Too Late to Win Me Back, Mr. Ex! のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 121 - チャプター 130

That morning arrived with cooler air than usual. The sunlight had only just fully risen when Nocture was already beginning to stir, not with full chaos, but with the gentle rhythm of an early day, when fresh flowers were unloaded from delivery vans, ribbons were untied, and worktables were slowly prepared. The scent of green leaves filled the room, blending with the aroma of coffee Gia had just brewed in the back corner of the shop.Auri stood near the front shelf, straightening the thin cardigan she was wearing. She did not move much, only making sure the small bag she would bring was complete: a bottle of water, her medical checkup book, and several simple items Gia always insisted she carry wherever she went. Every now and then, her hand drifted to her stomach by reflex, a new habit she no longer noticed herself doing.Gia came out from the back carrying two cups. “Drink this before you go.”Auri accepted one. “I’m not hungry.”

As evening approached, the restaurant by the sea became a place that almost felt unreal. The sunlight slowly sank lower, painting the sky in layers of orange, gold, and soft pink. The surface of the water reflected those colors like sheets of moving glass. The wind carried the scent of salt and the steady sound of waves returning again and again, creating a kind of peace that was hard to find in the middle of the city.Auri sat on the wooden terrace facing the ocean, both hands resting lightly in her lap. For several minutes, she said almost nothing, only watching the sun descend slowly toward the horizon. There was something about the view that loosened the tightness in her chest, as if she had spent too long living inside a narrow space filled with burdens.Lucas sat across from her, making no attempt to interrupt the silence she was enjoying. Every so often, he looked at her, then back toward the sea.“Why are you so quiet?” Auri finally asked without turning

Morning came far too quickly for Ethan. Sunlight slipping through the gap in the curtains stabbed at a head still heavy with the remnants of last night’s alcohol. He opened his eyes slowly, only to shut them again when a sharp pulse of pain struck his temples. His throat was dry, his body sore, and his mind felt like a wrecked room littered with fragments of events that had not yet settled back into place.He lay still for several seconds, trying to remember everything that had happened the night before. Raised voices. Crying. His mother’s furious face. Anna begging over and over. And himself, harsher, more honest, more furious than he had ever allowed himself to be. But among all those broken pieces, one thing stood out with painful clarity.Auri.In his sleep, he had felt her sitting beside the bed. Calm, the way she used to be. Holding a glass of water. Looking at him with the gentle face he had not seen up close in so long. Her hand touched his forehead, smo

Evening was slipping into night when Ethan closed the last folder on his desk. For hours after Rick had left his office, he had barely touched any other work. Every meeting had been delegated, every nonessential call ignored. His focus had been on one thing alone: making sure Anna had no room left to lie. If he had once been too reactive, too easily provoked by emotion, this time he chose another approach—cold, precise, and certain.He picked up his phone and stared at the address Rick had sent a few minutes earlier. An apartment in a fairly expensive district, but discreet enough not to attract attention. The place Anna had always referred to as an old friend’s home whenever she disappeared without a clear explanation.Ethan smiled faintly.Old friend.He rose from his chair, slipped on his jacket, and walked out of the office without haste. In the basement parking garage, he drove himself. The roads were beginning to clog with evening traffic, headlight

Valencia did not wait for morning.After changing into whatever clothes she could grab and wiping away the remnants of her tears with trembling hands, she told the driver to take her to Anna’s apartment that very night. Ethan had tried to stop her, saying there was no point speaking while emotions were running high, but Valencia had only looked at her son with a hardness she had not shown in a long time. If she had spent so long being harsh toward the wrong people, then this time she wanted to be harsh toward the right one.The drive felt suffocating despite the air conditioner humming steadily. Her chest was tight with a mixture of anger, humiliation, and disgust. She remembered every time Anna had arrived with swollen eyes, every time the girl had called her Mom in that soft, trembling voice, every time she had defended Anna fiercely in front of Ethan and Auri. She had even believed, once, that God had sent that woman to fill an emptiness no one else c