LOGINShare
Chapter 25
publish date:
2026-06-30 23:24:18
Latest chapter
Too Late: She Is Gone With Your Baby Chapter 27
Chapter 27ARIAI was coming out of the small grocery store two streets from the hotel with Eli's hand in mine and a paper bag of fruit balanced against my hip when I saw her standing by the entrance.Ava.She was not dressed for coincidence. She was standing too still, too deliberately positioned near the door, the kind of waiting that told you a person had been waiting specifically for you and not for anything else."Aria Vale," she said, and her voice had none of the warmth I had seen in the park that day with Julian. "Or should I say Aria. I don't actually know what to call you.""Excuse me?" I said, my grip on Eli's hand tightening slightly without my deciding to do it."I think we should talk," she said, stepping closer. "Woman to woman."Eli looked up at her, then at me, his small face doing the thing it did when he sensed adults behaving strangely around him."Mum, who's this?""Nobody, sweetheart," I said. "Go stand by the window for a second, okay? Look at the puppies in the
Too Late: She Is Gone With Your Baby Chapter 26
Chapter 26JULIAN POVSomething had shifted in her and I did not know what.She had been quiet since the day I ran into Ava in the park, quiet in a specific way that I had learned to recognize over five years, the kind of quiet that meant she was holding something and deciding whether to hand it to me or keep carrying it herself.I gave her the space I usually gave her. That had always worked before. Aria needed time to arrange her own thoughts before she could speak them, and pushing only made the process longer, not shorter.But three more days passed and the quiet did not lift.I found her in the dressing room after the Thursday performance, sitting in front of the mirror with her violin still in her lap, not changing yet, staring at her own reflection like she was trying to find an answer in it."Hey," I said, closing the door behind me. "You played beautifully tonight.""Thank you," she said, but it came out distant.I sat in the chair beside her."Aria. Talk to me."She was quie
Too Late: She Is Gone With Your Baby Chapter 25
Chapter 25ARIAI told myself it was nothing for three days.It was a reasonable thing to tell myself. Julian had a life before me, a full life, with relationships and history that had nothing to do with the woman he found half-conscious and nameless in a hospital bed. It would have been strange if he didn't. I had no claim on the years before I existed to him as anyone at all.But the stone stayed where it was, and on the fourth day, while Julian was at a meeting with the venue about the final performance logistics and Eli was occupied with his tablet under the stage manager's supervision, I found myself in our hotel room going through a box of his things.I was not looking for anything specific. I told myself that too.The box had come with us from city to city for the length of the tour, a small archive box of business files and old photographs Julian kept for sentimental reasons, things he sometimes pulled out to show Eli, university photos, early agency photos, the small artifact
Too Late: She Is Gone With Your Baby Chapter 24
Chapter 24JULIANI had Eli's hand in mine and a bag of his favourite crackers from the kiosk in the other when I heard my name called from across the path."Julian? Julian Hale?"I turned. A woman was walking toward us quickly, her face breaking into the kind of surprised smile reserved for people you have not seen in years and did not expect to see again.Ava.It took me a second to place her fully, the years had changed her hair, her style, but the face underneath all of it was the same. We had dated for almost a year, a long time ago, before any of this, before Elena, before any of what my life had become."I don't believe it," she said, stopping in front of us, eyes moving from me to Eli and back. "It's actually you.""Ava." I said her name carefully, the surprise genuine. "It's been a long time.""Years," she agreed, laughing a little. "You look exactly the same. Older, but the same." Her eyes dropped to Eli. "And who is this?""This is Eli," I said. "A friend's son."Eli looked
Too Late: She Is Gone With Your Baby Chapter 23
Chapter 23Vivian had said as much. My mother had said something similar, in the way my mother said things, with less gentleness and more specific instruction about what I ought to do instead.I picked up my phone and put it down again.Julian had threatened to call the police and he had meant it and he had the standing to follow through. I had grabbed Elena's wrist at a public event and it was still circulating online and the narrative was not flattering. Another incident would move from gossip to something with legal weight.I needed to be rational.I was going to be rational.Being rational lasted until Saturday afternoon.I had gone to the park near my building because it was a thing my doctor had suggested in a way that implied I was not managing stress adequately, and I was trying to demonstrate to myself that I could follow reasonable advice.I had been walking for fifteen minutes when I heard him."If you go that way, the ducks get angry. I found that out already."I stopped.
Too Late: She Is Gone With Your Baby Chapter 22
Chapter 22ARIAThe Monday reception was where it happened.I had not wanted to attend and Julian had said it was professionally important and I had agreed and regretted agreeing for the full hour before we arrived. It was a smaller gathering, perhaps thirty people, the kind of event where distance was not available as a strategy.Adrian found me near the windows.He was different that evening. Something slightly less controlled about the edges of him. He had come from somewhere else before this, I thought, some other engagement, and whatever composure management he usually applied had worn thin.He did not start with pleasantries."I want to ask you something," he said."You can ask," I said. "I reserve the right not to answer."Something almost like humor moved across his face. Brief and then gone."Before Elena disappeared," he said, keeping his voice low, "she was injured. Her hand." He looked at my hands where they rested around my glass. "A burn. The back of her right hand. It w
You may also like
My Dad's Bestfriend
Liz Barnet782.0K viewsOne Night With Mr Billionaire
Sun girl784.3K viewsWhen His Eyes Opened
Simple Silence25.1M viewsThe Untouchable Ex-Wife
Mizuki Sei2.7M viewsContracted by the billionaire
MAY SLIVER25 viewsISLAND OF DESIRE: REJECTED HEIRESS
missladypenlovee44 viewsAcross The Ice: Falling for my ex’s biggest rival
Tear stained lore121 viewsThe Billionaire's Bride Hidden Identity
Feggie_V153 views
