CHAPTER 923: CHAPTER 923 SILVIA AVERY

"I heard you were in a serious accident," the woman said with a sweet smile as she stepped closer to Leo, her tone laced with gentle concern. "I was so worried, I immediately called in some of the most renowned doctors from around the world to examine you and find out what was wrong. But to think... You might have hit your head so hard that you don’t even remember your fiancée." She let out a soft, tinkling laugh. "Well, that’s alright. We can start over—get to know each other again from the beginning."

Her voice was affectionate, her gaze fixed solely on Leo as if no one else in the room existed. She moved closer with a familiarity that made it clear she didn’t care, or perhaps didn’t notice, that she was intruding on something.

Only then did she finally glance around the room, as if just now realizing they weren’t alone. Earlier, she had been too focused on Leo, captivated by his striking appearance. In her eyes, few could match his looks, so she hadn’t bothered to assess her surroundings.

But now, as her gaze swept across the others, especially the woman in the wheelchair, her expression briefly faltered, just for a second, before the poised smile returned to her lips.

But as the woman’s eyes swept across the room, she froze in surprise. Every man present was equally striking, each exuding their own charm, style, and commanding presence.

It felt, for a brief moment, as if she had wandered into a paradise of men handpicked by the Gods themselves. Her brows arched slightly, and a dazzling smile bloomed on her lips, her best one, the kind she believed could effortlessly enchant anyone in the room.

Leo, on the other hand, felt something inside him sink like a stone. He had always thought, no, he was certain, that he’d been looking forward to meeting his fiancée. He believed he had spent years obsessing over her, her life, her struggles, and her whereabouts while he was gone.

But now... even those thoughts felt unreliable. When he tried to recall her, the images in his mind were vague, twisted. The woman’s face was blurred, warped beyond recognition, and her voice came through distorted, jumbled, and garbled, like a broken radio transmission. There wasn’t a single clear detail he could cling to.

A cold realization began to settle in his chest: he truly might have amnesia.

But what confused him even more was this: why was it that the only memories that seemed to be erased were those of his fiancée... and the people now claiming to share a woman with him? If he was already engaged, why would he even have gotten involved with another woman at all?

Leo’s brows furrowed even deeper as he fixed his gaze on the newcomer. "And your name?" he finally asked, his voice guarded. Deep down, he knew he was supposed to be betrothed to the heiress of the Avery family.

"I’m Silvia Avery," the girl replied brightly, stepping forward with a radiant smile. "I’m nineteen, turning twenty soon. I’ve been studying at Princeton all this time, so I’ve changed quite a lot. No wonder you don’t recognize me now."

Her words landed like a thunderclap.

Leo remained frozen, and Hera felt a ringing in her ears as her mind struggled to process what she’d just heard. ’Silvia Avery?’ Why was her stand-in engaged to Leo? Her thoughts spiraled in confusion and disbelief.

Leo, meanwhile, felt like the floor had dropped from under him. The very idea of being engaged to this woman sparked a visceral discomfort. His stomach twisted, and his expression darkened, eyes narrowing with displeasure. He couldn’t hide his rejection of the idea; it was written all over his face.

Around them, the room reacted with stunned silence, until Dave gasped dramatically, placing a hand over his mouth in mock horror, clearly on the verge of teasing Leo but managing to hold back at the last second.

But for Leo, this wasn’t a joke. As far as he knew himself, he had always been someone loyal, someone who would have looked forward to reuniting with his fiancée. And yet now that she stood before him, all he felt was... disappointment.

A strange, strong aversion gripped him, so strong it made him want to recoil. His instincts screamed that something wasn’t right. A flicker of unease flashed in his eyes, and he instinctively averted his gaze, as if even looking at Silvia unsettled him.

Silvia noticed the shift in Leo’s expression, and her eyes briefly flickered with calculation. Of course, she hadn’t come here impulsively. The moment she learned about Leo’s accident and him secretly recuperating, she had moved quickly, but not without preparation.

The reason for her delay was simple: she had quietly bought off confidential information and confirmed that Leo had suffered a head trauma. And with that knowledge, she gambled on the possibility that he might have lost his memories. It was a risky move, but one that could give her the upper hand.

Now, standing in front of him, she could already tell that her bet had paid off. Leo didn’t recognize her, not even a glimmer of familiarity in his eyes. She hadn’t even mentioned her name at first, only revealed herself as the Avery heiress and his supposed fiancée. His reaction told her everything she needed to know.

Of course, she was well aware that Leo had never liked her. He had always kept his distance, doing his best to avoid her presence even before she said anything about their connection. But that didn’t matter.

She was now the known heiress of the Avery family, and Leo had been promised to her, or rather, to the title she held. Technically, she wasn’t lying when she claimed to be his fiancée. He was betrothed to the Avery heiress, and right now, that person was her.

What most didn’t know was that this engagement was an old and nearly forgotten agreement between the patriarchs of the Hendrix and Avery families, so obscure that even Leo may have never been properly told, or so she thought.

If the Hendrix patriarch hadn’t visited the Avery family when she was ten years old to discuss the arrangement, perhaps it would’ve been buried completely. Back then, the Hendrix patriarch simply wanted to confirm the Avery family’s stance, especially since they had recently lost both their son and daughter-in-law in a tragic accident. It had left everything, including the future of the engagement, in question.

And so, ever since she learned the truth, Silvia had regarded Leo as her rightful fiancé. In her eyes, she had every right to, after all, aside from bloodline, she believed she was just as charming, poised, and capable as the real Avery heiress.

She had been raised in luxury, surrounded by wealth, influence, and privilege. In contrast, she’d heard that the real heiress was left to grow up outside the family, in the ordinary world.

To Silvia, that only confirmed what she already suspected, that the girl had been abandoned. A forgotten child, likely cast aside because her presence would only remind the old Avery patriarch of the pain of losing his son. Everyone used to say that the heiress was a bad omen, a cursed child who jinxed her parents. Silvia believed it too.