Chapter 228

Paloma had been crashing at the Montgomerys' for four days straight, and she clearly had no intention of leaving anytime soon. She treated their place like her own personal hotel–playing around, eating whatever she wanted, and coming back to crash whenever she felt like it. Monica couldn’t afford to offend her, so she had no choice but to tag along and keep her company. After a few days of this, Monica was completely wiped out, and her watch over Landon had loosened up a lot.

What she didn’t know was that ever since Landon met Amelia, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. ‘I really want to see her again,’ he thought. Whenever he closed his eyes, all he could see was her smile and hear her voice. With Amelia around, Monica just seemed even more bland. He had absolutely no interest in her anymore.

He even regretted getting engaged to her. Taking advantage of Monica’s lowered guard, Landon finally found a chance to talk to Paloma alone. “Miss Kyle, can you tell me more about her?” he asked.

“Who?” Paloma asked, pretending to be clueless.

“Amelia,” Landon replied.

“You’re really curious, huh?” Paloma said.

Landon nodded seriously. He wasn’t just curious–he missed her like crazy, his longing as deep as the sea.

“What’s your name?” Paloma asked, turning the question back on him.

Landon looked lost. “I don’t remember. Monica calls me Lamo.”

Paloma’s eye twitched. ‘Lamo? Sounds like "love Monica." Monica is so good at fooling herself,’ she thought.

“So, where are you from?” Paloma pressed.

“I have no idea,” Landon replied, shaking his head. “I asked Monica, but she just said the past doesn’t matter. She also told me I’m an orphan, with no family at all.”

“And do you actually believe her?” Paloma asked.

Landon hesitated for a moment, searching Paloma’s eyes, then asked softly, “Can I really trust you?”

“Of course,” Paloma said with a smile. ‘What a silly little brother,’ she thought. He obviously already trusted her–that’s why he came to her with his questions.

“At first, I trusted Monica. But lately, I feel like she’s hiding something from me,” Landon admitted.

Paloma’s smile grew even brighter. “Exactly. She really is lying to you.”

Landon’s expression shifted, anger surging within him.

“Let me tell you about Amelia first,” Paloma said, shifting her position to get more comfortable. “Her husband’s name is Landon. He was injured during a mission and ended up forgetting all about her.”

“He lost his memory too?” Landon’s heart skipped a beat. ‘What a coincidence. I lost my memory too,’ he thought.

“She was devastated for a while, but then she pulled herself together and took charge of protecting her husband’s family business, but also protected her mother-in-law. She’s a really strong woman,” Paloma continued.

“She really is…” Landon murmured.

Landon’s heart throbbed with pain again. ‘Just how did she pull all that off by herself?’ he wondered. He just wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her everything would be okay.

This overwhelming urge made a wild idea pop into his head–what if he was actually her amnesiac husband? ‘So that’s why she looks at me with so much love in her eyes… and why she’s so heartbroken that I don’t remember her?’ he wondered.

The more Landon thought about it, the more real it felt. It was like an invisible hand was squeezing his heart–it hurt so much he could barely breathe. ‘Is it me? Am I really him?’ he thought, his mind spinning.

“Lamo, are you starting to doubt your own identity?” Paloma asked, her voice calm and unreadable.

Landon hesitated for a second, then nodded.

“Monica never lets me leave or have any contact with the outside world. It’s hard not to start doubting everything,” he admitted.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Paloma agreed, nodding. She nodded with a smile. “You’re pretty sharp. So, what are you going to do about it?”

“Get my memories back,” Landon said.

“And what if you never remember?” Paloma pressed.

Landon was taken aback. “No way! The doctors said most people with amnesia get their memories back eventually.”

“But I’ve been like this for years–lost my memories, and nothing’s ever come back,” Paloma said, tapping the back of her head. “It’s been hurting for ages, and sometimes it still acts up out of nowhere.”

Landon stared at her in shock. “Wait, you… you lost your memory too? And you get those headaches?” ‘No way, I’m not the only one?’ he thought, his mind reeling.

“Here’s a secret, just between us,” Paloma leaned in, dropping her voice to a whisper. “We’re not really amnesiacs. Someone put a chip in our heads–it blocks out everything from our past.”

Landon’s jaw dropped in disbelief. Almost without thinking, his hand started to reach for the back of his head.

But Paloma quickly stopped him.

“Everything here is under Monica’s control. Watch your expression,” she warned.

A storm brewed in Landon’s eyes. He took several deep breaths before he could calm himself.

“Please, just tell me who I am,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

“You’re Landon, Amelia’s husband,” Paloma replied, her tone gentle but firm.

Landon closed his eyes, fighting to keep his emotions in check. ‘It’s me. It really is me,’ he thought.

“Do you know who I am?” Paloma asked.

Landon hesitated, then shook his head. “You’re the Kington Gang’s princess, right? But I can see you and Amelia are good friends.”

“It’s more than that,” Paloma said, shaking her head. ‘It kind of hurts that he remembers his wife, but not his own sister,’ she thought.

‘Hmph! When all this is over, I’m definitely going to rough him up a bit,’ Paloma thought with a hint of mischief.

“So, who are you?” Landon asked.

“Never mind, I’ll tell you another time. The important thing is, I’m here to help you. And whatever we talked about today–don’t let them catch wind of it,” Paloma said.

“I understand,” Landon replied with a firm nod. He looked at her seriously. “Thank you, Miss Kyle.”

“From now on, don’t take any of the medicine she gives you. Just hide it,” Paloma said, glancing around to make sure no one was watching. She pulled a strip of capsules from her bag and pressed them into Landon’s hand. “Take these instead. They’ll help with the headaches.”

“You get headaches too?” Landon asked.

“Yup,” Kayla replied coolly.

Landon sighed, still feeling completely lost. “Why is she doing this to me?”

“Because she likes you,” Paloma said simply.

‘Seriously?’ Landon was at a loss for words. ‘What on earth does she even like about me? Whatever it is, I’ll change it!’ he grumbled to himself.

Taking a deep breath, he asked Paloma, “And what about you?”

“My story’s a long one. I’ll tell you another time,” Paloma said with a smile. “Monica should be waking up soon. You should go take her some fruit.”

“Okay,” Landon replied.

Landon took the capsules and prepared a fruit platter for Monica, just like he always did, before heading to her room.

Paloma let out a quiet sigh of relief.

‘Silly little brother, you must feel some kind of connection to me, right? Otherwise, why would you trust me this much?’ she thought.

As she thought about it, Paloma lowered her gaze, hiding the sadness in her eyes. Even though Monica had no idea who she really was and let her guard down, Paloma knew she still had to be careful, just in case. As for Landon, the more time she spent with him, the more he felt like family to her. She’d heard that he’d spent years searching for her, and he still couldn’t get over the fact that the kidnappers once mistook him for the one who took her.

But she didn’t blame him at all. On the contrary, she was actually proud of herself for protecting her little brother at just seven years old! If it had been her brother who got taken that day, he probably wouldn’t have survived…