The One I Love Was Never You

Cyrus Sloan and Elara Wren couldn't wait to post several intimate relationship announcements on their social media, terrified that anyone might miss the news they were now together.

Beneath the posts, countless mutual friends congratulated them for finally overcoming so many obstacles to be together.

I threw myself onto the soft mattress and slowly closed my eyes.

Even though the person I forgot after drinking the potion wasn't Cyrus Sloan, at least I once had a wonderful time with him.

A few years ago, after a bad breakup, I ran away from home to another city.

It was Cyrus Sloan who came to my door to comfort me. He pulled my listless self up from the floor and pushed me into a race car.

He consoled me, saying there was no pain that a wild race couldn't fix.

Two race cars, one red and one green, tore across the extremely complex and dangerous terrain. We chased each other, finally stopping at the edge of a cliff at almost the exact same moment.

Cyrus Sloan rushed to the front of my car, ripped off my helmet, and, fueled by a wild rush of adrenaline, gave me a hard kiss.

Later, we went skydiving together.

We held each other tightly in the air, ~330 feet from the ground, as he listened to me scream that I wanted a fresh start.

On the day of my seventh race with Cyrus Sloan, we conquered another crater.

The two cars were parked behind us.

I cupped his face in my hands and said affectionately,

"I'll love you forever."

He said he would too.

'It turns out, we both had our own secrets back then.'

I curled up on the bed as a tear slid from the corner of my eye onto the pillow.

The next day, I returned to the racetrack.

As soon as I entered, I saw a figure in white standing next to the green race car.

Cyrus Sloan saw me and, for some reason, suddenly walked over to my car with Elara Wren.

"Julia, I remember you're a great driver. Help me train Elara a bit. She doesn't trust me."

My brows furrowed slightly. Before I could even agree, Elara Wren had already pulled open my car door and gotten in.

The moment the car started, Elara Wren suddenly turned her head to stare at me.

"You and Cyrus Sloan are close, aren't you? Is his driving as good as yours? Did you two use to race together?"

The string of questions irritated me.

But Elara Wren seemed completely oblivious to my silence.

"Ms. Sutton, do you know Cyrus Sloan's ex-girlfriend? Cyrus told me he was surprised that a daughter from a rich family like yours could have more tricks in bed than he'd imagined."

I frowned.

But this was no time to get distracted. I slammed on the gas and overtook Cyrus Sloan.

The moment I tilted my head to check my left rear, Elara Wren suddenly lunged over and grabbed the steering wheel from my hands.

Although I quickly pushed her hand away, the car was going too fast, and we slammed hard into the guardrail.

The loud crash of the car immediately caught Cyrus Sloan's attention. He ran straight to the passenger side and lifted Elara Wren out.

He carefully inspected her for scrapes, then watched as she limped, unable to stand steady, crying that her foot hurt.

"Julia, if you didn't want to drive with Elara, you should have just told me. There's no need to play with lives."

I had just been freed from the wreck by the track staff, my right hand fractured from the impact, only to look up and face a torrent of accusations from Cyrus Sloan.

Elara Wren huddled in his arms, sobbing softly, looking as fragile as a drifting petal.

Cyrus Sloan's eyes swept over my injured arm, then glanced at the car, noticing that the damage to the driver's side was more severe than the passenger's.

His lips parted, as if he was about to ask if he should take me to the hospital as well.

Just then, Elara Wren burst into loud sobs.

"Cyrus, it hurts so much! My foot isn't broken, is it?"

Seeing that I hadn't so much as frowned, Cyrus Sloan didn't hesitate to scoop her up into his arms, muttering,

"I never saw you get hurt when we used to race. Such a pathetic act. Did you think pretending to be hurt would make me feel sorry for you?"