Library
Search
Home / Love Came Too Late / Chapter 1

Share

Love Came Too Late
Love Came Too Late
Author: Exploding Jojo

Chapter 1

Author: Exploding Jojo
Third Person's POV

After the call ended, the warehouse at the abandoned dock stayed silent for a few seconds.

Leander Croft sat in a chair with his hands loosely tied by rope. Even the streak of blood on his face had only been painted on by Katrina Byrne.

Katrina removed the voice modulator and let out a quiet laugh. "Think she'll actually come?"

Leander kept his eyes lowered and said nothing.

A few of their childhood friends adjusted the surveillance camera angles nearby. One of them snickered.

"Mila Carver worships the ground he walks on. She loves him more than her own life. If she heard something happened to him, she would crawl here on her hands and knees.

"She proved it seven years ago. She sold the piano her dad left her just to pay his ransom.

"During the fire, her right hand was destroyed, and she still cried while asking if he was okay."

Leander's brow furrowed. "Shut up."

The warehouse went quiet instantly.

Katrina watched him, and a flash of resentment crossed her eyes. "Are you feeling sorry for her?"

Leander looked up at her.

Katrina softened her voice. "Leander, do not forget. She is a Carver.

"You know how your father died. You know what the Croft family went through. Have you forgotten all of that?"

Leander's fingers curled tighter, one knuckle at a time.

He had not forgotten.

That was why, seven years earlier, he had gotten close to Mila Carver in the first place.

She had just won the gold medal at an international piano competition. She stood at center stage in a white dress and looked untouched by anything ugly in the world. He sat in the audience and watched her smile, watched her bow, and watched her embrace her mother.

In that moment, he only felt bitterness.

Why did the Croft family lie in ruins while the Carver girl stood in the light?

He went to every length to get close to her. He became the person she loved most, and then, piece by piece, he dragged her out of the light and into the dark.

During the first kidnapping, he watched through the surveillance feed as she knelt in the rain and pushed the money from selling her piano toward the kidnappers. She shook so hard she could barely speak while she begged over and over. "Do not hurt him. I will give you whatever you want."

All Leander felt was satisfaction. His enemy's daughter knelt before him and atoned for the sins of the Carver family.

Yet after that, things slipped out of his control.

During the fire, when the beam came crashing down, Mila could have run. She turned back instead and shoved him out of the way.

When she woke up with her right hand wrapped in bandages, the first thing she said was, "Leander, are you hurt?"

The doctor said she would never play at a high level again. She stayed quiet for a long time, then turned to him and smiled. "It is fine. I still have you."

From that day on, Leander could not bring himself to look her in the eye.

Katrina walked up to him and lowered her voice. "You are not really calling this the last time, are you?"

Leander closed his eyes. "Yeah."

"As long as she is willing to die for you, the Carvers' debt to the Crofts is settled?"

He stayed silent for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was raw. "Yes."

Something in Katrina's face changed. "Then what about the wedding?"

The rain grew heavier outside the warehouse. Leander lifted his head and stared at the pitch‑black night beyond the door. "It goes ahead."

Katrina clenched her fingers until her knuckles turned white. "You are really going to marry her?"

Leander did not answer, but the silence was answer enough.

Katrina laughed, sudden and sharp. "You lost your mind. You tortured her for seven years, and now you are telling me you will marry her as long as she is willing to die for you?"

His voice was barely above a whisper. "This is the last time. I will spend the rest of my life making it up to her."

Katrina stared at him as though she had heard the most absurd thing in the world. "You took her hand, her piano, her mother, and your unborn children from her. What could you possibly offer that would make up for any of it?"

Leander's eyes snapped up, bloodshot and furious. "Shut up! Not another word!"

Katrina stumbled back, but the resentment in her eyes never wavered. "You will never clear that debt. The two of you are destined to end in ruin."

Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Latest chapter

  • Love Came Too Late   Chapter 8

    Mila's POVAfter the concert, the police arrested Katrina and several others who had been involved in the operations over the years.Leander did not leave. He stood outside the backstage door like a statue that had lost its soul. When I passed him, he reached out and caught my wrist. His grip was barely there, as though he feared any real pressure would break me."Mila.""Do not call me that."Something in his eyes flinched, and he slowly let go. "Ella."I stopped walking.His voice was low. "I will transfer every share of the Croft Group to you. I will turn myself in. I will have headstones made for your mom and the baby."I will not show my face in front of you again. I only need you to not say it. Please do not tell me you never loved me."I looked at him. In that moment, Leander was so small he was almost pitiful. Then I thought of Mom's hand pushing me away before she died. I thought of the night my child bled out of me. I thought of the piano that was never played again.

