Lahat ng Kabanata ng Too Late to Regret, The Substitute Wife Left: Kabanata 81 - Kabanata 90

Andrew’s POVIt was a long flight, thanks to several delays, and by the time Oliver and I arrived at my front door, we were very tired. Oliver was visibly upset too. He hadn’t liked the thought of leaving Julia. He’d cried for most of the plane ride, soft sniffles that he couldn’t hold back.I’d assured him that he would see Julia again soon. That seemed to ease his mind a bit.I’d spent the entire flight thinking about Julia. She’d been so upset when she saw the tickets, and although I could understand that she was sad we were leaving, I couldn’t fully comprehend the way she’d acted. Her threats to take Oliver felt they had come out of nowhere.I’d been hoping to leave San Diego on good terms with Julia. We’d gone through so much, and I cared for her deeply. If she lived closer, then I would entertain the thought of maybe trying again, since we were both still clearly very attracted to each other.But she lived on the other side of the country. She was happy; she was thriving. And I

Julia’s POV“So you already signed custody papers, but now you want to file for full custody?” the lawyer asked.She was a good-looking woman, with her dark hair pulled back into a low bun and a sharpness to her face. She wore thick, black rimmed glasses and deep red lipstick. Her tailored black suit covered a blue silk blouse.For all intents and purposes, she looked exactly like what I imagined a professional, cut throat lawyer to look like.Her name was Miranda, and she was the best of the best, according to Mira. I’d called her that very morning from Mira’s house as soon as we’d finished breakfast. To my surprise, she’d been able to schedule me in that afternoon.So now there I was, sitting across from a very expensive family lawyer, in a high-rise office, sipping a latte. I liked that she was a woman. I couldn’t help but feel she would be a little more sympathetic to my case, being a mother herself.“That’s correct,” I nodded.“But you signed the custody papers under duress?" she

Andrew’s POVI rushed to my office, which wasn’t easy given the busy Saturday afternoon traffic. I was thankful that Oliver was at a friend’s house for the afternoon, so I didn't have to take him with me.Instead of waiting for the elevator, I took the stairs, climbing up them two at a time until I got to my floor.Out of breath, my heart pounding, I opened the door and stood, shocked.The office had been ransacked. There were papers strewn everywhere, and shards of glass all over the floor. Someone had actually smashed the office cubicle windows. The entire place was a disaster.This wasn’t just a break in, I realized. Someone had gone through great lengths to sabotage my office. But why?Two cleaning ladies stood side by side, their eyes wide, nibbling on their nails.“It was like this when you got here?” I asked.Our office was too busy during the week for a deep clean, so we had weekend cleaners come in every Saturday. They both nodded.“We didn’t know what to do, so we called th

Charlotte’s POVSlamming down the phone, my hands shook with rage.Red and his men had failed. Sure, they’d sabotaged Andrew’s office and taken the safe. But according to Red, there was no bloody way to get into the safe. So what good did that do me?I felt my dreams of sitting on a beach in the Bahamas, a frothy drink in my hand, soaking up the sun slipping away from me. My bank account was running precariously low. I was avoiding the front desk of the hotel like the plague, since I was now behind on my hotel bill.Frustrated, I walked over to the floor to ceiling windows and pulled back the curtain. It was dark, but the downtown core area was lit up. Below me, cars meandered down the busy street, a slew of headlights and red brake lights.There had to be something we could do. Was there even such a thing as a fail proof safe? But Red knew what he was doing, and if he said he couldn’t get into it, then I had to believe him.Drumming my finger nails on the window pane, I frowned.I’d

Julia’s POVBy the time we got to the Gucci store, we only had one hour left until closing. But Mira told me not to worry; they would stay open later for us if needed.“So, tell me about this fashion emergency,” Mira said.I told her about the phone call with Andrew, and the last minute invite to the school fundraiser.“Sounds like you’re going on a date with the man you were cursing to hell and high water the other day,” Mira said, taking a seat and motioning for the sales associate to bring over a rack of clothes.“What?” I balked, startled by her words. “It’s not a date. It’s for Oliver.”“If you say so,” she said, as she started combing through the rack of dresses. “Here, try this one.”I was mildly annoyed though at Mira. She was insinuating that I was using this fundraiser as some sort of excuse to see Andrew. Which simply wasn’t the case. I was going because Oliver wanted me to go.“If you have something to say, then just say it,” I told her, a little firmer than I’d intended.