<h4>Chapter 44: Chapter FORTY FOUR: A Stranger to Her Heart</h4>


    Kendrick’s POV


    The walls of the house felt like they were closing in on me.


    My breath became sharp and uneven as I staggered back from my mother’s door, the echo of her words ringing like a curse in my head.


    "Christy must not..."


    No.... No, I must have misheard because I couldn’t just bring myself to believe that my mother was such a person.


    Why would she be plotting against Christy’s life?


    My hands trembled as I pressed them into my hair, gripping tightly like I could force the thoughts out of my head.


    "She... she wouldn’t... She can’t," I whispered to myself.


    But the memory of her cold and sinister voice wouldn’t leave me.


    Confusion, disbelief, and fury tangled inside me until I couldn’t breathe and my chest felt extremely tight and painful.


    I had to get out.


    I had to leave before I lost my mindpletely.


    I stormed down the hall, ignoring theughter echoing faintly from the sitting room.


    Raymond’s smugness, Celeste’s arrogance, Sameen’s mocking, all blurred into meaningless noise.


    I snatched my car keys from the stand near the front door and shoved myself outside.


    The cool night air pped my face, but it didn’t soothe me as my feet carried me fast, my fists were still balled so tight my knuckles ached.


    Sliding into the driver’s seat, I mmed the door and just sat there, gripping the wheel.


    Why would she...? Why Christy?


    I squeezed my eyes shut, but all I saw was Christy’s face and I imagined all the pain she must have gone through in less than three months.


    And now my mother was plotting against her.


    I couldn’t understand and I didn’t want to understand because of the fear of finding out something more painful.


    "God," I muttered under my breath, mming the steering wheel.


    "What the hell am I supposed to do?" I yelled as I pped the steering wheel continuously


    I turned the key, the engine roaring to life beneath me, and I pulled out of the driveway with a screech of tires.


    I didn’t know where I was going. I just needed air, needed distance, needed anything but the poison inside that house.


    The city lights blurred past me, neon smears against the darkness. I drove without thought as my mind was filled with everything that was happening.


    Every word my mother had spoken echoed again and again.


    Every possible meaning I try toe up with is twisted into something darker.


    Was her disappearance deliberate?


    But a part of me refused to ept it as I shook my head in denial.


    That was still my mother.


    She can’t mean it... maybe it was about someone else.


    Maybe I misheard and she wasn’t talking about the Christy I know, probably someone with the same name.


    Maybe... maybe I’m losing it.


    I grip the steering wheel tightly and clenched my jaw in anger and frustration.


    I wanted to deny it and I also wanted to believe there was an exnation.


    But the way she had spoken Christy’s name with so much hatred ... there was no mistaking it.


    My head felt like it was about to explode as I continued driving and without realizing it, my car had turned down a familiar street.


    I slowed down as I stared at the huge hospital building.


    I hadn’t even meant toe here. My hands had driven me here on their own, guided by something deeper than thought.


    I just wanted to see her badly and tell her how sorry I was and how much I miss her.


    For a long moment I sat there in the dark, gripping the steering wheel, my chest rising and falling fast as I kept staring at the hospital building.


    The Lancaster family members would tear me apart if he caught me anywhere near her.


    And Christy... after everything I’d done, after all the hurt, did she even want to see me?


    But then I imagined her lying in that hospital bed, hooked up to machines. I didn’t know if she was fine or in a critical condition as her family had blocked every news from leaking.


    I finally summoned up the courage to see her, no matter the consequences.


    Even if she hated me or if she never forgave me, I had to see her. I had to know she was okay.


    I grabbed a hooded jacket from the back seat. Luckily Gary had left it there a while back and my chest pounded as I approached the hospital entrance, trying to look as casual as possible .


    The smell of antiseptic hit me the moment I walked in, the reception desk was quiet as the nurse was busy with paperwork. She didn’t nce up as I slipped past.


    I knew the way by heart. I’d been here too many times already.


    Every step down that hallway was heavier than thest, my palms sweating as I tried not to be too nervous.


    When I reached her door, I hesitated.


    I couldn’t move as my body refused to take the next step.


