A Deal With The Amnesiac Billionaire

CHAPTER 1: WHO AM I?

A man slowly opened his eyes, gaining consciousness. He was lying face down on the floor. A sharp pain surged through his head, causing him to squint, groaning in pain.

He was hit with a daze of sudden dizziness, which made him unable to get on his feet as he tried to. So, he sat on the floor gently.

He placed his right hand behind his head where he felt a great deal of pain and a thick warm substance there. Bringing his hand forward, he saw that it was blood.

'What the hell! Why am I bleeding?' he reasoned within himself.

He quickly looked around to see if he would find something to tie around his head to stop the bleeding. He saw the bedsheet on a bed and hurriedly tore a piece from it, and tied it around his head.

He had to be gentle and endure the pain while he did the tying. He groaned and sighed in relief when he was done.

Finally feeling a little bit of comfort, he looked around, observing where he was. He realized he was in a luxurious room. The room was tastefully finished, with state-of-the-art items.

He got up slowly, supporting himself with the king-size bedframe. Where his hand was placed, he felt something sticky there, causing him to look to see what it was.

He saw some blood and a slight crack. He softly placed his hand behind his head, wondering if that was where he might have hit his head. But he couldn't recall.

The place seemed extremely quiet, and it made him wonder where in the world he was.

He saw the door and began walking over to it. Suddenly, he felt the room sway a bit. He reflexively reached out his arms placing them on the wall, steadying himself.

'What was that? An earthquake?' he reasoned within.

'No. It can't be.'

He continued to the door when it got stable and opened it. He saw that there was a staircase leading upwards, so he went up the staircase and arrived at what looked like the living area.

But looking through the glass walls, he saw that he was on the lower deck of a boat, and beyond the glass walls, he could see that the boat was surrounded by water. The boat was brought offshore.

"How the hell did I get here? Where the heck am I?" he asked with a seriously perplexed look.

A surge of pain ran through his head once again, causing him to wince in pain, squinting his eyes as he bent his head.

Lifting his head, he jerked, startled at the sight of a redhead lady.

He noticed she seemed a bit afraid. He could only furrow his brow slightly due to the pain he felt, as he looked at her.

"Hon- Honey. Are you okay?" the lady asked, fidgeting.

He hesitated a bit from responding. He could see a bit of fright in her, but she was also doing her best to conceal it. He also noticed a side of her face was reddish, as though she was hit.

"Do we know each other?" he asked in response.

The lady furrowed her brow, a bit puzzled at his question.

"You mean you don't recognize me?" she inquired. But the man remained silent, observing her. He tried to read her, being a bit cautious.

"We're married. I'm Clarice, your wife," she revealed. "Don't you recognize me?"

"You're my wife?" he asked with wide eyes of surprise, and confusion all at once.

"How don't I remember you?" he asked further.

"You don't?" Clarice asked, furrowing her brow, as she inched towards him slowly.

"No," he answered. "I woke up from the floor with a concussion behind my head, and I didn't know where I-"

"Hey buddy!" a man said walking in on the duo, interrupting them.

Clarice's husband looked at him. One could tell he wondered who the man who walked in on them was.

"Uh- You look, pale man. And why do you have your head tied with that cloth thingy?" the man asked, with a concerned look.

"Do you know me?" Clarice's husband enquired.

"He'll yeah! I'm your best friend, Dan. Don't you remember?"

"No. He doesn't," Clarice replied. "He had a concussion and seems to have lost his memory."

"Jeez! When? How did that happen?" Dan said approaching him. He looked behind and saw his bloodied head.

"Oh my God! You need a doctor," Dan said with a sense of urgency. Clarice quickly grabbed her phone as she put a call across to someone.

"Mmm. Careful there," Clarice's husband groaned, moving his head from Dan's grip.

"Sorry man. But how are you still alive after such impact?"

Clarice's husband didn't give much thought to Dan's question. His head felt heavy so he sat down on the "C" shaped couch.

"The doctor will meet us right when we dock," Clarice said and sat beside her husband. She went ahead to touch his neck, checking his temperature.

"My goodness! You're burning up," she said with concern.

"Who am I?" Clarice's husband asked softly.

"You're Michael. Michael McAlister."

Clarice then looked and reached for a wallet beside her, and pulled out something.

"Here's your ID," she said, handing it to him.

He looked at the ID, and indeed, it was him in the ID. The name Clarice called matched what was in the picture.

"Also have a look at this," she said, handing him her phone.

He looked at the screen and saw that it was a picture of their wedding. They were both smiling generously in each other's arms.

She flipped to the next, and it was also a picture of their wedding, and he saw that Dan was his best man.

Flipping through a couple of more photos of them on vacation and other occasions, Michael was finally convinced that they all did know each other.

"You're my wife," he said, turning towards her.

"And I'm your best friend," Dan playfully added, laughing softly.

"How could I have forgotten everything? Forgotten you?" Michael asked, feeling a bit distressed.

"I don't know honey. But what matters is we're here with you. And we'll be fine," Clarice said hugging him affectionately.

As they broke their hug, Michael looked at her and asked a question.

"Why do you seem scared of me? Was I in any way responsible for the mark on your face?"

Clarice looked away, gulping.