All Chapters of TOO LATE TO WANT ME BACK : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

48 Chapters

{ TWENTY ONE }

VAYLEN Over the past four years, I'd seen Catherine everywhere. In crowded airports while rushing toward a gate. Across busy streets through the blur of passing traffic. Walking into restaurants just as I was leaving.Every single time, my heart had reacted before my brain could catch up. And every single time, I'd been wrong.For a few seconds, hope would come roaring back to life. Then reality would crush it just as quickly.I stopped counting the number of times it happened.At some point, I should have learned my lesson. Hope had made a fool out of me more times than I cared to admit.But this wasn't one of those times. Even from a distance, I knew. Some things couldn't be mistaken. The way she held herself. The way she turned her head. The feeling that slammed into my chest the second our eyes met.Everything else disappeared. The birthday cake. The applause. The conversations around me. Even Jenny.Because Catherine wasn't a memory anymore. She was sitting ten tables away from

{ TWENTY TWO }

ALICEI curled my fingers into a fist and drew in a shaky breath. My pulse hammered against my ribs.The door swung inward.And instead of Vaylen, a man in a dark green palace hotel security uniform stepped inside. A radio hung from his shoulder.For a second, I just stared.Then relief crashed through me so hard my knees almost weakened. I released a breath I hadn't realized I was holding."Madam?" the security officer asked, taking a cautious step forward. "Are you alright?""Yes." The answer came too quickly.His gaze swept across the restroom before returning to me."I saw you run in here," he said. "Are you sure everything is okay?""I'm fine."He looked unconvinced. I was breathing like I'd just escaped a fire."This is the men's restroom, madam." His tone softened slightly."The ladies' restroom is on the other side."I followed the direction he pointed and nodded."Okay."Neither of us moved. The silence stretched.He remained where he was, clearly waiting for me to leave. I s

{ TWENTY THREE }

VAYLENThe drive from West Laurentis was silent.Jenny kept her eyes on the road ahead. I kept stealing glances at her, waiting for her to say something. She didn't.The silence should have bothered me more than it did. Instead, my mind remained trapped inside Green Palace. Catherine.I could still see her sitting across that table. Still see the moment our eyes met. The memory replayed endlessly.By the time we reached Jenny's estate, I wasn't even sure how we'd gotten there.The engine idled quietly. I cleared my throat."Jenny..." She didn't look at me. I reached for her hand."Thank you for tonight. For the dinner. For everything." My voice sounded strange even to me."I'm sorry…"Finally, she turned.The disappointment in her eyes hit harder than anger would have."Vaylen," she said quietly. "Aren't you going to tell me what happened back there?"I held her gaze for a second before looking away. Because I didn't know where to begin."Jenny..." My voice faltered. The words never c

{ TWENTY FOUR }

ALICE The moment I stepped into the house, the silence wrapped around me like a second skin. It was different from the silence in the car. This one felt safe and familiar.“Mommy!” Diamond's voice shattered it instantly. Before I could even set my bag down, small footsteps came racing across the floor.I crouched immediately just in time to catch her as she threw herself into my arms. A laugh escaped me.“Easy there.”“Mommy!” she repeated, already pulling back to look at me properly. Then she pointed dramatically toward the kitchen.“Uncle Maximilian and Lisa didn't allow me enter the water like the other kids.”My eyes followed her finger. Lisa was walking out of the kitchen carrying a glass of juice.The moment she saw me, she smiled.“Welcome home, ma'am.”I nodded. Then I looked back at her.“Is that so?”She folded her arms immediately. The expression on her face was so serious that I almost laughed.“Why didn't you allow my princess enter the water?” I asked.A victorious look

{ TWENTY FIVE }

VAYLEN I stood outside her door for almost three minutes before it finally opened. She stood there, one hand resting against the doorframe, her eyes fixed on me. Neither of us spoke. The porch light cast a soft glow across her face, but it did nothing to soften the distance between us. She just stood there, looking at me like she was searching for something beneath the surface. “Can I come in?” I asked quietly. Her gaze lingered for another second, then she turned and walked back into the house without answering. I followed her inside. The living room looked exactly the way I remembered it. Fresh flowers sat on the coffee table. A candle burned near the window, its vanilla scent drifting through the room. Everything was neat, carefully arranged. She crossed the room and lowered herself onto one end of the couch. I took the opposite side. The cushion dipped beneath my weight, and then there was only silence between us. “How are you?” I asked. “I’m fine.” The response came too

