Castle | ✔️

Chapter Thirty Eight

Seconds ticked by as I waited for Castle to respond, to come up with an excuse and tell me I was wrong, but he didn't. Whatever he'd been saying to me was a lie. He didn't remember me; he didn't remember the Millie that he loved.

"I don't even know who you are anymore," I said, on the verge of tears, before walking out of the room.

I couldn't embarrass myself any further. He'd played me, and he'd done it well. He made me believe he knew me, and I'd been a fool to trust his words. I should have gone with my instincts, the instincts that told me the first time around that the old Castle was gone for good.

"Millicent, listen to me!" He was right behind me, hot on his heels.

I had stepped out when he grabbed me by my waist and pulled me back inside his study. He closed the door behind him, turned the lock, and blocked it with his enormous body so I couldn't go out.

"Look at me," he said.

I stared at the floor, so he held my chin and tilted my face upward to meet his gaze.

"Is this another one of your ploys? Am I just a pawn to you in this game, like the rest of your family? Because all you had to do was tell me the truth, Castle, and I would have supported you, anyway." I said, letting the tears fall freely. "I asked you if you remembered me and you lied to my face!"

"I had to do what I thought was right at the time! Please understand." His hands reached up to hold my shoulders, his whiskey-colored burning intensely. "I woke up confused in the hospital. I didn't lie about that. I remembered you, but just not the way you think I do. I recalled faces, names, flashes of certain incidents, but I was clueless."

He appeared to be worried. It looked like he wanted me to trust him again.

I refused to say anything. I hadn't gotten the answer I was looking for, and he realized it.

"Imagine this. I almost drowned, and then I wake up in my car sitting next to this beautiful woman who looked troubled and ready to flee. She held my hand throughout the car ride like she was trying to draw energy from me. I didn't know who you were, but I had visions of you. It was like looking at these pictures in my head."

"What visions?"

"Visions of you under the sun smiling at me, you trapped in the woods, crying for help." He continued, "I saw you as my bride. I saw you helping me regain my memories and protecting me from my brother. I saw you asking me to jump from the car. I was confused as hell because I didn't remember marrying you. I assumed it was part of Devin's plan, and I didn't know if I could trust you. Then I saw the ring on your finger."

"How did you know my name if you remembered nothing before the car ride?" I was playing twenty questions with him and I didn't care. I needed to see him pause or get stuck on his words, and I'd know he was lying.

He seemed genuine.

"I had a ring on my finger too. I checked the engraving inside. Your name is on it. I thought of testing it when I followed you into our room and called your name. You responded, and I knew you were my wife"

"So if you knew all this, then why did you lie to me? You could have just told me the truth from the very beginning."

"Because I knew it would break your heart. I could see it, clear as day that you expected me to remember you, and I don't know...I just didn't want to disappoint you, I guess."

I stepped away from him, folding my hands across my chest. "How do I know you're not lying to me right now?"

"You'll just have to take my word for it." He said.