Flames of Regret

Luca was my child with Owen. I was seven months pregnant when the accident happened.

Back then, the doctor told me that if I chose to give birth to him, I might never wake up again. I didn't hesitate. I chose to give birth to Luca.

Time proved me right. He grew up well.

But when I woke up from my coma, he was calling Vivian "Mom".

I always thought that it was because everyone was trying to spare him the pain, so they told him that Vivian was his mother. Only later did I realize that Luca knew that I was his biological mother all along.

He didn't acknowledge me. It wasn't because he didn't know, but it was because he didn't want to.

During the three years that I was in a coma, Vivian didn't just give me memory-damaging drugs. She also harmed my body.

The emotional shock of Owen's words, along with being drenched in icy water, gave me a fever by evening.

I had just taken medicine, and my fever was subsiding when my bedroom door was suddenly kicked open.

Owen stormed in, his face full of rage. He dragged me off the bed. He shouted, "Shannon, what memory game are you playing this time? Do you know how much trouble you caused when you jumped into the water like that?"

I had recently tried to stir his memories of us by recreating moments from our past. It seemed like he assumed that I had fallen into the water on purpose again, just for his sake.

I refuted, "I didn't do it on purpose. Today, it was because—"

"How dare you deny it! Vivian went through so much to wake you up, yet you have no regard for your body. Because of you, her depression relapsed, and now she doesn't even want to get married anymore. You're such a disaster!"

Owen's expression was fierce as he yanked me toward Vivian's room. "You're going to apologize to Vivian right now."

At this moment, Vivian was lying in bed with her eyes closed.

Luca sat beside her, looking worried. He patted her shoulder with his tiny hands to comfort her. "Mom, don't be sad."

The moment Owen dragged me over, Luca jumped down from the bed, rushed at me, and struck me in the stomach with his fists and feet.

"You wicked woman! It's all your fault! Mom doesn't want to marry Dad anymore because of you! Why don't you just die?"

No mother could bear to hear such words from their son. My heart twisted in agony.

Owen stopped Luca, his face dark with anger. He turned to me and said, "Shannon, Vivian was so upset with you that she tore up her wedding dress. Now she has nothing to wear for her wedding.

"Weren't you an apprentice of an embroidery expert? Make her a traditional wedding dress, and she'll forgive you."

I let out a bitter laugh. "Owen, didn't you claim that you remembered nothing? How do you know that I was trained in embroidery?"

A flicker of panic crossed his face. "I heard it from others."

I stared into his eyes, wanting to ask if he had also heard that I could no longer hold a needle.

Embroidery was intricate. It required perfect coordination between the mind, eyes, and hands.

Years ago, when I saved Owen from drowning, my eye was struck by a rock at the bottom of the river.

From that day on, my left eye's vision deteriorated to the point of near blindness. The doctor told me that if I insisted on continuing embroidery, I would eventually go completely blind in that eye.

At the time, a high-ranking official pressured me to embroider a gown for his wife.

Owen took a considerable risk to refuse on my behalf. He was thrown into prison and tortured, yet he never gave in.

When he was finally released, he held me tightly, his eyes red with emotion, and swore that he would never let anything harm my eyes again.

Yet, he was now forcing me to embroider a wedding dress for Vivian.

I felt utterly defeated. "I haven't embroidered in years. I won't be able to do it. Find someone else."

My fever had just broken, and my body still felt weak. I turned to leave after saying this.

Before I could leave, Owen grabbed my arm. He frowned. "How dare you refuse! Vivian saved your life, and you won't even make her a wedding dress? How do you expect me to believe that I ever loved you?"

It was that sentence again. Whenever I tried to trigger his memories, he would say that he couldn't believe that he had ever loved me.

I would try to convince him each time, telling him how deeply we loved each other and how much I adored him. But this time, I didn't want to say anything anymore.

"Maybe you really never loved me." My voice was cold. "Owen, the person you love is Vivian. I was the one being delusional."

Owen's expression darkened. He stared at me in disbelief, a flicker of panic flashing across his eyes.

A second later, it was replaced by mockery. "Is this your new trick? Are you playing hard to get?"

I was just about to shake my head when he tightened his grip on my arm until it hurt. "No matter what you try, I won't go easy on you. You will make that wedding dress whether you want to or not. Don't forget that you spent three years in a coma, living off my money. You owe me."

I was momentarily speechless.

I was pregnant with Luca too soon. At the time, Owen wanted to marry me, but I didn't want to hold a wedding while pregnant. We planned to register our marriage since we wouldn't have a wedding.

But on the day we were supposed to go to the city hall, we got into an accident.

A van lost control and headed straight for us. In that split second before impact, I instinctively shielded Owen with my own body.

So, even though we had a three-year-old child together, we were never legally married.

In that sense, Owen had no obligation to pay for my medical expenses.

He smirked in satisfaction when he saw me hesitate. He bent down and asked, "Well, Shannon? Will you pay me back the money or make the wedding dress?"

Thinking about the astronomical medical costs, I clenched my teeth. "Fine. I'll do it."