As Kylie got off of the couch, she slipped Stephen's phone out of pocket, and then she went up to her room. Once she was alone, she opened it up and saw that the last call that he'd made had been to Lucas, and he'd still been on deck at the time. He had told her that he'd just gotten off the phone with his parents, but he'd lied. Of course, she didn't like being lied to, but this lie was particularly disconcerting to her because it seemed to lack purpose.

Frowning, Kylie closed Stephen's phone and picked up her own. She'd been playing Candy Crush lately when she was bored and alone, and so she played that for a little while. It wasn't long before she grew bored of this, too, though, so she opened her Skype application. She found William's Skype ID right away and added him as a friend. She hadn't expected him to be on the line at that moment, but he was, and he accepted her request almost immediately – which made her smile nervously. For some reason, her intuition told her that he had answers to some of the questions that Stephen wasn't answering.

​​

Before Kylie could write anything, William wrote, "Damn it, Kylie! What are you up to?!?!? Have you forgotten that I am your husband?!?"

Kylie almost laughed at that. Everywhere she had turned. Lately, there seemed to be at least one man who was ready to step forward and claim her as their own. "Be serious," she replied. "Am I even married? I don't think so!"

"Of course, you're married!" William replied. "Ours is a secret marriage. How could you have forgotten it? You were the bride!"

Kylie: "How long have we been married?"

William: "Less than a month."

Kylie: "That can't be. It would be best if you were mistaken. I have been married to Stephen for over a month!"

William: "That's impossible. Even if you weren't with me, then you would be with Ethan, but you would never be with Stephen!"

Kylie: "Is Ethan nice to me?"

William: "He has always been very nice to you, and while you were missing, he barely slept at all. Although I love you very much and I am your husband, compared with the deep love that Ethan has for you, my love is nothing but that of a teenager consumed by a kind of weak puppy love. If I were a woman, he is the only man that I would ever want to marry."

Reading William's words, Kylie could not help but believe what he was saying. That being said, she felt more confused than ever. If Ethan loves me so much, she wondered, then why am I married to William; and if I am not married to Stephen, then why did he tell me that I am? And why can't I remember any of this for myself?

Kylie felt like she was going insane. "Since you are telling the truth," she wrote, "I will try to attend your father's memorial."

William: "Thank you very much! I look forward to seeing you there!"

William had wanted to say more, but Kylie had logged out without even saying goodbye.

***

When Stephen finally went up to the bedroom, he was surprised to see that Kylie was still awake. He gave her a curious look, and she said, "It is very strange, but I feel very tired when I am on the set. Then, when we get back to the hotel, it is as if my body rejuvenates itself. Also, your idea has really gotten me thinking.

Stephen smiled when he heard this. The longer he could keep her out of the acting business, he figured, the sooner she would forget her former life and all of her old friends – until, finally, he was the only man that remained in her life. When he went for his phone though, it was not where he'd left it, and his smile turned upside down. Scowling, he turned to Kylie and asked her what she'd been doing with his phone.

Kylie just looked at him and shrugged as if it were no big deal. "I wanted to call your parents," she said. "I told them that I would love you no matter what my career is and that I wouldn't change it for their sake."

As Kylie spoke, her eyes fixed on Stephen, and the tension in his eyes gradually disappeared, and his smile returned. Before he could speak, though, she added, "I wasn't able to, though. I thought that I could retrieve their number from your call history, but you lied to me when you said that you'd just called them…"

Stephen's face turned red when he heard this. He definitely felt that she'd caught him, but an explanation came quickly to him. "I used a video call," he replied. He opened his Skype, pointed to an image, and said, "I called them – see!"

"Whatever," Kylie sighed. "You've still let me down."

With a worried expression on his face, Stephen knelt by the side of her bed and said, "What's the matter? Did I do something wrong?"

Kylie snorted. "You said that you would play on your phone with me and help me level up," she hissed, "but you are a big liar!"

Stephen smiled at that, and he said, "Let me make it up to you. Why don't we stay up all night playing games on our phones? I promise that I will have you leveled up by morning!"

Kylie happily jumped off the bed, put on her slippers, and said, "It's a deal!"

"Where are you going?" Stephen wondered.

"You go prepare a midnight snack for us," she replied as she rushed into the bathroom. "I want to take a bath before we start."

After closing the door behind her, Kylie took a long deep breath. Her mind was racing. After talking with William, she felt trapped. She knew that if she didn't find some way to escape soon, it was inevitable that Stephen would want to have sex with her, and if she refused, she knew that he would become suspicious of her – after that, she had no way of knowing what would happen...

Kylie stood under the shower and gradually turned the temperature up until it was scalding hot, and the air was filled with steam. In the end, the air was so thick with steam that she was completely unaware of a man's approach until he drew the curtain partially open. Seeing him, she wrapped her right arm across her breasts and lowered her left to hide her pubic mound.

"Who are you..." Kylie gasped.