    But then I heard the faint sound of movement from inside and I pushed the door open.


    Christy.


    She was awake and I felt a rush of relief as I stared at her.


    Her hair was loose around her shoulders, her skin pale but glowing faintly in the moonlight spilling through the window. She wasn’t hooked up to any machine as I had previously imagined.


    But it wasn’t her posture that made my heart ache, it was her eyes.She was staring out of the window, distant, her expression unreadable.


    "Christy..." I whispered, almost afraid to say her name.


    She didn’t turn.


    I stepped inside, closing the door quietly behind me. My legs felt like they could give out any second, but I forced myself forward until I was standing near her bed.


    "I’m sorry." I said with a hoarse voice as the words spilled out of me before I could stop them.


    "I’m so sorry, Christy. For everything. For the pain, for the hurt, for all the mistakes I made. I never... I never wanted to hurt you. I never stopped caring. I... " apologized to her with hot tears trying to find their way out from the corners of my eyes.


    She finally turned her head and when her gaze met mine, it was like a knife straight through my chest.


    There was no recognition in her eyes, no warmth or anger, just confusion.


    "Who... who are you?" Her lips parted slowly and she asked me with a frown.


    I staggered back a step and had to rest my body on the wall for support, as my legs were almost giving up on me.


    "What?" I croaked, my chest clenching painfully.


    She tilted her head, her brows furrowing as she studied me like I was a stranger off the street.


    "I don’t... I don’t know you." she replied with a confused expression while staring at me.


    My heart stopped.


    "No," I whispered, shaking my head violently.


    "No... no.. Christy, it’s me... It’s Kendrick. It’s... it’s me." I said with a hurried tone and she just blinked slowly, her gaze dropping to herp, as if my words meant nothing.


    I dropped to my knees in front of her, desperate, my hands trembling.


    "It’s me," I repeated, my voice breaking.


    "Don’t you remember? Don’t you remember us? Everything we’ve been through? The nights, the fights, the... the way you smiled at me?" I tried to make her remember me by talking about the memories we shared.


    Her face twisted suddenly, her hand flying to her head.


    "Stop," she whispered, her voice trembling.


    "Stop... my head... it hurts." she cried as she continued holding her head.


    "Christy?" I reached for her, panic flooding me.


    She gasped, clutching her temples and her body started to tremble.


    "Christy!"


    Before I could grab her, she copsed forward, her body hitting the floor with a dull thud.


    "Christy!" I shouted, dropping down beside her and my arms gently wrapped around her limp frame.


    My chest exploded with fear as I lifted her andid her back on the bed with frantic hands.


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    "Stay with me, please," I begged, my voice cracking. "Please, don’t do this."


    I mmed my hand against the emergency button by the bed side.


    Jasper arrived quickly as the door burst open.


    "Kendrick?!" He yelled my name in surprise.


    His eyes went wide when he saw me standing by the bedside and his face darkened.


    "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked me and rushed forward.


    I stumbled back, my chest heaving.


    "She....she copsed, I didn’t..."I tried to exin but he just shoved past me, his hands moving quickly over Christy’s body, checking her pulse, her breathing.


    "She’s fine," he muttered after a tense moment.


    "She just... her memory..." He finally looked at me with aplicated expression.


    "She’s lost her memory, Kendrick." he finally said after a few seconds of hesitation.


    The words hit me like a hammer.


    "No..." I whispered.


    "No, that’s not... she can’t..." I shook my head repeatedly in denial.


    "She doesn’t remember you," Jasper said with a sigh.


    "You shouldn’t even be here. Haven’t you done enough? If Kelvin or any other person sees you here, it would be a problem"


    I opened my mouth, but no words came out as my throat felt too tight and my chest was extremely heavy as well.


    And then, before I could respond, Christy stirred and her eyes fluttered open, ssy and unfocused. She blinked up at Jasper, her lips trembling.


    "...Jasper?" she whispered and he sighed in relief.


    "I’m here... I’m here." he said as she reached weakly for his hand and clutched it tightly.


    "Hubby, my head hurts..." sheined to him sadly.


    What did she just call him?


    Hubby? As in husband?