007. Too Late

Myles' POV

My Rolls-Royce Ghost skidded to a halt in front of our sprawling estate, diagonally blocking my mother's Maybach from entering.

Her rear door clicked open and she stepped out. I also got out of the car and straightened my suit.

"Move your car out of the way, Myles."

"Are you done playing games?" I demanded.

"What are you talking about?" She frowned.

I was so angry I chuckled.

"She's back, isn't she?"

The words hung between us.

"How long were you planning on hiding it from me?"

My mother's expression didn't change.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Dammit, Mother."

I shoved both hands into my pockets before I did something reckless.

"Do you think I'm an idiot? Why did you stop me from finding her? Where is Thea?"

For a brief second, she froze. Then her face hardened.

"You're engaged to Celeste."

"Don't mention her to me." My jaw ticked.

"Whether you like it or not, that is still your reality. The past belongs in the past." She said.

"Tell that to yourself," I said. "You went looking for Thea the moment she returned."

"You promised to let her go, mother. Does this mean your word means nothing?" I asked.

Silence ensued.

"I let her go," she said quietly. "But she came back. She didn't keep her word."

"What do you mean?"

She sighed, "Stay away from this, Myles. Keep your distance from her. That's all I can tell you." She headed back to her car.

I watched her get in. There was something she wasn't saying.

Why did she keep going after Thea even after all these years? This was bigger than her usual need to control every aspect of my life.

The sharp blast of the horn pulled me from my thoughts. My mother's driver was waiting. I strode toward the Maybach.

The rear window lowered.

"Myles—"

Without a word, I dropped a gold Grosky signet ring onto her lap.

The ring bounced once against the expensive leather seat.

Her eyes widened in genuine shock.

"What are you doing?!"

I leaned down slightly.

"I want to make one thing clear." I said coldly.

"Thea is all I've ever wanted."

My mother's jaw tightened.

"And I'm going to get her back. Fight me all you want."

For several seconds she simply stared at me. Then she slowly shook her head in disbelief.

"You foolish boy. Are you even my son?"

"I've been asking myself the exact same question." I chuckled bitterly.

"You've never cared about what makes me happy. Everything has always been about what you want."

"So I'm finally going after what I want." I straightened, my gaze meeting hers.

"Just don't get in my way." I added.

A dozen emotions flashed past her eyes. Pain, regret, maybe both, but I was too angry to care.

She opened her mouth to say something but ultimately decided against it.

"Good luck with that." She said finally, and slid the window shut.

Moments later, the Maybach reversed and drove out of the estate.

I stood there until it vanished. The driveway was empty, and for a moment the silence swallowed my thoughts. Whatever line I had just crossed with my mother, there was no going back.

I got back into my Rolls-Royce Ghost and drove away.

Twenty minutes later, the apartment door opened.

The apartment Thea and I had shared for three years. The lights flickered on. Shiny silver walls with dark charcoal grey tones, it was sharp and clean, the way we had both liked it.

Everything was still the same.

The candy jar she kept on the kitchen counter, still sitting in the same spot, untouched. Her favourite white tulips were still in the ceramic pot by the window, replaced by the housekeeper every week on my standing instruction. I hadn't had the heart to cancel it.

Five years and I hadn't moved a single thing.

I pulled out a chair and sat at the dining table. The silence was deafening. I closed my eyes.

Suddenly, my phone vibrated.

David. I answered immediately.

"What is it?"

"Sir, I found something."

"Is it about the company or Thea?"

"It's about her, sir."

"Go on."

"I looked into everything again, more carefully this time." He paused. "Before she fully disappeared five years ago, she visited a hospital. I was told before that it was an illness, but I dug deeper."

"Sir, she was pregnant."

I froze. David kept talking but his voice receded to somewhere distant and muffled, like I was hearing everything from underwater.

"What did you just say?" I asked again.

"She was pregnant, sir."

I became dizzy. So dizzy that I pressed my eyes shut and leaned back on the chair.

Thea had been pregnant?!

She had called me that day and said she needed to tell me something important. I had chosen that same evening to end things, clean and final, the way my mother wanted. I never let her get the words out.

"Sir." David's voice pulled me back. "I also managed to pull CCTV footage from the supermarket. I have a photograph, her and the little girl."

My phone dinged. I opened my eyes and clicked the photo.

Thea. And the little girl I met at the supermarket, Kitty.

The little girl with my eyes, caught smiling near an aisle, Thea hovering above her. The realization was devastating.

I slammed my fist on the table. The sound echoed through the apartment like a gunshot.

Kitty said her mother loved those candy bars. Thea had always had a sweet tooth; she used to steal squares of dark chocolate from my coat pocket and act completely innocent about it. Then, the candy jar on the counter.

How many signs had I walked past without seeing a single one?

I stood up so fast the chair scraped back, grabbed my keys and was out the door.

I entered the car, floored the accelerator and shot onto the highway. The engine roared beneath me as New York scenery blurred past.

Please. Just this once. Don't let me be too late.

★ ★ ★ ★

The hotel lobby was bright, the marble floor gleaming coldly beneath the chandelier light.

I crossed to the front desk in four strides and the receptionist looked up with a smile.

"Good evening, welcome to—"

"Theodora Brown." I cut her off. "She's a guest here."

She turned to her screen, fingers moving over the keyboard.

"Yes." She nodded.

"I need her room number."

Her smile turned guarded. "I'm sorry, sir, we're not able to share guest information with—"

"Her room number," I repeated coldly. If she didn't comply I was going to buy this entire hotel and fire her myself.

"I.. I understand your urgency, sir, but I'm afraid I can't help you with that." She stuttered.

"And, Ms. Brown checked out earlier this evening."

The words hit me like freezing water.

"She did what?"

"She checked out, sir. Her and her..." she glanced at the screen, "her daughter."

I pressed one hand flat against the desk to steady myself.

"When?" I managed to ask.

"Approximately five minutes ago."

Five minutes.

I stepped back from the desk without another word, already dialling David before I reached the lobby doors.

"She just checked out," I said the moment he picked up. "White car, left the hotel five minutes ago. Pull every camera between here and the highway. Find her route."

"Sir—"

"Now."

I hit the doors at a run. I had waited five years. I wasn't losing her to five minutes.