Home / Romance / Too Late To Want Me Back / Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

All Chapters of Too Late To Want Me Back: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

50 Chapters

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Gabriel Cross’s latest article didn't launch a single direct accusation. It didn't need to.Instead, Gabriel presented a meticulously cross-referenced grid comparing official Barley Group board minutes against public SEC filings and secondary transit logs over six months. He let the timelines speak for themselves. Within hours of publication, financial talk shows were dissecting the discrepancies, and two major institutional shareholders publicly called for an independent audit.The cracks in Lawrence’s facade were no longer theoretical. They were on full display.Forty floors up in the Barley executive suite, the air was suffocating.Lawrence hadn't raised his voice all morning, but the silence felt worse than rage. He sat in his corner office, watching the boardroom doors. Small details that had never left closed-door executive sessions were appearing in Gabriel’s pieces with terrifying accuracy.Lawrence called his chief compliance officer into the office, his voice eerily quiet. "

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

By eight in the evening, the sheer weight of the week had caught up with Bianca.She sat at the Davenport penthouse worktable, staring at a set of financial ledgers until the numbers blurred together on the paper. She rubbed her temples, letting out a long, silent breath.Enzo stepped out of his office, coat already over his arm. He took one look at the exhaustion lining her face, her slumped posture, and the untouched mug of cold tea at her elbow."Pack up," Enzo said softly, his deep voice leaving no room for argument. "You’re done for tonight.""I just need to finish this section… ""You’re staring at the same line for ten minutes, Bianca," he said, walking over and gently taking the pen from her hand. "You need real food and good sleep."Ten minutes later, Bianca found herself sitting in the passenger seat of Enzo’s sleek black sedan as he navigated through the soft evening traffic of the Upper West Side. They stopped at a quiet Italian bistro near Riverside Drive to grab two stea

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

The morning air inside Davenport Headquarters felt crisp, quiet, and deceptively normal.When Bianca walked through the doors at eight o'clock, she was armed with a fresh folder of financial cross-references, an immaculate posture, and a firm resolution: act as if nothing happened.Enzo was already there, standing near the main screen in a dark grey suit, reviewing the morning log. When the elevator chime rang, his shoulders squared slightly. He turned his head, his dark eyes locking onto hers for a fraction of a second, just long enough for a jolt of electricity to shoot straight down Bianca's spine.She looked away instantly, clearing her throat and heading straight for her desk. "Good morning.""Morning," Enzo replied, his voice entirely even, devoid of inflection.For the next three hours, they executed a masterclass in professional avoidance.When Enzo handed her a printed briefing, he made sure his fingers didn't graze hers. When Bianca asked about the afternoon transport schedu

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

By three o'clock that afternoon, the quiet tension inside Davenport Headquarters had gone from distracting to completely intolerable.Enzo stood in his office, staring at a security feed on his desktop monitor without actually reading a single line of code. Every time Bianca shifted in her chair down the hall, every time her laughter echoed softly past his door while talking to Olivia, his focus shattered into pieces.All these years, Enzo had lived his life by strict rules. Every risk calculated, emotion compartmentalized, and decision weighed against protocol.And right now, sitting twenty feet away, was a woman who had thoroughly dismantled every single rule he possessed with a single kiss.He picked up his phone, stared at her name on his contact list, and made a decision. For the first time in his life, the man who calculated everything threw out the playbook entirely.Bianca stepped out of the Davenport private garage at four-thirty, heading toward her car. The city air was cool

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

The rain slicked the asphalt of the FDR Drive into a dark, mirror-like sheen as Bianca merged into the evening traffic.Her heart was still fluttering from the phone call. She adjusted her rearview mirror, looking at her reflection in the dim dashboard light, a soft smile tugging at her lips every time she replayed Enzo's words: There's something I've needed to tell you for a long time.She had spent months calculating every move, fighting a war against the empire that raised her. But tonight, she wasn't running toward a battle. She was running toward him.Three miles from the 72nd Street exit, the brake pedal went completely soft beneath her shoe.Panic flared in her chest. She pumped the pedal once. Twice. Nothing. The luxury sedan maintained its momentum at fifty miles per hour, closing the distance toward the red taillights of an eighteen-wheeler ahead.She yanked the emergency brake, but on the slick asphalt, the car only fishtailed violently. Up ahead, a dark, heavy delivery tru

