Chapter 1

My fiancé is the youngest professor at the university. Thoughtful, gentle, everyone admires him.

When I was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and had only ten days of memory left, he brought a female student home.

That night, through the crack in the door, I watched her throw herself into his arms. He didn't push her away.

The next day, I asked about the lipstick stain. He just smiled and called it a misunderstanding.

On the third day, someone on a motorcycle knocked me down. He said I was being paranoid.

On the fourth, she poured scalding soup on my hand. He stepped in front of her. "How did you become so cruel?"

Today is the fifth day. I have less than seventy-two hours of memory left.

He just took a call at my hospital bedside. "Don't be scared, Erica. I'll be right there."

After he left, I pulled out the IV needle and wrote on the first page of my notebook the last sentence I'll ever remember in this life.

"Don't forgive Richard."

Later, I really did forget him.

But he stood at my door holding roses, his eyes red. "Please forgive me."