Alle Kapitel von Too Late To Beg: Kapitel 41 – Kapitel 50

TAMSIN The police station smelled like stale coffee and disinfectant, a combination that made my stomach turn as Leo and I walked through the front entrance. Leo spoke briefly with an officer at the front desk, his voice low and authoritative in that way he had that made people immediately take him seriously. The officer nodded, picked up a phone, and made a quick call before gesturing for us to follow him. We walked down a long corridor, our footsteps echoing against the tile floor. The walls were painted an institutional beige that seemed designed to drain any remaining hope from the people who passed through here. I tried to steady my breathing, but my heart was racing. I was about to come face to face with the woman who had murdered my child. The officer led us to a secured area where the holding cells were located. Through the reinforced glass window in the door, I could see a row of cells, most of them empty. Except for one. Isla sat on a narrow bench in the corn

TAMSIN When I opened my eyes, the world was blurry. I blinked, trying to clear my vision, trying to remember where I was supposed to be. Poppy's apartment. But this was not Poppy's apartment. My head felt stuffed with cotton, thoughts moving slowly through some thick fog I could not quite push past. I tried to sit up and the world spun sickeningly. I closed my eyes, waited for the vertigo to pass, then tried again more slowly. This time I managed it. I was lying on a couch. I blinked several more times and my vision finally began to clear. Leather. Brown colored. Expensive looking. The couch seemed familiar somehow, though I could not immediately place why. I looked down at my hands. They were not bound. My feet were free. I was not restrained in any way. What was going on? I looked around the room slowly, taking in details, trying to orient myself and figure out where I was and how I had gotten here. I looked toward the door and saw the man who

TAMSIN Poppy gave me a look I knew all too well, the kind that meant she had already decided for both of us. “It does not matter if his words won't change anything,” she said. “We should at least hear what he has to say first.” I hesitated for a moment, my fingers tightening slightly around my phone, before I gave a small nod. And so, I listened. “I have known Isla since she was a child,” James continued, his voice calm and steady, carrying easily across the room through the speakers. I felt something tighten in my chest. He spoke of friendship, of trust, of how he had believed Isla to be kind, how he had never once imagined the kind of person she truly was. He admitted that misunderstandings had arisen in our marriage because of that misplaced trust. A faint, bitter smile touched my lips. Misunderstandings. That was such a simple word for something that had destroyed everything. Then his tone shifted, growing sharper, more deliberate. “But before I proceed, there is somet

LEO I held Tamsin in my arms for a long while, feeling the weight of her pain as though it were my own. When I finally let her go, we walked back to the car in silence and drove for a few minutes before either of us spoke. "I have been thinking about going back to work," she said eventually, her voice quiet. "I have started applying to different hospitals. Good ones. Since the divorce will be finalized in a week, I can start fresh somewhere new." I kept my eyes on the road, processing what she had said. She glanced at me when I did not respond immediately. "The judge will grant the divorce, right?" she asked. "I mean, she cannot force me to stay married if I do not want to, especially since I just want to be away from James." "Yes," I confirmed. "The judge cannot compel you to remain in a marriage you no longer want. Especially given the circumstances." I paused, then added something I thought she should understand. "James deliberately chose not to bring a lawyer for

TAMSIN I could not move. Could not speak. Could not think. My sister. Hannah. My Hannah. Alive. I looked at the woman in the bed, then at James, then back at the woman whose face was an exact mirror of my own. My hands were shaking. I pressed them together, trying to still the trembling, but it did no good. Tears filled my eyes, blurring my vision until I had to blink rapidly to clear them. "Is this..." My voice cracked. I tried again. "Is this really my sister? Hannah?" I looked at James, searching his face for any sign of deception, any hint that this was some elaborate trick. "How?" I whispered. "Where? I mean... since when?" James's expression was careful, measured. "It is a long story," he said quietly. "Perhaps we should step outside for a moment. I can explain everything." I looked back at Hannah. She had drifted off again, her breathing shallow but steady, the monitors tracking each rise and fall of her chest. I wanted to stay. I wanted