Все главы TOO LATE TO WANT ME : Глава 21 - Глава 30

Chapter 21 Zane's POV When Skylar stepped into the room, I looked at her and went still. She looked very different from the woman I knew at home. Not that she didn't usually look great, but tonight was something else. She was graceful and elegant and soft all at once, and as she came closer I noticed something new: she was wearing makeup. That was a first time. It suited her, even if the surprise of it took a moment to process. She must have decided the occasion called for it. The room was technically full to the brim. There were business owners, CEOs, the ones who hadn't quite made it yet but thought too highly of themselves anyway. All of them were here just so they could be seen. Ivan Dmitri, a former business associate, walked toward me with his wife Natalia. He wore a French suit and She wore a velvet maroon dress with a slit open all the way up her thigh. "Lawson. How is business?" We shook hands. His Russian accent was as heavy as ever. "So and so, but better every

Chapter 22Skylar's POVWhen Zane left, it was just me and his mother and her rich friends at the table.They were talking about the usual thingd. Husbands, pets, businesses, housekeepers who were too incompetent. I looked the other way throughout. Diana's expression had already told me to keep to my lane, and her friends looked like they had been briefed on the same policy before I sat down.Somewhere in the back of my mind I thought: under different circumstances, these same women would probably trip over themselves to be warm to me, because my fiancé was a powerful man. That thought kept me company while I sat there looking at nothing and pretending to be fine.I got bored. My butt was sore from the chair. I decided to use the ladies' room. Not because I was pressed, but because I needed to get up from these women before I lost my mind.I nodded to a few people who acknowledged me or stared too long, and kept walking. The old Skylar would have stopped and gawked at every face she r

Chapter 24Zane's POV"What do you mean you have to go back to Jason's house?"I heard the shock in my own voice and didn't bother hiding it."I have to go there because of the ring," she said slowly."Whose ring? Don't tell me this is nostalgia because you saw him tonight.""It's not nostalgia." She looked at me directly. "I need to get his wedding ring. Think about what would have happened earlier if he'd actually found it in his pocket. We wouldn't have been laughing. He could have used it as proof — in front of all those people, in front of Ivan, in front of everyone who was recording him. It would have been a completely different night."I sat with that for a second. She wasn't wrong."What would have happened? You weren't wearing yours either. Or were you?" I reached for her left hand to check.She yanked it back. "Stop that. I'm not an idiot.""I know you're not. I'm just trying to understand.""Then explain it to me. Why do you need Jason's ring so badly. She stood up from the

Chapter 26Skylar's POVI stepped out of the closet very slowly and moved to the bedroom door. I pressed my ear against it and held my breath.Still making out, from what I could hear. The low murmur of voices, the sound of movement from the sofa down the hall. How was I going to leave? I couldn't exactly walk past the living room. I turned and looked at the window. It was too high, and in full view of the driveway where Jason's car was parked. That wasn't an option either.Then she said "Honey, it's boring in here. Let's not do it here anymore. Let's go to your car."There was a beat of silence. Then Jason said "Why are you always so demanding, Elara?""Oh come on." She whined it. I heard her shifting, standing up from somewhere. "If we don't do it in the car, you won't see me again.""Alright, alright. Don't talk like that. Let's go."There was a pause "Wait. I don't know. I might be wrong, but I smell Skylar in here. Her perfume."I pressed my hand flat over my mouth.My perfume. I

Chapter 28Skylar's POVFor the next few days, staying in the house all by myself felt like a slow kind of torture. The silence pressed in from every corner. I’d wake up to an empty bed, the sheets cold where Zane should have been, and that emptiness followed me through every hour. My daily routine became a rigid loop just to keep my mind from spiraling: eat something quick and tasteless, sleep when exhaustion finally won, train until my muscles screamed for mercy, and then drag myself over to work. The work was the only part that gave me any sense of purpose, but even that felt hollow without the usual rhythm of the team around me.Most times, Conor would linger a bit after his own duties, cracking dry jokes or sitting quietly in the living room while I pretended to focus on paperwork. His presence was steady, like an anchor. Sometimes, Mara called me unannounced forcing me to laugh even when I didn’t feel like it. I was grateful for them both, but their calla and visits only highlig