You're Acting, but I'm Not

When Nathan comes to pick me up on the day of the wedding, he loses his footing and falls down a flight of stairs that's several feet high. He's not badly injured, but he bumps his head on the steps and ends up with jumbled memories. He mistakenly thinks that I am his first love, who had once hurt him. He reacts violently whenever he sees me. At this time, I found out that I am pregnant. The doctor says that the good news might be able to awaken his memories partially. I rush off to find him, holding the medical report. However, I accidentally overhear the conversation between him and his friends. "Nate is always full of ideas. Now he's even claiming that his memories are jumbled up! As long as you don't get bored, Olivia will never be able to force you to get married." "Don't spout nonsense. I do love Liv, and she's the only one that I'll ever love. I'll just have fun for half a month more before I settle down and get married." "Half a month? That isn't even enough time to flirt with all the female models at the club. Can you really be satisfied with that?" Nathan's expression turns cold as he snaps, "I'm not an irresponsible jerk. Liv and I have been together for so many years. "I'm definitely going to marry her. Call someone now! I want the one from yesterday with a tiny waist and a big bottom. It excites me to look at her!" Trembling, I tear up the notice from the hospital and turn to leave. Chapter 1 On the way back, I felt lost. A passing electric bicycle knocked me down. The middle-aged driver turned back several times to look at me, complaining loudly as he did so. "If you want to die, go somewhere else! Don't drag anyone else into it, you accursed thing." The pain in my leg and the angry look in the middle-aged man's eyes made me dial Nathan Fulton's number without thinking. When the call connected, no one spoke. All I could hear was the sound of a man and a woman flirting coyly with each other. "Nate, who's better? Me or your fiancee?" "Everything about my fiancee is great, except for the fact that she's like a dead fish in bed. She doesn't react at all…" The sound that followed made my heart speed up, and I turned red. I hung up and closed my eyes in utter despair. A kind-hearted passerby took me to the hospital. The doctor was Clark Chestfield, Nate's colleague. He told me that my ankle was fractured, but he had to be careful with prescribing me medicine because I was pregnant. When Clark found out that I hadn't told Nate about the pregnancy yet, he was shocked. "How could you not tell him? He might get better if he's triggered." I laughed bitterly. "He wouldn't need to be triggered if it were possible for him to get better." I had barely eaten or slept for many days because of him. I had lost ten pounds or so as a result, but he was still vigorously focusing on other women. Clark could not dissuade me, so he agreed to my request. "You'd better tell him to come and pick you up. I'm worried about something happening to you on the way back." However, he barely managed to get out two sentences once the call connected before Nathan scoffed and demanded, "An ankle fracture? She was fine a while ago, and now it's fractured? "Interesting. Now she's resorted to self-harm just to pester me." Clark shot me a sympathetic look and asked if I had any other choices. I took my phone and scrolled through it several times before finally calling a friend I hadn't contacted in a long time. Once I had settled everything, I saw that Nathan had sent several messages. "Olivia, it's unnecessary for you to keep this up. I really dislike women who won't stop pestering me. "How could you bribe my colleague to lie to me just to get my attention? You've crossed the line. You'd better move out of my place." He was afraid that I would refuse, so he had even found me a new place. He added magnanimously. "I've paid three months' rent for you already. After all, you did say that we were once deeply in love. Think of it as the last thing I do for you." I replied: "Okay." There was no flicker of emotion in my heart at all. Before I put the phone down, I looked at his social media once more. He was acting lovey-dovey with a different woman each day. It was clear that he was very satisfied with his current life. Unexpectedly, I bumped into him when I left the hospital. He was normally impeccably dressed, but he hadn't even buttoned his shirt up properly. I stood on the spot and watched curiously as he rushed into the emergency room with a woman in his arms. Chapter 2 "Oh my. Who was the young woman that Dr. Fulton brought in? He seemed so worried." "I don't know, but she's quite pretty. She and Dr. Fulton suit each other." "I heard that it was just a pulled muscle and that there's nothing severely wrong with her, but Dr. Fulton insists on taking care of it himself." … I let out a self-mocking laugh. She was treated so differently. I had a fracture, but Nathan said that I was just hurting myself to gain pity. She had only pulled a muscle, and yet he was beside himself with worry. I was staring vacantly at nothing and only came back to my senses when Nathan came up to me. He had finished taking care of his lover's injury. "What are you doing here?" He saw my heavily bandaged ankle and the walking stick I was holding and said disdainfully, "This is a pretty convincing act. You really will stop at nothing for me." Before I could open my mouth, a sickly sweet voice came from behind me. "Nathan, don't walk so fast. I can't walk anymore." There was a layer of gauze wrapped around her arm, which had clearly been taken care of meticulously. "It's all your fault. If you hadn't said that a difficult position would make you enjoy it more, I wouldn't have gone overboard and ended up in hospital…" My heart sank once more, and I felt a lump in my throat. Tears threatened to spill out of my eyes. Nathan saw how red my eyes were, but he did not feel any sympathy toward me at all. He continued to scorn me. "What's the