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Chapter 20 - Claire’s POV

Author: Anney GW
last update Last Updated: 2025-11-23 17:15:09

When I woke up this time, it was to cold, hard reality. There were no pink clouds to insulate me from what was going on. The pain came first, radiating from my abdomen into my back and up my spine. My mouth was cottony dry and I was exhausted, in spite of having spent the last two days in bed.

I tried to remember the last time I’d woken up. Had Derek really been here? I blushed with embarrassment. Hopefully that had all been a dream.

I was contemplating going back to sleep again when low, familiar voices drifted through the air.

I opened my eyes… and instantly regretted it.

My parents were sitting on the chairs beside my bed. Mom was perched on the edge of her chair, her purse primly on her knees. Dad was sitting bolt upright, jaw tight in that way he had when he was trying to look calm and failing.

Worst of all, Savannah was standing beside my bed, perfect forehead wrinkled into a concerned frown.

“Oh, Claire!” She raised her hand dramatically to her chest. “You’re awake! Thank G
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  • Too Late To Apologize, Mr. CEO   Chapter 37 - Derek’s POV

    I watched Claire walk away from me, arm in arm with another man. She was smiling up at him, like he was the center of her world. When had she stopped looking at me that way? My hands were clenched so tight my fingernails were digging into my palms, but I scarcely felt the pain. My chest was filled with a deeper, older pain. It felt like someone was squeezing my heart in a merciless fist, and I could barely breathe.Her words replayed in my head. “I played for you once.” I cringed at the memory. It had happened shortly after Savannah’s disappearance, and I’d been half-insane with grief. After a long day at the office I’d come home to find Claire dressed and made up as if she were going to a party. I could tell she’d made a great effort to please, but that only irritated me.She told me that she’d learned my favorite song on the piano and wanted to play it for me. Then she’d sat down and timidly fumbled a few notes. I gritted my teeth until the end, then snapped. “Don’t try to be Sa

  • Too Late To Apologize, Mr. CEO   Chapter 36 - Claire’s POV

    Savannah’s stare was a challenge, and there was a time I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself from responding. I’d matured since then. It was so freeing to realize that all I had to do was stop playing her games. They were all rigged. And they weren’t any fun.Adrian clasped my hand gently, calm and steady at my side. Derek looked almost frantic with a need to protect me. As if the idea of me humiliating myself in public terrified him on some visceral level. This was a new attitude from him. I wonder where it came from?An increasingly smug smile spread across Savannah’s face. She thought she had won. I didn’t care. She did a sympathetic head tilt to go with her smile. “Ah, I must have made a mistake,” she said. “My sister can’t play. Sorry, everyone.” The audience responded with polite chuckles and the tension in the room started to dissipate.Derek heaved a sigh of relief. “Great!” he said. “Well, there’s no need to drag this out. Let’s just—” It was irritating to hear him

  • Too Late To Apologize, Mr. CEO   Chapter 35 - Claire’s POV

    “Oh,” Savannah said, blue eyes open very wide. “I didn’t know you’d be wearing the same dress, Claire. Did Derek send you one too? That is so funny!”It was not funny.I looked at Derek. Expressions of shock, horror, and confusion crossed his face in quick succession. “We’re like twins!” Savannah continued. “Matching sisters. It’s adorable!”Adrian looked back and forth between Savannah and me in slowly dawning understanding. Savannah clapped her hands in delight. “C’mon, Sis. Don’t overthink it. Derek has always had good taste. He said he wanted me to make an impression tonight.” Derek took a step towards me, reaching out towards me in a plea for understanding. “It’s not what you’re thinking, Claire, I—” he said.I had had enough. I looped my arm through Adrian’s and said, “Let’s go.”Adrian, bless him, didn’t miss a beat. We glided smoothly away from the drama towards a quiet corner of the gallery. “Well,” Adrian murmured. “That was quite a performance. Is she always like that?”

  • Too Late To Apologize, Mr. CEO   Chapter 34 - Claire’s POV

    Of course, things didn’t work out like that.The time came and went. No dress. I had my makeup done, my hair styled, and my shoes set out by the door. All my calls to the boutique went straight to voicemail. I checked my phone. No new text messages.“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered, trying to call again. No answer. I didn’t have anything else I wanted to wear. All my old party dresses reminded me of my marriage. I couldn’t look at any of them without remembering how Derek had reacted when I showed them to him. How I’d twirled in front of him, trying to win the smallest smile of approval. I’d show up in my robe first.Just then, someone knocked on my door. It was one of my bodyguards. “Package for you, ma’am,” he said.It was a sleek, black box, tied with an emerald green ribbon. I opened the box and gasped involuntarily. It was a dress. Not the midnight blue dress I’d ordered from the boutique. This was heavy plum-colored silk that shimmered in the light. I would look a

  • Too Late To Apologize, Mr. CEO   Chapter 33 - Claire’s POV

    I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until after I’d slammed the door shut. The aftershocks seemed to vibrate through my apartment, and through my body, too. My lips still tingled from Derek’s kiss. His passionate, desperate kiss that I definitely did not ask for and certainly didn’t want.“Are you sure about that?” whispered a voice deep in my heart. My mind, and my body, kept replaying the scene. His violent embrace, the feverish intensity of his kiss.What did he think he was doing? What was I doing, thinking about him? I took a deep breath and scrubbed my hand against my mouth, trying to get rid of the sensation. I was with Adrian now. My pulse should not be racing because my drunk ex-husband decided he wanted a late-night booty call with his ex-wife. “Get it together, Claire,” I muttered. Derek didn’t have the right to touch me. To show up at my house and confuse me, just as I was starting to heal and move forward with my life. He didn’t have the right to matter. Seven

  • Too Late To Apologize, Mr. CEO   Chapter 32 - Savannah’s POV

    I watched Derek leave, my smile fixed in place. On the surface it looked like my usual cheery grin, but underneath my stomach was tying itself into knots. He’d left me! He didn’t give a reason, didn’t say where he was going or what he was doing, just walked away without a backward glance. “Hey Savannah, how you doing? You okay?” Bernard asked. I smoothed my hair and put my game face back on. “I’m fine,” I said.“Yeah, Sav, forget him! He probably had to go outside and puke!” “Let’s deal a new hand!”“And pour out a new round of drinks!”That suggestion met with general acclaim. I picked up my cards and laughed at their jokes, but all the fun had gone out of the game when Derek left. He’d spent the entire evening protecting my honor like some knight in shining armor. I’d enjoyed watching his scandalized expression every time someone came up with some raunchy new penalty for me. He’d been with me then. When had he changed? I remembered the flicker in his eyes as I leaned in to kis

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