CHAPTER FORTY- SIX

By eight o’clock the next morning, the crash on the FDR Drive was headline news across every major network and social media feed in New York.“Tragic Highway Accident Leaves Bianca Barley Fighting for Her Life.”Overhead chopper footage played on a loop, showing the crushed blue sedan and rain-soaked flares against the concrete barrier. To the public, it was a terrifying, tragic casualty of slick roads and poor visibility.In his uptown study, Lawrence stood with a cup of coffee, watching the news glide across his muted television screen. His face had the calm, detached expression of a master chess player who had simply removed an inconvenient piece from the board.Everything was unfolding precisely as planned.Inside Intensive Care Unit 3 at Saint Jude’s Hospital, the outside world did not exist.Enzo hadn't slept or changed his clothes in fourteen hours. Three times the medical staff tried to clear the room for routine checks. Three times he looked at them, and without a word, they

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

The hum of the ICU heart monitor was the only thing keeping the quiet room tethered to reality.Enzo still hadn't let go of her hand. As the hours passed, his thumb rested lightly against her knuckles, searching for the steady pulse that had pulled him back from despair the night before.Then, her eyelashes fluttered. Enzo’s chest seized, his entire body going rigid as he leaned over the bed."Bianca?" he whispered, his deep voice trembling with an agony of hope.Her eyelids strained, parted, and closed again against the harsh fluorescent glow before slowly opening. Her dark eyes were hazy, glassy with heavy sedation and exhaustion, but as her gaze drifted across the white ceiling, it eventually found him."Enzo..."The sound was barely more than a whisper, but to Enzo, it was enough. A shaky breath left him as he lifted her hand to his lips. He closed his eyes, his shoulders trembling with relief.Moments later, the room filled with nurses and the lead trauma surgeon. Monitors beeped

CHAPTER FORTY- EIGHT

The fallout began at sunrise.Gabriel's report landed on every major financial terminal, legal desk, and newsroom.Its title left no room for doubt: THE BARLEY CONSPIRACY: A RECORD OF CORPORATE EMBEZZLEMENT, BOARD FRAUD, AND ATTEMPTED MURDER.The report was backed by overwhelming evidence.Gabriel laid out the paper trail with precision, but Camille's archived internal files sealed the case. They showed Lawrence had manipulated board votes for three years, hidden shell accounts in Delaware, and laundered millions through offshore subsidiaries.By eight-thirty, Dominic Brown walked into the Southern District Prosecutor's Office with his legal team. Under oath, he turned over signed emails, wire transfers, and internal communications detailing Brown Holdings' dealings with Lawrence, confirming the extent of the corruption.By nine o'clock, Matteo and Enzo delivered the final blow.Matteo's forensic report proved the delivery truck's route had been changed from Lawrence's Wall Street ser

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Six weeks later, winter had given way to spring.Physical therapy had been hard, but Bianca never gave up. The neck brace was gone, the bandages replaced by fading scars. She still leaned on Enzo now and then, but she was walking on her own again.The Barley estate was peaceful in the afternoon sun. For the first time, its gates stood open, welcoming family.Inside the glass-walled sunroom overlooking the gardens, family and close friends gathered. There were no reporters, lawyers, or security meetings. Just the people who had stood by each other through it all.Victor stood at the head of the table, a glass of sparkling water in his hand. It trembled slightly, but he stood tall, pride clear in his eyes.He tapped the glass gently, and the room fell quiet."For thirty years, I built the Barley Group with stone and ruthless ambition," Victor began, his deep voice carrying across the room with effortless authority. "I believed that strength meant isolation. I believed that power meant c

CHAPTER FIFTY

Eighteen months had passed since Lawrence was sentenced.In that time, life had slowly found its rhythm again. The mornings were quiet, the nights no longer filled with crisis meetings, and two families who had spent years fighting to survive were finally learning how to live.Bianca stood by the windows of the Barley Group's executive office, looking out over Midtown Manhattan. As Chief Executive Officer, she had rebuilt the company on transparency, integrity, and responsible leadership. The Barley Group hadn't just recovered; it had earned back the trust it had lost.Behind her, the office door opened.Camille walked in carrying a portfolio, looking vibrant and relaxed in a sharp navy suit. Free from years of double ledgers and forced deception, she had thrived as Bianca's Executive Vice President, serving as her most trusted advisor."The board approved the new clean-energy philanthropy initiative unanimously," Camille reported with a warm smile, setting the tablet on the desk. "An

1 2 3 4 5

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP