Chapter 2

For a split second, I even began to wonder if Chloe was still Chloe.

That brought another incident to mind.

Back when we were dating, Chloe had a severe seafood allergy.

Yet she loved the taste, so every time she indulged, she had to take heavy allergy meds beforehand.

I vividly remembered one night when she forgot her pills and ate shrimp. Her throat closed up, and she couldn't breathe.

We rushed to the ER in the middle of the night, barely saving her life.

After that terrifying night, I banned seafood from our home.

Yet recently, she had started ordering seafood platters.

When I confronted her, she blew up: "Are you broke now? Do you have to police what I put in my mouth?!"

At the time, I didn't think too much of it. I just assumed she was lashing out because of grief.

Looking back now, something was horribly wrong.

My heart began to hammer against my ribs.

"Mr. Walker?"

Lucas noticed I had zoned out and gave me a concerned look.

I immediately told him about the coffee and the seafood.

Hearing this, Lucas's expression darkened even further. "Let's do this: I'll conduct an assessment on you right now to see if there's any deep psychological trauma blocking your memory."

"Okay."

I followed his instructions and lay down on the therapy recliner.

When I finally opened my eyes, the room was dark. The sun had already set.

I looked at Lucas. His face was pale and grim. My heart instantly leaped into my throat. "What is it?"

Without a word, Lucas handed me a diagnostic report. "Mr. Walker, I think you should read this yourself."

My hands trembled as I opened the folder.

When my eyes landed on the final evaluation, my entire world shattered.

Schizophrenia?

"This is a textbook psychiatric disorder," Lucas said softly. "It's still in the early stages, but if left untreated, it could develop into a full dissociative identity disorder."

"Dissociative identity disorder... You mean multiple personalities?"

Lucas nodded, his tone heavy and sympathetic. "Chloe's mental state collapsed after losing the baby, making her hypersensitive. Combined with your early psychotic episodes, it pushed her over the edge..."

"So you're saying... I might have done completely uncharacteristic things without remembering them, and Chloe saw it all?"

Lucas nodded solemnly.

My knees gave out, and I sank onto the floor.

I had imagined a million possibilities, but never this.

Lucas placed a hand on my shoulder. "Don't tell Chloe yet. It's best if you sleep in separate rooms for a while so I can treat her without triggering more episodes."

"Okay."

Right now, all I wanted was for both of us to get better.

It hadn't been easy building a life together from college sweethearts to husband and wife.

I didn't want our marriage to fall apart over an unborn child.

Even if that child wasn't mine to begin with.