Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 226: What’s wrong?

Chapter 226: What’s wrong?

Mia’s pulse quickened, and she knew she had to act fast before she went mad with all the things ringing inside her head. With all her strength, she wrenched her arm free from his grip, yanked the key from his fingers, and bolted toward the door, praying she could unlock it before he caught her again.

She managed to open the door before Owen could stop her, but she knew he didn’t want to stop her this time because if he wanted to, she wouldn’t have been able to open the lock before he caught up to her. The moment she stepped out, she heard his voice from behind.

"If you don’t believe the things I said, ask Wayner about Mimi, his childhood sweetheart. Run as much as you like, Mia, but you’ll come running back to me when you realize you are not that Mimi he likes. We belong together."

Mia ignored him and ran as fast as her legs could take her. She ran to a quiet corridor and leaned against the wall before sliding down to the ground, both hands grabbing her throbbing head as she tried to calm herself. Her eyes filled with hot tears of uncertainty and anger. How dare Owen make up lies like that to hurt her? Did he think she would believe anything he said? He was crazy! Mia thought as she fought the pain in her head that intensified with every word of Owen’s that played in her head.

’She didn’t stab her on purpose; it was a mistake. You can’t punish her for a crime that was committed in the heat of the moment!’

Those words, without a vision, rang in Mia’s head and startled the living soul out of her. She shook her head and denied it. It wasn’t a part of her memories; she hadn’t killed anyone as a child. Her mother Elizabeth had never mentioned such a thing, and she definitely didn’t grow up in Mirage Mesa! She didn’t know Neil before she met him on the rooftop of Ivy Grove, and she didn’t trick him into believing she was his childhood sweetheart!

Mia told herself repeatedly to stop her headache, but it only intensified. She sobbed and buried her head between her knees as she forced herself to remember the source of that voice. But to no avail, she couldn’t see the visions but blurry images that hurt her head and made her doubt every single memory of her life with her mother before they moved to Zen. What happened to them before they moved to Zen and where had they lived?

Then she recalled the day Neil had mentioned in his letter that she had brightened his days since childhood. She had made a mental note to ask him about that part when he called, but she’d forgotten until now. He’d said he’d known her from childhood, but she didn’t remember anything about that. Who was she, and why did her mother never mention anything about them living in Mirage Mesa?

She tried to force herself to remember even a little, but her head hurt to the point she started to sweat, and her heartbeat became labored along with her breathing. As she was gripping herself not to fall unconscious, she heard hurried footsteps approaching her. Then she felt a familiar cologne waft to her nostrils. That familiar scent brought a little peace before she felt his arm grab her shoulders.

"Mia, what the hell are you doing here?" came Neil’s worried voice as he inspected her body. He had been waiting, and when she didn’t come back after thirty minutes, he’d gone looking for her everywhere, including the lady’s room, but had found no one there.

He looked down at her worriedly and noticed she was covered in sweat and her face was flushed. "What happened to you?" he asked, his voice tight with concern.

Mia looked into his worried gray eyes and shook her head. Had they really known each other before they met in Ivy Grove? Was that why she was obsessed with gray eyes and felt some sort of connection to him the moment she set eyes on him on the library rooftop? In what way had she then tricked him into thinking she was Mimi?

"Nothing." She said, "I just felt dizzy after returning from the lady’s room and decided to sit down here for a while." She lied. If she’d really tricked him into thinking she was his childhood sweetheart like Owen had said, then she’d never mention anything Owen had said in the lady’s room to him until she dug out the truth herself somehow. There was no way they knew each other before...

Neil, on the other hand, didn’t buy any of her words, but he didn’t say anything. He tried to gauge her expression, his eyes searching for any clue of what had happened that made her look so disheveled and flushed. "Mia, if something’s wrong, you need to tell me. Please. Do I need to take you to the hospital?"

She shook her head again, trying to offer a reassuring smile but failing miserably. "I’m fine, Neil. Just a little dizzy. It will pass. No, you don’t need to take me to the hospital again."

Mia could tell he didn’t believe her with how his eyes were still trying to search hers. She managed a convincing smile and cupped his face in both her palms, then stroked it with her thumb. While still looking at her, he turned his lips into one of her palms and kissed it. Mia felt loved and cared for; she felt warmth surge into her, and she never wanted to lose such a feeling. Never.

