The Prank That Shattered Love

The world came back in a rush of white. White ceiling, white sheets, the sterile smell of antiseptic. My head throbbed. I was in a hospital.

My fiancé, Cameron, rushed to my bedside, his face creased with worry. I decided to play a prank, pretending I had amnesia. "Who... who are you?" I whispered.

His relief evaporated, replaced by a calculating look. He showed me a picture of another woman, Hannah Nichols, an intern at his family's company. "She's the woman I love," he said, his voice flat. "But you and I are getting married. Our families have an agreement. A business merger. It's too important to fail."

My mind reeled. The man I loved was telling me our entire relationship was a lie. I felt a surge of fury. "Then call it off," I snapped. He grabbed my wrist, panic in his eyes. "If this merger falls through, my family is ruined. Hannah... she's very fragile. The stress would destroy her."

My life, my love, my future-it was all just collateral damage in his pathetic, selfish drama. I was nothing more than a business deal. The witty, proud Alicia England, heiress to a tech empire, reduced to a bargaining chip.

Later, I heard him on the phone, his voice soft and tender. "Don't worry, Hannah. It's all under control. She has amnesia. She doesn't remember a thing. Love me? Of course, she loves me. She's been obsessed with me since we were kids. It' s almost pathetic." My heart shattered. He thought I was a broken, forgetful fool he could manipulate. He was about to find out how wrong he was.

Chapter 1

The world came back in a rush of white. White ceiling, white sheets, the sterile smell of antiseptic. My head throbbed, a dull, persistent ache behind my eyes. I was in a hospital.

A figure shot up from a chair in the corner. "Alicia! You're awake."

It was Cameron. My fiancé. His handsome face was creased with worry, his usually perfect hair a mess. He rushed to my bedside, his hands hovering over me as if he was afraid to touch.

"The doctor said you just have a concussion. A minor one," he said quickly. "You took a nasty fall on the black diamond run. Do you remember?"

I remembered everything. The exhilarating speed, the sharp turn, the patch of ice that sent my skis flying. I remembered the world tumbling, a chaotic mess of snow and sky, before everything went dark.

But looking at Cameron' s anxious face, a playful idea sparked in my mind. We were supposed to be on a pre-wedding trip, a last getaway before the merger of our two families, England Corp. and Lawrence Holdings, was finalized by our marriage. It was all so serious, so planned. A little prank couldn't hurt.

I let my eyes go blank, unfocused. I stared at him for a long moment.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, my voice intentionally weak. "Who... who are you?"

Cameron froze. The relief on his face evaporated, replaced by a flicker of confusion. "What? Alicia, it's me. Cameron."

He leaned closer, his brow furrowed. "Don't you remember me?"

I shook my head slowly, my heart thumping with the thrill of the prank. I was waiting for him to laugh, to call my bluff, to pull me into his arms and tell me he loved me no matter what. I wanted that deep, reassuring love I' d always believed we had.

Instead, a strange look crossed his face. Not concern. Not love. It was something I couldn't place, something calculating. He glanced toward the door, then back at me. Believing I was a blank slate, he let the mask slip.

"I'm Cameron Lawrence," he said, his voice suddenly flat, stripped of all warmth. "Your fiancé."

The coldness in his tone sent a shiver down my spine. This wasn't part of the game.

He pulled out his phone and swiped through it. He didn't show me a picture of us. He showed me a picture of a girl I' d never seen before. She was pretty in a fragile, doe-eyed way, leaning against him in a sun-drenched park.

"This is Hannah Nichols," he said, his voice softening as he looked at the picture. "She's an intern at my family's company. She's the woman I love."

The air left my lungs. The playful prank died in my throat, choked by a sudden, sickening wave of shock.

"But you and I," he continued, looking back at me with that same chilling detachment, "are getting married. Our families have an agreement. A business merger. It's too important to fail."

My mind reeled. This couldn't be real. The man I had loved since we were teenagers, the man I was about to marry, was telling me our entire relationship was a lie.

I felt a surge of fury. "Then call it off," I snapped, my voice raw.

"What?" He looked genuinely startled, as if he hadn't expected me to have an opinion.

"The wedding. The merger. Call it off," I repeated, my hands clenching the starched sheets. "I'm not marrying you."

I reached for the call button to buzz for a nurse, to call my father. My father would end this farce in a second.

Cameron lunged forward and grabbed my wrist. His grip was surprisingly strong. "Don't."

There was panic in his eyes now. For a fleeting, stupid moment, I thought it was because he was afraid of losing me. That maybe his cruel words were just a mistake, a momentary lapse of judgment.

"You can't," he said, his voice tight. "You don't understand."

"Let go of me, Cameron."

"No. If this merger falls through, my family is ruined," he hissed, his face close to mine. "Hannah... she's very fragile. The stress would destroy her. She's already tried to hurt herself once because she felt so guilty about us."

The hope inside me curdled into something bitter and cold. It wasn't about me. It was never about me. He was afraid for his money and for his other woman.

My life, my love, my future-it was all just collateral damage in his pathetic, selfish drama. A bitter taste filled my mouth. I was nothing more than a business deal. The witty, proud Alicia England, heiress to a tech empire, reduced to a bargaining chip.

He saw the fight drain from my face. He let go of my wrist, a flicker of what might have been regret in his eyes. It vanished as quickly as it appeared.

"I'll have to send Hannah away for a while," he said, more to himself than to me. "Until things settle down after the wedding. It's for the best."

He stood up, straightening his clothes, becoming the charming, handsome fiancé again. He left the room without another word, leaving me alone in the sterile silence.

The walls of the room seemed to close in. I stared at the ceiling, the throbbing in my head drowned out by the roaring in my ears. I replayed our years together, every shared laugh, every whispered promise, every stolen kiss. It had all been an illusion. A lie I had happily lived in.

Tears burned my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not for him.

Later, I heard his voice from the hallway. He was on the phone.

"Don't worry, Hannah. It's all under control. She has amnesia. She doesn't remember a thing."

A cold laugh followed. "Love me? Of course, she loves me. She's been obsessed with me since we were kids. It' s almost pathetic."

My heart, which I thought couldn't break any further, shattered into a million tiny pieces.

"No, you're different," his voice softened into that tender tone he'd used when he showed me her picture. "You're the only one who understands me. The only one I need."

"After we're married, I' ll keep you somewhere safe. She'll be my wife, but you... you'll have my heart. Always."

I closed my eyes. The tears finally came, hot and silent. But they weren't tears of heartbreak anymore. They were tears of rage.

He thought I was a broken, forgetful fool he could manipulate. He was about to find out how wrong he was.

With trembling fingers, I found my phone on the bedside table. I sent a single text to my father.

`Dad, I'm not marrying Cameron. Call off the engagement.`