

As expected, his room was gloomy.

No doubt, Lance's penthouse was decorated by me. So was Elian's cabin at the office. But this bedroom didn't have my touch. Though it did have an orange teddy bear that seemed to belong to me.

I plopped down on his bed and took a deep breath as I stared at my phone.

There were some confrontations that needed to be made.

I dialed one of the numbers from my speed dial and waited for that person to speak up.

"Hello?" Abigail spoke up.

"Hey, are you free?" I chirped.

"Al? It's been so long! Where have you been, girl? I thought you were dead!" she exclaimed.

"Well, I came close to," I said.

I could picture her rolling her eyes, not taking me seriously. "So what is it? What's the sudden reason behind your call?"

I took another deep breath and asked, "Do you know something about my accident?"

There was pin-drop silence from her side.

"You do, don't you?" I chuckled humorlessly. "Tell me, do you know about my boyfriend before that accident?"

"Yes, I knew he existed. But I swear I know nothing about him, not even his name. You never said anything about him," Abigail replied.

I mustn't have told her because I thought she would spill the beans to my parents and they would come to drag me back home.

"Why the sudden question? Oh, God, do you remember everything now?" she asked.

"No. I don't."

"Then, how do you know about the accident?" she inquired.

I ignored her question and further said, "Since you knew about the accident but never mentioned it to me, you must also know why I don't know about such a major accident in my life that caused me to lose my memories."

"Al, we all thought it was the best for you—"

"I don't get it. Why are you guys deciding what's best for me when I'm a goddamn adult?"

Abigail sighed. "Your condition was bad, Al. Your head would hurt badly if someone tried to make you recall anything of the past, that's why your parents decided it would be best if it's buried in the past."

"But didn't you guys think for a second that maybe, later on, I would like to know about it? How was I supposed to treat my amnesia if I had no idea I was suffering from it?"

She stayed quiet.

"Wait, maybe the main reason you guys didn't tell me is that you didn't want me to remember my boyfriend."

"Al, I'm sorry."

I was utterly speechless at their actions.

"I can't believe you guys." With that, I cut the call and threw my phone aside.

I knew that my family was hyper-paranoid about me having a boyfriend, but I never thought they would stoop this low, to go as far as leave my amnesia untreated, even my best friend supported that.

Who was I going to count on if not them?