She then caressed his lips with her fingers as she said, "I am fine, sweetheart. The doctor said I’d have a series of stomach discomforts before it stopped completely, and that’s what happened. But I’m fine now. There’s no need for us to go to the hospital again," she assured.

Neil sighed, raising his hands to place atop hers on his face. He brought them down and kissed each one of her slender fingers before pulling her into his arms to hug her. "Alright. But next time something like this happens again, you should call me immediately. Don’t endure the pain alone in a corner. Okay?"

She nodded, "Okay," tightening her arms around his midsection with her head resting on his chest where she could hear the steady beating of his heart. He stroked her back in a comforting manner that made the tension in her muscles relax, and her headache disappeared like it had never happened.

"Neil?" She whispered his name softly.

"Hmm?" He hummed, stroking her hair gently.

"Who is... Mimi?" She asked, tightening her arms around him when he suddenly stopped stroking her hair and tried to pull away to look at her face.

Neil felt her hold tighten and resumed his stroking with a small smile on his face as he believed she must have recalled the name somehow. "Mimi is the girl I told you about in the cabin, the girl my younger self swore to marry when he was older," he said.

"Can I ask you a few questions?" She asked.

"Go ahead."

"Did we know each other before we met on that rooftop? Please be honest with me," she said, holding her breath to hear what his answer would be.

Neil didn’t answer immediately. He silently analyzed what his answer would be. As much as he wanted to tell her everything about their past, he also feared that it might cause some complications with her brain surgery that was stopping her from recalling it. But then, it wouldn’t hurt anyone if she knew just a little without the mention of the monster who’d put her through all the pain and trauma as a child.

"Yes, we knew each other before. A very long time ago," he said.

Mia stiffened in his embrace. She felt her heart tremble in her chest at the realization that Owen had been right.

"Why don’t I recall anything about you?" She asked, and before he could reply, she asked another question again. "Were you being nice to me all this time because you knew me before? I mean, did you love me because of our history in the past?"

Neil chuckled at all the questions she was asking. "Why are you asking all of this?"

"Please answer me, I want to know. Please..."

"Alright. You don’t remember because it’s a long time ago. And yes, I was a little nice to you in the past because we had history together," he said, wanting to drop the topic here before it got to a point where she’d get triggered by something and be in pain for it. The last thing he wanted was to cause her pain. However, Mia wasn’t ready to drop the topic. She pushed away from his embrace and looked deep into his eyes.

"Neil, do you by any chance believe I am Mimi, the girl you swore to marry? The girl who brightened your days in the past and brought you happiness? Do you love me because I am Mimi?"

Neil could have chosen to lie to her and say she wasn’t Mimi to drop the conversation, but no, he couldn’t, not when she was looking at him with such eyes that looked so desperate to know more about a past that could not be remembered. And certainly not when he himself wanted her to know that she would always be his Mimi.

"Yes," he said, cupping her cheeks tenderly, "I have loved you even before I knew what love was. You are Mimi, but please don’t ask me to explain any further from here."

Mia felt her heart shatter into pieces at this revelation. Instead of the happiness that was supposed to come with the revelation that they’d known each other as children, she cried out and quickly hugged Neil to hide the tears. It seemed he mistook her sudden hug for her happiness, and he laughed and stroked her back. Mia couldn’t believe Owen had been right yet again. She’d made Neil believe she was some little girl he fell in love with as a child, and now he was with her because of that.

How had she made him misunderstand her for this Mimi, and how on earth did everything end up like this? Who was this Mimi? All this while, she’d thought he loved her for her, but it turned out there had been some misunderstanding along the way that made him believe she was his childhood sweetheart.

Mia bit down on her lower lip to hold her sobs and cries. She tightened her hold around Neil and buried her head into his chest. She shouldn’t have asked him about Mimi because now that she knew about her, she’d feel guilty for everything she’d done. She’d stolen someone else’s place...

"Neil, let’s go out on that stroll you told me about earlier," she said, wanting to clear her head of any guilt and forget about everything she’d heard from Owen that made her doubt her existence.