Two Sides Of My Split-Personality Husband

A minor fender bender, barely a scratch on him, and suddenly I had two husbands. Or rather, two personalities. The clingy, sweet twenty-eight-year-old husband I married woke up avoiding me like the plague, his memory wiped back to when he was eighteen. But then the shy, awkward teenager would fall asleep, only to wake up as the possessive, jealous man I had been married to for three years. On our first night back from the hospital, I watched with pure amusement as his rigid form clung to the very edge of the bed, pretending to be asleep. I couldn't wipe the smirk off my face. Who says forced chemistry isn't fun? This was a whole new level of excitement. Two versions of the same man? Yes, please. 1. Maksim lay perfectly still, hands folded over his stomach, chest rising and falling in a slow, steady rhythm. He looked peaceful, but his twitching eyelashes betrayed his panic. Holding back my giggles, I slipped under the covers and slowly wriggled closer to him. His breathing hitched. The moment his skin brushed against my warmth, Maksim rolled away, trying to act casual, only to tumble straight off the edge. There was a heavy thud. After a muffled groan, Maksim sat up, rubbing the back of his head. I reached over and hauled him back onto the bed. "Are you alright, sweetheart? How did you manage to fall? Don't tell me you bumped your head silly again." Maksim's face flushed crimson. He let me pull him back onto the mattress like a disciplined schoolboy. "Wait... can you please not call me that? I'm not... I'm not used to it yet..." I easily shifted gears. "Alright then. Does it hurt, Maksim? Did you bruise anything?" I began checking him over, my hands sliding across his chest. When they brushed against his well-defined abs, he finally caught my wrist, his face burning. "I'm fine. It doesn't hurt. I'm tired. Let's just sleep." I took the opportunity to wrap myself around him like a koala, draping my arm over his chest and hooking my leg over his waist. Maksim froze, turning himself as stiff as a board, not daring to move an inch. I leaned close, whispering in his ear, "Maksim, your heart is beating so fast. It's keeping me awake." His eyes snapped open, and he scrambled to sit up in a flurry. "I... I'll go sleep on the couch." But I held him down, pinning him with my weight. I had locked every other bedroom in the house for exactly this reason. He had nowhere to run. "It's fine," I murmured, resting my ear against his hammering chest. Thump, thump, thump. "I like the sound. Maksim, you're alive. That's all that matters." Your heart is beating for me. Even if it is out of sheer terror, it is still for me. 2. I fell into a dream where a large, warm dog was nuzzling against my neck, its wet tongue tracing along my skin, leaving behind a trail of shivers and a deep, aching warmth. Heavy, ragged breaths and wet kisses took over, stealing the air from my lungs. When I felt like I was completely out of breath, I finally forced my eyes open, weakly pushing at the heavy weight pinning me down. "Mmm... Maksim, seriously, are you a golden retriever or something...?" A warm, calloused palm cupped my cheek, his thumb gently wiping away a trace of moisture from the corner of my lips. Maksim let out a low chuckle, burying his face back into the crook of my neck, his warm breath sending a shiver down my collarbone. "You were so enthusiastic with eighteen-year-old Maksim last night. I thought you wanted this. Or did I misread the invitation?" He took my hand, guiding it downward. "Didn't you want to feel my abs? Or do you prefer the shy, innocent teenager over me?" Oh, great. The jealous idiot was actually jealous of his own younger self. I quickly surrendered, pleading, "I only said that because I love you. I always regretted not knowing you when we were younger. Fate Maksime me a chance to make up for it, so of course I wanted to enjoy it." Even in his busy state, Maksim didn't forget to grumble, "Hmph, he is just a scared kid. What is so great about him?" By the time I woke up again, it was already noon. Maksim was sitting up, wrapped in the bedsheets, staring blankly ahead. I rubbed my eyes and sat up. The duvet slipped down to my waist, revealing the faint, dark marks on my skin. Maksim snapped out of his daze, immediately covering his burning face with his hands. "I'm so sorry! I didn't do this... No, wait, I did do this, but I don't know how... I don't remember any of it... But... but I'll take responsibility for you!" 3. Maksim's eyes darted around, his blush spreading rapidly down his neck. A mature, handsome face wearing such a shy, boyish expression was incredibly endearing. I wanted to bite him. Looking at his burning ears, I burst out laughing. "Silly boy, we've been married for three years. How exactly do you plan on taking responsibility?" My mind drifted back to three years ago, shortly after my college graduation. My newly wealthy father, who had suddenly struck gold, was forcing me onto the blind date circuit, scheduling at least three a week. He was determined to find a son-in-law with a sharp business mind to take over the family business, terrified that our sudden stroke of luck would be squandered by his own family. And that was when Maksim appeared. When he sat down opposite me, my mind went completely blank. Only one thought echoed in my head: How on earth did a man like Maksim end up on a blind date with me? In normal social circles, a