Forgive or Forget Me

Copyright © 2023 by Ann Einerson All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, and events are the products of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is coincidental. eBook ISBN: 978-1-960325-00-6 Credits: Developmental Editor: Sam Chavez, Samwise Reads Editing Editors: Brooke Crites, Proofreading by Brooke | Jovana Shirley, Unforeseen Editing Proofreader: Brooke Crites, Proofreading by Brooke Cover Designer: Nicole Hower To those who have suffered a miscarriage, battled cancer, lost a loved one, or endured a broken heart. I admire your bravery, strength, and resolve. Contents Playlist Synopsis Author’s Note Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Chapter Twenty-Nine Chapter Thirty Chapter Thirty-One Epilogue Acknowledgments About the Author Playlist Listen to Forgive or Forget Me’s official playlist on Spotify here. “You Could Be Happy” by Snow Patrol “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi “Play This When I’m Gone” by Machine Gun Kelly “Fingers Crossed” by Trevor Daniel, featuring Julia Michaels “Paris” by The Chainsmokers “Somewhere Only We Know” by Keane “Issues” by Julia Michaels “Faded” by Alan Walker “So Good” by Halsey “If You’re Going Through Hell” by Rodney Atkins “Home” by Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros “Until I Found You” by Stephen Sanchez Synopsis A TRAGEDY BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER as teens, and then fate tore them apart. After fifteen years, can the pain and secrets of the past be forgiven to rekindle a once-in-a-lifetime love? As a teen, Milo Covell’s life was destroyed when his mother was killed and his father was imprisoned for causing her death. His first love, Olivia Dunham, was the only beacon that brought his soul back into the light, promises of forever whispered under the stars creating an unbreakable bond—until the night Milo left Olivia heartbroken and alone. When an unexpected phone call draws Milo back to New York, he’s forced to face the ghosts of the past he left behind fifteen years ago. Finding his estranged father, Mac, losing his battle with cancer, Milo is overcome with anger and betrayal when he discovers the girl he once loved has befriended the man who destroyed his life. As Olivia struggles with her grief at the thought of losing Mac, she must also confront the man who abandoned her in her greatest time of need, leaving her life in pieces. Brought together by fate during this trying time, the two must face hard truths, unshared secrets, and long-forgotten feelings. Is their teenage love strong enough to span the decades and heal old wounds, or is the pain of the past too powerful to be forgiven and forgotten? Author’s Note I WROTE THIS BOOK WITH you, the reader, in mind. I want you to experience the events taking place right alongside Milo and Olivia, and there are several scenes that might be a trigger to some. Click here for a detailed list of content warnings for this book. Chapter One OLIVIA Present Day—October LOVE, LOSS, PASSION, AND RESENTMENT. On the surface, these four little words don’t appear to have much in common. Yet, if you examine them up close, you’ll find that you can’t experience one without the others. With great love comes grave loss, and with unbridled passion comes all-consuming resentment that brands your soul. My name is Olivia Rae Dunham, and I know firsthand the havoc these four little words can cause. I know all too well what it feels like to love a person more than I love myself. To cripple over in pain from a loss so great I didn’t think I would survive it. To feel immense pleasure while in the throes of ecstasy. To let resentment fill my soul when the person I care about most betrays me. A fifth little word has my entire life hanging in the balance: forgiveness. The action of forgiving. The willingness to put aside the betrayal you feel when another person has wronged you. How does a person wholeheartedly forgive someone when both parties have hurt each other? When the offense is so egregious, it costs someone else their life? What happens when the truth a person has believed their entire life isn’t the truth at all? If you don’t choose to forgive, the bitterness will consume you whole, gradually stripping away your ability to achieve true happiness, until you’re left with nothing but your thirst for revenge. Which begs the question, which is easier: to forgive or to forget? My body is weighed down with bone-deep exhaustion, and I instinctively want to wrap myself in warmth. Reaching down to pull my organic cotton duvet over my head, I’m vaguely aware of my hands grasping thin air. I scrunch my nose, trying to recall where I fell asleep last night. Did I fall from my bed after another anxiety-ridden night terror, or pass out on one of the cots in the on-call room after a long shift? I slowly pry my eyelids open and blink rapidly as I try to reorient myself. The fluorescent light overhead flickers as the potent smell of antiseptic and bleach invades my nostrils. I scan the stark white hospital room as the walls close in around me and I struggle to gulp in fresh air. The sterile, cramped space brings back a flood of unwanted memories from my past, taking me back to when I was sitting in a similar room all those years