I Failed to Divorce My Husband

“When did your memory come back?” Erin’s voice trembled as she asked Aiden.

“It’s been a while since I got my memory back. But there were circumstances that prevented me from speaking the truth,” Aiden began to explain honestly to Erin.

It wasn’t that he had been deceitful from the beginning. When Aiden first woke up, he remembered nothing.

However, after just a few days, his memories came flooding back. Then, it seemed unbelievable that there had even been a moment when he did not remember Erin.

In any situation, there was one person Aiden had to remember, and that person was Erin.

He intended to tell Erin about the return of his memory immediately. Just before he could, a thought occurred to him.

Everyone believed he had lost his memory. Flipping the situation on its head, this could also be seen as an opportunity.

The elders had been consistently pressured, which had weakened them considerably.

However, precisely because of that, their recent actions had become dangerous. When people experience weakening of their power for the first or second time, they become cautious.

However, as things became more serious and they felt their very existence was under threat, they would behave more recklessly instead.

At that time, they would target not Aiden, but Erin.
The signs were already there.

As soon as Aiden lost his memory momentarily, the elders had attempted to cast out Erin.

He could no longer watch the elders’ actions passively.

Yet paradoxically, Aiden’s memory loss was, in a strange way, a good opportunity to drive out the elders.

The cautious elders had already begun to show their ambition merely at the news of Aiden’s memory loss.

‘If I don’t tell anyone that I’ve regained my memory.’

It was a chance to completely expel the elders.
Aiden’s eyes sharpened.

And so, he pretended to have amnesia.
There were several crises.

Every time Erin was in a difficult situation, Aiden wanted to confide in her honestly.

But he knew.
If he truly wanted to keep a secret, he shouldn’t make exceptions in any case.

Yet, the elders conspired to pin a false charge on Erin and expel her from the family.

Aiden revealed to the uninhibited elders that he remembered everything, intending to flip the situation on its head.

That night, his visit to Erin was also to have that conversation.

Although everything wasn’t fully prepared yet, with the situation having reached this point, Aiden intended to tell Erin that he had regained his memory after buying a day’s time and sort out the situation.

So with thorough preparations for the next day, he went to meet Erin. But Erin was quicker to speak.

“Then, from now on… will you trust me and follow my lead?”

Erin said something meaningful to Aiden, then took him somewhere.

And she confined him. At first, he was perplexed. Unable to understand Erin’s intentions.

If she was the person he knew, she surely had a definitive purpose.

‘What exactly is she planning?’ It wouldn’t be just to buy time. Aiden was conflicted.

Yet, if Erin was still looking for the best way to handle the elders, he must do the same.

To continue the ruse, there was a need to carry on with the act a while longer.

Therefore, Aiden decided to delay confessing his plan. A day’s difference—or rather, a moment’s—led Aiden to become part of Erin’s plan.

However, the more time they spent together, the more he noticed things he hadn’t before. Even as Aiden lost his memory and things seemed to go awry, Erin remained undaunted and assertive.

“It’s okay if the memories don’t return. We can build new ones going forward.”

But the moment Erin said that, Aiden realized it wasn’t just robust optimism.

Erin had halfway given up. With the assumption that Aiden might not regain his memories, she was thinking ahead.

Yet, trying to maintain a cheerful demeanor, Aiden could no longer hold back upon seeing Erin’s efforts. So, Aiden revealed the return of his memories and conveyed his sincerity.

“I had planned to use the elders’ overconfidence against them once they thought I had lost my memories.”

The more people think the situation is in their favor, the more they tend to let their guard down.

It’s precisely then that they leave traces of their missteps everywhere.

“So, there won’t be a need to waste more time before we can cut off the elders.”

Aiden explained the reason he had been hiding.

“…….”

“I thought that thoroughly dealing with the elders would be for Erin’s benefit.”

That’s why he pretended not to know Erin’s feelings, even if only for a moment. But Aiden realized that was a mistake.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

Aiden’s gaze fell, as if he carried a sense of shame. Erin calmly looked at Aiden and then spoke.

“No. You did the right thing. That was the correct move.”

Erin nodded, affirming Aiden’s judgment.

“You’ve been worried because of me all along. And even though I knew that, I didn’t say anything…”

Aiden confessed the heaviness in his heart that he had felt every time he saw Erin while he was keeping the secret.