family of his standing was miles out of reach for a loud, new money family like mine. I was convinced he had the wrong table. I spent the entire dinner in a daze, looking around for his actual date. It wasn't until he politely drove me home and left that I finally snapped out of it. If a miracle lands in your lap, you don't ask questions; you lock it down. Besides, Maksim had been my secret high school crush. So, I took the initiative, immediately asking him out for a second date, and we quickly made things official. I thought I was the one rushing to tie him down, but to my absolute surprise, he was even more impatient. The very next day, he arranged for our parents to meet. Everything after that went on fast-forward. Engagement, wedding, honeymoon... Well, the honeymoon phase never really ended. Until the accident, we were still like newlyweds, unable to keep our hands off each other. 4. "Wait." Maksim, still curled up like a frightened bird at the head of the bed, suddenly froze and looked up. "You said I'm twenty-eight. If we've only been married for three years, that math doesn't add up." I blinked, caught off guard. Before I could answer, the doorbell rang loudly. I had to swallow my questions and go open the door. It was Higgins, Maksim's secretary, rushing in like a whirlwind. "Sir, why is your phone off? I have never seen a boss so eager to avoid work! The bidding for the southern district project is about to start, and the merger plan for the Russell Group, and..." Higgins rambled on at lightning speed. Maksim said nothing. He just blinked his large, clear, innocent eyes, looking thoroughly confused. Great. I pinched the bridge of my nose. It was Maksim's morning antics that had brought the teenager back to the surface. What was I supposed to do now? Higgins ventured a bold suggestion. "Maybe we should try knocking him out? See if he resets?" His gaze drifted toward the nearby bar cabinet, as if evaluating which whiskey bottle would do the trick. "Absolutely not," I said, stepping in front of Maksim to shield him from Higgins's calculating stare. "What if you make him even more confused?" "Well, could you check his study for those files? I brought them over last week. If he signed them before... well, before his accident, that would solve everything." I agreed, secretly locking the liquor cabinet before heading upstairs. 5. Fortunately, Maksim's desk was immaculate. Within a few minutes, I found the documents Higgins needed. I flipped through them to check for signatures. As I gathered the papers to head back down, the breeze from my movement knocked a few loose sheets of paper to the floor. I bent down to retrieve them, but my eyes immediately locked onto a familiar name. It was a stock transfer agreement. I scanned the lines quickly. Party A agrees to transfer 3% of the shares of the Maksim Group to Party B. Transferor: Maksim. Transferee: Stephanie. My hand froze. Stephanie. A name that had been a thorn in my heart for ten years. And... Maksim's first love. Not only was Maksim still in touch with her, but he was handing over a small fortune in shares? I was his legal wife, and even I didn't hold any shares in the company! My mind became a chaotic mess. I practically shoved Higgins out the door in a daze, then ushered a clueless Maksim into the shower. With a heavy heart, I reached for Maksim's phone. The password was our anniversary. He never hid anything from me. I tried to tell myself to stay calm, that trust was the foundation of a marriage, but my thumb was already swiping frantically across the screen. Finally, I found Stephanie's profile on his messaging app. There were no text messages, only a missed three-minute call from a week ago. The timestamp was exactly one hour before Maksim's car accident. 6. "What's wrong? You look pale." A damp head of hair poked out of the bathroom, his face filled with genuine concern. I looked up and grabbed Maksim's chin. "I know this isn't your fault right now, so you'd better go to sleep and let the other version of you explain. Why has he been secretly keeping in touch with his ex? Was the accident because he was on his way to see her? Are you two planning a reunion, or am I just some side character in your little game?" Maksim looked completely bewildered, his eyes wide and innocent. "I don't know what you're talking about. There must be a mistake. You're my only love." "You don't get to speak for him." I pushed his face away, marching over to the medicine cabinet and rummaging through it. "Sleeping pills, sleeping pills... Why does everyone in this house sleep so well? Not a single sedative in sight." My eyes drifted back to the locked liquor cabinet. Maybe a gentle tap on the head wouldn't hurt? "No, no, stop it," I muttered, shaking the crazy thought out of my head. "Cold medicine will have to do. That always makes people drowsy." I popped two capsules and stuffed them into Maksim's mouth. "Your hair is wet. If you don't dry it, you'll catch a cold. Take these just in case." Maksim let me dry his hair in a daze, then let me tuck him into bed under the heavy duvet. "I'm not sleepy yet," he mumbled, trying to sit up. I immediately draped myself over him like an octopus, pinning him down. "Yes, you are." We wrestled for a moment, but the medicine must have kicked in quickly. Maksim's face flushed, and his arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me down as his warm breath brushed my ear. "Then... sleep with me."