  • Love Came Too Late   Chapter 7

    Mila's POVThe second event of the charity series was a public concert. I had invited a number of young performers, and the final piece on the program was one I had composed when I was seventeen.I had originally planned to play it at the international competition. After my right hand was destroyed, the piece was never performed in full.Tonight, the girl playing it in my place was someone who had also injured her right hand, but through hard work and treatment, managed to overcome the obstacle.She sat at center stage. When the first note landed, my eyes stung.Leander was in the front row. He watched the stage without moving, rigid as stone, because he knew that piece.Years earlier, I had curled up in his arms and told him excitedly, "When I come back with the trophy, I'll play it for you."He said, "I'll be in the front row."He made it to the front row. It only took far too many years, and he was no longer the one I was playing for.When the piece ended, the large screen

  • Love Came Too Late   Chapter 6

    Mila's POVThree years later, I came back.My right hand still could not play the piano, but after years of rehabilitation, it was steady enough to hold a pen.I had founded a music fund that sponsored young musicians who had lost the ability to perform because of accidents. The fund's first charity gala was booked at a hotel owned by the Croft Group.That was not my choice. It was Soren's. He said, "You have been hiding for three years. It is time to let them see you are doing just fine."I stood in front of the mirror and adjusted my earrings. The woman in the reflection still bore a strong resemblance to Mila Carver, but her eyes were colder. The long hair was cut short, and a black glove covered the old scars on her right hand.My name was Ella Rose now.Before the gala began, a staff member brought over the guest list. Leander's name sat at the very top. I stared at it for a long time, then quietly closed the folder."He's coming?"Soren gave a small nod. "The Croft Group

  • Love Came Too Late   Chapter 5

    Mila's POVOn the day originally set for the wedding, Leander held a funeral instead.There was no body, only a black‑and‑white photograph. In the picture, I was sitting at a piano and smiling brightly without a care in the world. That was the nineteen‑year‑old Mila Carver, before she fell in love with Leander Croft, before she lost her hand, her mother, and her child.Leander's mother, Cordelia Logg, refused to let the funeral go ahead. She stood outside the memorial hall and said coldly, "A Carver girl does not deserve to be honored under the Croft name."In front of every guest in attendance, Leander knocked over the Croft family's old case memorial display beside the altar.Cordelia shook with rage. "Have you lost your mind? Have you forgotten how your father died?"Leander looked at her with bloodshot eyes. "That is exactly why I got Mila killed. Are you satisfied?"The question drained every drop of color from Cordelia's face.Inside the memorial hall, the guests whispere

  • Love Came Too Late   Chapter 4

    Mila's POVWhen I woke up, I was on a small boat.Soren Vail was leaning over me and treating the scrapes on my arm. He let out a breath of relief when he saw my eyes open. "Another half a minute and you would have been gone for real."I coughed up water, and my throat felt raw as though it had been scraped with sandpaper. "It needs to look real."Soren frowned at me. "Mila Carver."I closed my eyes. "That name is retired."He stayed quiet for a moment, then handed me a set of new identification documents. "Starting today, you go by Ella Rose. The boat will take you to the port, and someone will be waiting to get you out. I will make sure your death certificate holds up."I looked at the new name on the card and ran my thumb across it slowly. Ella Rose, a softer name. No more putting someone else first, and no more making someone else the reason I lived.By the time dawn was close, a news alert lit up my screen. "Croft heir kidnapped before wedding. Fiancée falls into sea, wher

  • Love Came Too Late   Chapter 3

    Mila's POVThe moment the warehouse door swung open, the stench of rust and damp hit me in the face.Leander was tied to a chair. He looked up and saw me, and something in his eyes loosened for a split second before turning tight again. "Mila, why did you come?"It was a good performance. He sounded exactly like a fiancé who never wanted the woman he loved anywhere near danger. If I had not seen those documents, I probably would have thrown myself at him in tears and asked if he was in pain.I stood in the doorway and looked at him.His face was pale, and blood sat at the corner of his mouth, but I knew the blood was fake. The ropes were loose. If he wanted to, he could stand up at any time.He did not, because he was waiting for me to walk forward. He was waiting for me to complete the final sacrifice he had arranged.One of the kidnappers stepped out of the shadows and tossed a knife at my feet. "Mila Carver, do you want him alive? It is simple. Stab yourself once, then jump o

More Chapters

You May Also Like

Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status