Alle Kapitel von The Memory Draining: Kapitel 1 – Kapitel 10

Grayson stood frozen where he was.I did as Diana had told me and crept quietly up to the second floor. The moment I pushed open the door, I saw every trace of the life that used to be mine had been eaten away, piece by piece.I hadn't lost every memory. Some of the good ones still surfaced, faint and distant.Two months ago, Harper had tossed one of her shopping bags onto my bed without a second thought. I'd carried it back to her room myself, and all I got in return was her bursting into tears, eyes red with self-pity.Diana had scolded me for it instead. "Sophie, Harper spent ten years out there with no sense of security. That's why she likes to hoard things. How can you be so selfish, making a fuss over something this small?"From that day on, my room became Harper's second closet.There was a lamp on my desk, chipped at the corner and pushed out of the way. It was the first thing I'd ever bought with my own money, back when I'd first come home to the Ellisons and worked part

Morning came, and the door was pushed open again.This time, Diana came in carrying a bowl of steaming rice pudding. "Sophie, you must be hungry. Eat this while it's warm."Diana walked over to my bed and reached out to smooth my hair. "Yesterday, your brother and I were just too worked up. Harper's health is so fragile, and we panicked and took it out on you. Don't hold it against us."Grayson stepped forward too and sighed. "Sophie. Granny Forrest said again last night that Harper's ten years missing were hard on her, that her body and her luck are both weak right now. And you, you've spent ten years living comfortably here at home, so your luck clashes with hers. That's why her chest aches and she has nightmares the moment she's back."He pulled a pendant out of his pocket and took my hand. "Sophie, this is the last time. The very last time this family will ever put you through something hard. All you have to do is use your own blood to consecrate this pendant, and it'll shield

Sophie had left it behind.[Sir, I can't pay you back for the soup. I've settled the ten years I owed you with my memories instead. Please don't come looking for me again.]Grayson's hands shook as he picked up the note.He tore through Sophie's room. Beyond the note, he found a notebook.Every page was filled edge to edge with small, careful handwriting, tracking years' worth of the little things he'd mentioned in passing. When he liked his coffee. What sweets he wanted and when. Even the color of tie he usually wore to business dinners. Every single detail had its own note. And beneath each note was a tiny checkmark, marking that she'd taken care of it."She wasn't always like this."Grayson's voice shook. His fingers traced over the notebook's pages.He remembered it now. On her eighteenth birthday, Sophie had stood by the cake in a white dress worn nearly translucent from too many washes, watching him with quiet, hopeful eyes.He'd told her then, "Sophie, this family is y

Three months later, I sat on the porch of the bed and breakfast.I'd opened a small flower shop in this town. Every morning, I'd walk down to the market to buy fresh wildflowers.I didn't need to remember who liked their coffee a certain way anymore. I didn't need to watch anyone's expression, waiting to see if I'd upset them.I couldn't remember my own name. But I liked that the people here called me "Evie." It was a quiet name, and I liked the sound of it."Evie, the flower order's here!" A young man from next door jogged over, waving a slip of paper at me.I smiled and took it from him, my hands already moving through the motions of wrapping the order.There was a faint scar on my palm now, left behind from a time I'd traded it for something I'd thought was love. It didn't hurt anymore, though. It was just a reminder of how foolish I used to be.That was when a car pulled up slowly outside the flower shop. It looked expensive, and it didn't belong in this sleepy little town a

Night had settled in.I closed the ledger and got ready to lock up. Outside, Grayson still stood there, stiff and unmoving."Evie." He looked at me. "Even if it's just letting me look at you from a distance. Even if all you do is… call me something awful, the way you used to when we were younger. I'd take even that."I paused with my hand on the lock and turned back to him, my expression unreadable."Mr. Ellison, you're misremembering," I said evenly. "The Sophie you knew might have wanted your attention when she was little. But eventually, she learned to stop expecting it."The Sophie you knew died the moment you started draining her memories from her."He staggered back a step, as if those few words had gone straight through his chest."That was my mistake. I can change. I really can change." His words came out in a rush as he tried to close the distance between us again."Just give me one chance, and I'll hand you the company. I'll sign the entire Ellison estate over to you,