matter, Ms. Carter? Have you become addicted to your act? You can't use this trick every single time. "By the way, if it is just an ankle fracture, you don't have to be so cautious. Don't pamper yourself so much." He slung an arm around the young woman affectionately and walked off. I watched his retreating figure and remained dazed for a long time. I could not understand how the man that I had loved for so long had become so despicable all of a sudden. At that moment, my friend rushed in. When she saw that I was staring blankly into space, she looked in the same direction. "Isn't that Nathan? That moron. Even if he has amnesia, there's no need for him to be such a playboy. Why has he switched to yet another woman?" "Perhaps that's his nature," I said sardonically. Before I woke up the next day, I heard a commotion outside the door. When I opened the door to look outside, I saw that Nathan had brought the young woman from the night before back home. She said that she was not used to the scent of grass and flowers. Nathan tossed out the peonies that I had spent a long time nurturing. The flowerpot shattered with a loud crash, and soil spilled everywhere. Nathan turned back and saw me standing there, but he acted as if he hadn't. He said fondly to the young woman, "Whatever you want to do, call me. Don't hurt your hands. If you complain about it being painful later, I won't bother with you." "Could you really leave me alone?" The two of them began kissing lovingly, as if I was nothing but thin air. When they finally let go of each other, panting heavily, Nathan turned and asked, "Why haven't you moved out yet, Ms. Carter? Do you want me to toss you out the way I did with that flowerpot?" I looked at the shards scattered all over the ground outside and back at Nathan, who was engrossed in his performance. I felt nauseous. "I'll leave right now. You can continue." When my friend brought me home last night, she helped me pack my things. One small suitcase had been enough to hold all my belongings. Nathan looked surprised, but he soon started smiling. "I've sent you the address of your new place. Don't complain about me not being thorough." He had rented a place for me so that he would be able to find me as soon as he got bored with his games. However, he made it seem as if he was being very generous and kind. He was so fake. I did not stop, nor did I look back. As soon as I walked out, the door banged shut behind me. The two of them must have been unable to contain themselves any longer. At the door, I ran into Nathan's friends, who had come to see him. "Well, if it isn't Olivia. Are you finally willing to leave?" "She's been pestering him for so long. Would she really be willing to let it go? She's not trying to play hard to get, is she?" "Nate likes ladies with a pure heart. If you keep this up, it's unlikely that anything will happen between you." They all kept chiming in. "You don't think that I want anything with him now, do you?" Everyone burst into laughter. They thought that I was being defiant. I ignored them and continued. "I won't come to disturb him anymore. I hope things go well for him." Chapter 3 Nathan and I had met at a charity event. He was a surgeon, and he often got phone calls asking him back for operations. Having a full date was a rare occurrence. Even though he often abandoned me in the middle of our dates, I would always be understanding, because he was doing it for his job. I had done everything I could as his girlfriend in both life and work. The day we got engaged, I still thought that he was the best choice, and that he was my most intimate lover. I had only discovered now that he hated the mundane life and craved excitement. Was that the reason he had pretended to have amnesia? I stood in front of his friends and saw that every single one of them had indifferent, somewhat disoriented looks in their eyes. I almost opened my mouth to demand why they were treating me that way when I had treated all of them with the utmost sincerity. However, I didn't say anything in the end. At that moment, the door behind me opened. Nathan's shirt was half unbuttoned and had exposed his flushed neck. Even a blind man could have guessed what had just taken place. He stuffed a half-full bag of period pads into my suitcase. "You left this in the bathroom. Take it away. It's disgusting." I smiled. "Doesn't your girlfriend use these? Work a little harder. You'd better get her pregnant as soon as possible, or else you'll be seeing these every month. "Also, since I've already moved out, we're even. Make sure you speak more politely to me in the future, because I'm afraid that I won't be able to resist slapping you in the face." A look of panic flashed across Nathan's face. After all, he had never seen such an impassive expression on my face. For all those years, I had been gentle and considerate. I had always given unconditionally. There was a tinge of panic in his eyes. "Liv, I—" His friends laughed and interrupted him, and he changed his tone at once. "Fine. I'll be sure to work hard. I hope you find someone you love soon, too, so that you don't continue to badger me fruitlessly." I smiled and said, "You'd better hurry back, or your girlfriend might get annoyed." I hadn't broken down the way he had expected me to. Nathan must have sensed the difference in me. However, he would never dream that it was because I had discovered his true colors. His friends were afraid that he would let it slip, so they pushed him quickly inside. I watched his retreating figure and knew that things between Nathan and me would never go back to the way they had been. After two days, Nathan told me to go to the new house we had bought together. "Come over and list down the furniture you bought. I'll reimburse you for them in cash." I did not go. I merely gave him the address of an orphanage. "I've sent you the list. Send them here." The director was an old friend of mine. He called to ask me why I didn't want the items when they were