But now, as if the memory had been wiped clean from his mind, he ignored my resistance. He seized my wrist, dragged me to the armored car, and pushed me into the back seat.
"Lois, stop being difficult. The showcase is important. Selene's jewelry brand just launched, and this promotion is critical for her. Just bear with it and sit in the back."
He turned to Selene, his voice dropping into something warm and solicitous. "Selene, you get carsick easily. I've told the driver to slow down, and I had a neck pillow put in for you. Take the front seat. You'll be more comfortable."
I sat in the jolting back seat, my stomach heaving, gripping the overhead handle so hard my knuckles turned bone-white.
My motion sickness was far worse than Selene's.
Three years ago, Samuel had been ambushed by a rival faction, cornered and badly wounded at a mining site. I was the one who drove. I got behind the wheel with him unconscious and bleeding beside me, and I drove us out. I was three months pregnant. The violent escape cost me the baby, and left me with a severe phobia of rough car rides.
But he'd forgotten all of it.
He remembered that Selene got uncomfortable in bumpy cars. He forgot that I suffered through every single one.
The car pressed on. Each jolt felt like a blade peeling back another layer of my nerves. I fought the nausea down, refusing to let myself be sick, but the bile kept climbing higher in my throat.
My phone screen lit up. Based on the timing, it had to be a message from Joshua.
I was about to check it when Samuel grabbed the phone out of my hand.
"What message is so important? If you're carsick, stop staring at your phone. Rest."
He tapped the screen out of habit, trying to open it, but the passcode stopped him.
My heart lurched. Samuel had always known my passcode. It was our wedding anniversary. I'd forgotten to change it these past few days. If he saw my conversations with Joshua, it would jeopardize everything. My escape. My revenge.
But Samuel tried three times and failed to unlock it. He handed the phone back with a trace of irritation, reminding me again not to use my phone while carsick.
He couldn't even remember our wedding anniversary.
I closed my eyes. A wave of cold settled over my heart.