TOO LATE TO WANT ME BACK のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 10

ALICE"Melissa is back." Vaylen's voice came from the kitchen doorway, "We're getting married."For a second, I couldn't breathe right. I lowered the spoon before my hand could start shaking. My palm pressed hard against the table as I looked up at him.He watched me the same way he always did, like he was waiting to see what I'd do. He wasn't going to see me fall apart.Three years of making space for him everywhere in my life while he kept one foot out the door the entire time. And now this, dropped across the kitchen like we were discussing weather."Melissa?" My voice sounded steadier than I felt. "You're serious?""You heard me." His face didn't change. “She's back.”The room went still after that. “The divorce papers will be ready soon,” he said. “Don't make this harder than it has to be.”I drew in a breath and held it for a second before letting it out carefully. I'd gotten good at that where Vaylen Morgan was concerned.He stayed in the doorway watching. I knew what he expecte

Alice“I’m not doing that.”The words came out flat and cold, putting distance back between us almost immediately, as if the evening had gone a little too far already.The music drifting from the ballroom slowed at the exact wrong moment, intimate enough to make everything more awkward. “You’re being unreasonable,” he said.I nodded once.“Maybe.” Something showed across his face.“Then stop pushing me, Catherine.” The way he said my name landed harder than it should have.“You gave me tonight.” His jaw tightened.“That wasn’t part of the agreement.”The problem was that he didn't sound angry.“We never said what wasn’t included.” I held his gaze after I said it, and for a few seconds, neither of us moved.Then I asked quietly, “Are you going to break your promise already?” The silence came heavy enough that I became aware of every little sound around us.Vaylen’s fingers stilled beside his wine glass. Then he leaned back in his chair and stood.Reluctantly. Like agreeing annoyed h

Vaylen I called her again. Still switched off.I lowered the phone from my ear slowly while across the table, my lawyer kept talking, sliding another document toward me like this meeting was still happening normally. I hadn’t heard a word he’d said in the last minutes, because my attention went back to the clock on the wall.Ten minutes late. Catherine was never late.I called again, but the automated voice cut in almost immediately, repeating that the number you are trying to reach is switched off.Marshall finally stopped talking. “Mr. Morgan?”I tapped my finger once against the table, then pushed my chair back and stood.“I’ll go get her.”I grabbed my keys off the table and walked out before he could say anything. The drive to the penthouse felt longer than usual. Traffic lights blurred past the windshield while my hands tightened around the steering wheel hard enough that the leather started digging into my palms, though I barely noticed.I tried to convince myself there were re

ALICE The murmur that had been building since I walked through the double doors dropped suddenly as Julius Roland moved toward the head of the circular marble table dominating the center of the hall. Board members stepped back from the center, adjusting their cuffs in tense silence. Legal representatives found their positions. The extended family closed in tightly around the edges.I sat rigidly in my assigned seat, hands folded neatly in my lap, entirely conscious of the dozens of calculating eyes tracking my every breath.Without a word, Julius pulled a silver letter opener from his breast pocket and slipped it beneath the heavy black leather folder.The crisp, sharp snap of the unbroken wax seal echoed through the cavernous marble hall like a gunshot.He opened the folder, his eyes scanning the first page. The room fell silent. The only sound was the soft rustle of paper as he turned the page.“Before the asset distribution,” Julius said, his voice flat and controlled, “there is a

VAYLENI stared out the floor-to-ceiling windows, watching the grey morning fog cover the city skyline. In my hand, the phone screen displayed the flight log.A woman like Catherine did not simply dissolve. She had spent three years inside this apartment with no independent wealth, no corporate connections, and no background. People did not vanish without leaving a trace.“Mr. Morgan.” Donald’s voice was low over the speaker. “We ran her identification, her old bank accounts, and every domestic transit line. It is a dead end. Whoever handled her departure wiped the logs at the commercial terminal. It is clean.”“Keep looking, Donald,” I said, my voice rough from lack of sleep. “Double the team. Use whatever resources you need. Find her.”“I’ll call you back, sir,” Donald said, and the line went dead.I lowered the phone, the silence of the room settling heavily against my chest.The device buzzed again almost immediately. Marshall.I set the phone on the counter, ignoring the call. My