all in good condition. "Didn't you say that you were getting married? Why don't you want these anymore?" "My fiance passed away. I won't be getting married for now." The director comforted me and told me to go and visit when I had the time. He said that the children all missed me very much. After hanging up, I breathed out deeply. We had been in love for many years, and I had spent almost every single day living for Nathan. Nathan was obsessed with cleanliness, and the house had to be cleaned every day. When I finished work and got home, I had to clean every inch of the place. He was picky with his food, and he was not used to food bought outside. I often cooked and delivered it to him. Now, I could finally rest without worrying, no longer having to take care of a man as if I were taking care of a child. I decided to take some time off to rest before going abroad for graduate school. Therefore, I returned to the office and tendered my resignation. As soon as I had finished, Nathan called. He sounded very impatient. "Didn't we agree not to contact each other? Why did you ask someone to write a thank-you letter?" It took a while for me to realize that when I had sent the furniture to the orphanage, Nathan's name and address had been listed as the sender's. The director said that the children were grateful and had noted it down. They had written thank-you letters in secret. I smiled and said, "It's not a friend. It's just someone who helped me deliver the parcel." After a while, Nathan called again. "I'm warning you: stop whatever you're planning to do!" Before I could speak, I heard Cassidy Wilkes whining. "Nathan, why are you paying attention to your ex-girlfriend when you're with me? Focus!" Chapter 4 Nathan tossed his phone aside impatiently. "That's all!" I was about to hang up when I spotted a notification. So many days had passed, but Nathan still hadn't removed my access rights from the security cameras in his house. Because of that, I received the audio on my phone as well as the videos from the security cameras. The entwined bodies of Nathan and Cassidy and the suggestive noises they were making seemed to go straight to my head. "Nathan, my hand hurts. Don't work me too hard." Nathan bit her ear and said in a low voice, "That won't do. Can you bear seeing me suffer?" Cassidy giggled. "Since you can't bear to be apart from me, why don't you marry me?" Nathan's expression turned cold at once. "There are so many women in the world, and they come in all shapes and sizes, vying for attention. I don't mind trying things out once in a while, but I will only marry Liv." Cassidy pouted, and her eyes filled with tears. "My hand is in this state because of you. Can't you just lie to me?" Nathan snorted. "I can say whatever you want me to say to please you, but don't mention marriage. You and I are merely having a brief affair. I don't like foolish women." Cassidy hooked an arm around his neck understandingly and pressed herself close to him. "Let's not talk about things that will spoil the mood. Just let me feel the warmth of your body." Nathan had just proclaimed his love for me, but in the next second, he lunged at her like a wild animal. The two of them indulged their desires without abandon in the house we had lived in for several years. The images and sounds pounded relentlessly in my ears, and I felt a ringing in my ears. My stomach twisted violently, and I felt a warm liquid flow out of the lower half of my body. I felt more fearful than I had ever felt before, and the boundless darkness seemed as if it would drown me. In the end, I gritted my teeth and called emergency services. The moment the paramedics burst through the door, my vision went black, and I fainted. When I woke up again, I was already in the hospital. There was a string of unread messages on my phone. "Olivia, what do you mean by this? You said you would stop harassing me, and then you went and told my colleagues that you were triggered into having a miscarriage because of me! "Now they're all gossiping about me. Don't you have any shame?" Despite what he had done, he would not allow people to talk about it. I retorted, "They're the ones talking about it. Do you think I can control them all?" He was rendered speechless, and he hung up. Not long after that, I received a friend request. The profile photo was of a sexy woman, and I immediately guessed that it was Cassidy. After I accepted the request, she sent me an accusing message instantly: "Olivia, why don't you just go and die? "Don't you know how much you disgust him? I'm the one he loves! He says I've made him feel more satisfaction than he's ever felt before! "Don't you know that a good sex life is the foundation for maintaining love? Don't be so shameless and stay far away." To her insults, I merely answered impassively: "You two are made for each other. Make sure you don't release him into the wild." After blocking her, I recuperated in the hospital for a few days. Once I had recovered, I bought a ticket and got ready to leave. The day I left, I realized that it was Nathan's birthday. It was also the day that Nathan had been planning to "turn over a new leaf." I had ordered a pair of matching watches as a gift. However, when I happened to pass by the mall and went in to get the watches, I spotted Nathan leaving the boutique with Cassidy. Nathan saw that my eyes were on their wrists, and he tried to explain. "You can have them." I turned around and left. He flung Cassidy's hand aside to rush after me, but she grabbed him. "Nathan, didn't you say that we would have a final meal together?" It turned out that they were getting ready to say goodbye to each other. I got a cab to the airport and boarded a plane bound for overseas. After Nathan had sent Cassidy off, he went to my office with his friends. Although they waited for a long time, I did not appear. He went in to look for me, but the security guard chased him out. "What are you shouting about? Olivia resigned several days ago!"