Starting Over Without You Novel by WriterLola _ Novel




Starting Over Without You Chapter 01

Serena's POV
When I was eighteen, Finnegan Pateshall took thirty stab wounds for me before our attackers tossed him into the open ocean.
I searched for him across the globe, finally tracking him down in Italy—only to find his memory completely gone.
After I told him about our engagement, he agreed to come back to the U.S. and marry me.
But throughout our ten-year marriage, he never once set foot in my bedroom.
He had countless affairs, flaunting one woman after another, until he eventually moved his company's headquarters back to Italy and made our separation official.
That only changed when our enemies targeted us again. He flew straight back, shielding me with his own body when the gunfire started.
A bullet caught him in the temple. In his final moments, he looked toward Italy and murmured, "I fulfilled my duty as your husband in this life.
"If there is a next life, please don't force me to remember. Just leave me there to live out my days with her."
I agreed through tears.
When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the exact day I first found him in Italy.
***
"I have a wife here. I'm not going back with you," Finnegan snarled. "Even if you force me to remember, it won't change the fact that Dayana and I love each other."
His gaze was ice-cold as he shifted his weight to firmly block his Italian wife, Dayana Leeds, from my view. He used to look at me with tenderness and affection. Now, his eyes held nothing but indifference, as though I were nothing more than a stranger.
He'd said the exact same words in my previous life when we first found him. But this time, I wasn't going to force him to come home.
I stepped away and called his mother, Gemma Pateshall. "I found Finn," I told her. "And I'm calling off our engagement."
Gemma sounded frantic. "Rena, what are you talking about? You and Finn grew up together, and you're so in love. He even risked his life for you! He'll be devastated if you don't marry him."
I shook my head, a bitter smile tugging at my lips. "No, he won't."
Holding up my phone, I recorded a short video of the scene unfolding nearby and sent it to her.
Finnegan had his arms wrapped tight around the petite Dayana, their eyes filled with affection as they gazed at each other. Then he tilted her chin up and kissed her, completely oblivious to my presence.
Lowering my head, I spoke flatly. "He's forgotten me, Gemma, and he's found his true love. Forcing him to marry me is just going to make us both miserable. It's better to just let him go."
In my previous life, when everyone believed Finnegan had died at sea, I refused to give up.
I had spent an enormous amount of time and effort searching, until I finally found him in Italy.
Yet when I'd shown up buzzing with joy, I found him holding another woman's hand and refusing to return.
Back then, I couldn't accept it. I ordered my bodyguards to drag him back to the States so doctors could restore his memories.
Shortly after we left, riots broke out in Italy. Dayana was caught in the crossfire and killed by a stray bullet.
The night Finnegan's memories returned, he sat awake smoking until dawn. The very next morning, he agreed to marry me.
I had believed he would eventually remember his love for me. Instead, he treated me with total indifference for ten straight years.
Then our enemies attacked again, and he died protecting me.
Only as he lay dying did I realize the truth—he had never gotten over Dayana. And for ten years, he had hated me for what I had done.
Swallowing my grief, I spoke into the receiver. "Trust me. Calling off this engagement is exactly what Finnegan wants right now."
Gemma fell silent, then let out a heavy sigh.
When I hung up and walked back toward them, Finnegan immediately tensed, shielding Dayana behind him.
"I already told you, I'm not going back," he snapped. "Dayana and I are married, and this is my home. She saved me. I would have drowned without her."
I had thought I was prepared, but hearing his outright rejection still felt like a punch to the gut.
He had forgotten everything. He didn't remember that three years ago, when an attacker rammed a knife through his arm, his only concern had been screaming, "Rena, run! Don't look back!"
I never expected that when I finally found him, I wouldn't be the one he was protecting anymore.
Dayana bit her lower lip and stepped out from behind Finnegan. "Are you Finn's fiancée?" she asked in broken English, watching me nervously.
When I didn't answer, she took a few steps closer and gave a wry smile. "I know I'm not good enough for him. I just want to ask if you'll let me stay with him for a few more days. Please?"
At the sound of her crying, pain flashed across Finnegan's face.
Years ago, my tears used to tear him apart just like that. "Please don't cry, sweetheart," he used to murmur. "It breaks my heart to see you like this. Makes me wanna do anything to cheer you up."
The tortured expression he wore back then was exactly the same as the one on his face right now.
I fought back tears, digging my fingernails into my palms as I gave myself a silent warning: "Get a grip, Serena.
"The Finnegan you loved died three years ago. The man standing in front of you belongs to someone else now, and you have to let go."

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