Chapter 2

When my ninth "husband" came home, I was sitting on the couch, lost in thought.

A clear voice interrupted my thoughts. "Eve, I'm home."

I turned my head and looked at the man in the doorway.

"Who are you?" I furrowed my brow, pretending to be confused. "Are you my partner? I remember my partner's name is Liam."

The man froze for a moment, then immediately objected. "No! Um... I'm your partner's friend! Evelyn, don't panic. I'll call your partner to come back right now!"

After speaking, the man pulled out his phone and hurried toward the balcony.

"Liam, Evelyn's lost her memory again! Whose turn is it? Get over here and switch with me!"

I hid by the window and heard the voices of Liam's friends making excuses through the speakerphone.

"Liam, Evelyn is too clingy. We have to watch her 24 hours a day. We can't handle it!"

"Yeah, Evelyn is great and all, but she's too controlling. We're Alphas. Can't we have a few lovers?"

"How about you come back yourself, Liam?"

"No way." Liam's lazy voice came through the speaker. "I'm not done having fun yet. I don't want to go home. Which one of you will take my place? Come on, we're friends. If you won't even help with this, that's pretty cold."

Amid the excuses, a cool voice spoke up. "I'll go."

I recognized it. This was Liam's best friend, Alpha Sean.

The Alpha of Shadow Fang Pack. They said he still hadn't found his mate and had been single for thirty years.

When Liam first proposed having someone impersonate him as my partner, Sean was the first to object.

But now he was interested in playing this absurd impersonation game too?

Half an hour later, the front door clicked open.

Sean walked in against the light.

"Eve, I'm home." His cool voice had a magnetic quality to it.

I stood up and stared at the tall, handsome man before me.

"Are you my partner, Liam?"

"Mm." Sean coughed lightly, covering his lips. "Sorry, I had some work to handle. I came back late."

As soon as he finished speaking, his phone rang.

Sean made an apologetic gesture and went to the balcony with his phone.

Through the receiver came Liam's casual voice. "Oh right, Sean, I forgot to remind you. At most, hold her hand and hug her. Don't sleep with her, and definitely don't Mark her. No matter how far you play this game, she's still my partner."

"Got it." Sean's voice was low.

For the past three years, no matter how those men pretended to be Liam, they only held my hand and hugged me at most. They never crossed the line.

For three years, there were never any photos in the house, nor any identification documents belonging to any man.

And Liam had dissolved our mate bond.

Until my second chance mate appeared, all these men were the same to me.

Plus, I was an orphan. Because of my memory loss, I had no friends to speak of.

They naturally assumed I wouldn't find out.

And I pretended not to know anything.

After all, I was just an Omega. I had no way to refuse their game.

But this time, I wanted to do something different.

I walked over and actively hugged Sean's waist.

"Honey, even though I lost my memory, the moment I saw you, I felt you were so familiar. You must be my mate. I'm sure of it."

I tightly held Sean's waist, and my hand couldn't help but feel his firm abs.

Sean's body stiffened. He pushed me away in panic.

"What's wrong?" I asked innocently. "Honey, I lost my memory. Don't you like me anymore?"

"No," Sean's eyes flickered with evasion, his voice hoarse. "...I like you."

I reached out to unbutton his shirt and touched his chest muscles.

"Honey, it's so cold today. Let's go to bed and warm up together, okay?"

Sean's Adam's apple bobbed. "...Okay."

That night, Sean and I shared a bed.

But by tacit agreement, we didn't say much to each other.