He worried that Erin might think he didn’t tell her because he didn’t trust her. But that wasn’t the case at all. Aiden couldn’t trust himself.

He feared that once he told Erin, he wouldn’t be able to pretend to be wary of her and keep his distance as he had before. That’s why Aiden held back his honest words numerous times.

It was when Aiden tried to explain that Erin spoke first.

“If I had known, it would have definitely shown.”

Erin was fairly confident in her quick thinking and managing her expressions, but had she known that Aiden’s memories had returned, she wasn’t sure she could have hidden it from others.

No matter how much she tried to conceal or control her feelings, the joy would have likely shown through.

“That’s why it was good you didn’t tell me.”

Erin truly thought that.

“And we had the same idea, right?”

Erin raised one corner of her mouth significantly.

Both Aiden and Erin had induced the elders to let down their guard and reveal their true nature.

Because Aiden continued to act as though he had lost his memory, the elders exposed their true selves overtly.

And Erin made time for such elders to become more rampant.

The current situation arose from the combination of Aiden and Erin’s intentions.

A situation where they could completely finish off the elders.

“It seems we’re really a couple with great compatibility.”

They were connected by heart, thinking the same thoughts without speaking.

The time they had spent together seemed to have colored each other, evoking a strange feeling.
Erin’s eyes narrowed pleasantly.

“We understand each other without words, right?”

And she smiled a pleasant smile that seemed to shake off the heavy atmosphere.

“Aiden.”

“……”

Aiden’s calm and warm gaze was directed at Erin.
Even just the look of them looking at each other conveyed their feelings exactly.

“I missed you.”

Aiden wrapped his arms around Erin’s waist.
It really felt like the first time in a long time they were spending a pure moment together without any disturbances. Just that was enough to make their hearts warmly rise.

“Shall we take it easy for the remaining time, like we haven’t in a while?”

Erin said, relaxing her body and stretching out her arms and legs.

“……?”

Erin opened her mouth with a playful look, seeing Aiden’s puzzled expression.

“We just have to wait for time to pass now.”

Then the rest will be busily unfolding outside.
Aiden instantly understood what Erin meant.

That the real time for them to do something would be after they leave this room.

Once they leave, things will get busy again.
So, until then, here in this place…

“We should stay put here for now.”

“Yes. We should.”

Erin answered with a cool smile.

“Speaking of which.”

Erin got up briskly and said,
“Isn’t it a shame just to let the time slip away like this?”

“……So?”

Erin carefully embraced Aiden’s head. She pressed her lips to his head, his forehead, once each.
“Now all that remains is time, right?” she said.
Aiden’s eyelids trembled strangely.

His initial confusion soon gave way to a flicker of anticipation in his eyes.

“We should savor it to the fullest.”

Erin’s eyes curved meaningfully.
From the time Aiden had been hurt, they hadn’t really spent time properly.

Even though they had been together before, Aiden without his memories and the Aiden now were different.

Aiden, in turn, wrapped his arms around Erin’s waist.

“Aiden.”

Erin, who had been smiling tenderly at him just moments before, called out to him seriously.
“Don’t get hurt again.”

There was a heavy weight in her voice as she spoke.

That moment was still vividly in her mind. She didn’t want to go through it ever again.

Erin tried to lift the corners of her mouth, but her hand resting on his leg was trembling.

“…I’m sorry.”

Aiden covered Erin’s hand with his own.

But he did not make a promise.

Because he would make the same choice if a similar situation arose again.

Thus, for a week, Erin and Aiden blocked out all thoughts of the outside world and focused solely on each other.

They shared the emotions they had felt during the time Aiden lost his memories, and after they returned.

And so, after a week had passed and ten days were complete, they left the room.

***

The elders found the sight of Erin and Aiden smiling calmly in front of them surreal.

Still unable to grasp the situation, they looked around as if searching for something to hold onto.

“……!”

Then they saw it.

Logan, Isabella, and everyone else present were not at all surprised by the situation.

Their faces eerily calm, their gaze steady.

Even the slight curl of their lips was evident.
It was as if the only ones perplexed by the situation were the elders themselves.

The pupils of the elders moved rapidly.

“Could it be…….”

Horror began to color their perception.

‘Did they know all along?’

Clearly, these were the faces of those who had known about the situation.