All Chapters of TOO LATE TO WANT ME BACK : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Alice Three months had passed in a clean, clockwork transition since the street collision with Vaylen.The reflection staring back at me from the massive vanity mirror belonged to a different version of the woman who had run across an ocean. I kept my palm flat against my lower stomach, my fingers tracing the clear, rounded bump of motherhood that now altered my silhouette beneath the silk of my nightgown. Twenty-four weeks. Six months of a secret life growing larger inside me, completely hidden from the predatory tracking lines of the board and the family. I let out a slow, heavy breath, my jaw setting as I mentally reviewed the relentless, rigid reality of the last ninety days under Gerald Hawthorne’s strict directives. My life had become a mechanical execution of his rules. Every week, the schedule reset with a suffocating precision: clearing the estate gates exactly once to visit the Laurent Group executive office, enduring his mandatory, high-security presence during every sin

Alice The silence of the bedroom was broken by the quiet hum of the estate's climate control system. The clock on the console flashed exactly 3:00 AM. I woke up slowly, the space warm and heavily secured against the pitch-black night outside. I immediately noticed Gerald Hawthorne's protective hand resting flat across my waist. It was a steady habit born from twenty long months of midnight security co-sleeping inside this wing, a routine that had started the exact night of my breakdown when I begged him to stay in my room. Turning my head slowly in the dim, golden glow of the nightlight, my eyes traced the space between us to check on Diamond. The sixteen-month-old toddler was sleeping soundly between the covers, her small, soft fingers clinging tightly to the black silk fabric of Gerald’s robe, her small frame completely at peace. Diamond carried Vaylen Morgan’s exact, striking dark eyes when she was awake, but in this quiet state, she looked entirely like a Hawthorne heir, ancho

VAYLEN I forced my boots against the wet asphalt pavement, crossing the wide avenue in fast strides. My dark overcoat stayed completely unbuttoned, the cold morning wind whipping the fabric against my legs as I marched straight toward the gates of the Laurent Group Headquarters. I braced my arms against my sides, fully expecting a sharp, violent confrontation the second my feet touched their line. I expected her securities to emerge from the stone post, to reach for their communication logs, or to enforce the legal harassment warnings Gerald Hawthorne had rumbled on the street months ago. Instead, the glass doors slid open with a soft hiss. I walked straight past the primary security desk, my chest tightening in absolute shock when not a single uniform moved to block my path. No one commanded me to halt. No one checked the guest registry. The entire interior of her fortress had completely shifted. The usual sterile quiet was entirely gone, replaced by a warm, continuous hum of over

VAYLEN The overcast morning light filtered through the floor-to-ceiling glass of my executive office, casting long, sharp lines over the desk. I sat perfectly still, my arms folded across my chest as my gaze remained locked entirely on the gold-embossed graduation invitation resting in the center of the blotter. The elegant typography read: Saint Jude Elite Academy — Annual Commencement and Graduation Ceremony.Exactly thirty-two months had bled into the ledger since the morning I stood by her office doorpost across the street and watched her radiant, genuine smile die at the mere sight of my face. A full thirty-two months of a self-inflicted, voluntary exile. Over these nearly three years, I had systematically buried my unyielding obsession beneath the rapid, violent expansion of CARINE LTD, forcing my mind to process nothing but data blocks and maritime logistics. I locked my jaw against the rising tightness in my chest, my shoulders stiff under the tailored wool of my jacket as

ALICE I didn't say anything, but what shocked me was Diamond's reaction. She didn't execute her old habit of running toward his arms. Instead, she pressed deeper into my side, turning her back completely to his frame and locking her small fingers into the rear wool fabric of my trench coat. I wrapped my hand firmly over her shoulder, shielding her body against my leg as I faced him directly. Gerald looked down at her hidden form, a sudden stillness overtaking his broad shoulders before he lifted his dark, unblinking gaze to my eyes.“Alice,” he said, his gravelly voice dropping into a low, resonant rumble. “You've blocked my mobile server extensions, and you've been rejecting every single one of my messages. Did I do something wrong, Alice?”He took another slow step forward, his immense silhouette completely blocking the overhead garage lighting, but before I could articulate a flat refusal, Diamond twisted around from behind my coat. Her small face was rigid, her dark eyes flashin