{ TWENTY SIX }

VAYLEN The silence that followed her words didn’t break. It settled between us instead. “I don’t think there’s anything left for us to talk about.” She didn't move after saying it. Neither did I. The clock on the wall kept ticking, steady and indifferent, filling the room with a sound that suddenly felt louder than it should have. My hands rested loosely between my knees. Across from me, Jenny turned slightly toward the window, her gaze drifting somewhere beyond the glass. Not looking at me anymore. What am I holding onto? The question lingered in my head. A marriage that ended four years ago. A woman I divorced. A decision I had spent years convincing myself was the right one. I leaned back slowly and stared at the coffee table without really seeing it. The pieces were all there. The marriage. The divorce. The years that followed. But when I tried to fit them together, nothing settled into place. A small movement pulled my attention back. She had shifted slight

{ TWENTY SEVEN }

ALICEI smiled the moment I heard his voice from outside. My hand settled on the door handle, but I didn't open it immediately."Shine bright like a diamond..."His voice drifted through the door. A second later, another voice burst in and completely took over."SHINE BWIGHT LIKE A DIAMOND!"I pressed my lips together. Whatever chance he had of staying on key had just been destroyed. The laugh escaped before I could stop it.Diamond repeated the line at the top of her lungs, completely off-key and completely convinced she was delivering the performance of a lifetime.I shook my head and finally opened the door. The sight that greeted me widened my smile instantly.I had expected Diamond to come flying across the room the moment she saw me. She usually did. Most evenings ended with her launching herself into my arms before I had a chance to put my bag down.Not today.She was curled comfortably on Julius's lap like she'd signed a permanent lease there. The moment she spotted me, she di

{ TWENTY EIGHT }

VAYLEN Three days had passed since Jenny asked whether I had ever actually known Catherine. The question should have faded by now. It hadn't.The meetings, reports, deadlines, and enough work should have been enough to keep me distracted. But no matter how many times I returned to it, the answer remained the same.I had spent years chasing a woman I wasn't sure I had ever truly known. And no amount of searching could change that now.I leaned back in my chair and rubbed a hand across my jaw.The past was a place I couldn't return to, but the future was still waiting.My gaze dropped to the document open on my desk before I closed the file and pushed it aside. I looked up."Move my remaining afternoon meetings to tomorrow."Across the desk, my PA glanced up from the tablet in his hands. For a second, he simply stared at me. A moment later, he nodded.I grabbed my keys and left through the private elevator.Twenty minutes later, I pulled up outside a florist.Rows of flowers stretched

{ TWENTY NINE }

ALICE"Miss Laurent."I looked up as one of the construction workers greeted me with a wave.I smiled and returned the gesture from the inspection vehicle as it rolled steadily through the site. More voices called out from different directions, and I acknowledged them with the same practiced smile as we continued deeper into the project.Three weeks. That was all it had been. Yet the stretch of coastline already looked different.The last time I stood here, most of it had existed only on paper. Now steel skeletons rose against the morning sky. Excavators crawled across the sand. Trucks moved in and out of the site while workers in bright safety vests crossed between marked sections carrying equipment and materials.The steady rhythm of construction echoed across the shoreline.I always enjoyed inspections like this. Not because they were part of my job. But because this was the stage I loved most—the moment an idea stopped being a collection of drawings, projections, and presentations

{ THIRTY }

VAYLEN "Don't ever come looking for me again." Jenny's voice stopped me before I'd even stepped fully into my office.I looked up. She was standing beside my desk, one hand gripping the edge so tightly her knuckles had lost all color.For a second, I simply stared at her.Less than an hour ago, I'd left her here smiling while I met with my investors. She had insisted on helping me finish a proposal on my laptop, and after enough persuasion, I'd finally given in.Now she looked like a completely different person. My stomach tightened."What happened?" I took a step toward her.She laughed once. The sound was sharp and humorless."You lied."A frown pulled at my brow. "What are you talking about?"Without answering, she turned the laptop toward me. My eyes dropped to the screen.The sender's name hit me first. Green Palace. Then the message beneath it.*We found something else about the woman.**See attached photos.*And below that were photographs.The woman from Green Palace stood wi

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