All Chapters of Too late to want me back.: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

78 Chapters

HE'S WATCHING

Ryan was watching me.I noticed it three days after the incident with the debt collector.Not in an obvious way.Ryan Carter was too controlled for that. Too careful. Too proud. But I noticed anyways.The little things gave him away.The way his eyes followed me when I left a room.The way he glanced up whenever my phone buzzed.The way he suddenly seemed interested in where I spent my afternoons.It was strange though.For years, I had begged Ryan to notice me.Now that he finally was, I wasn't sure what to do with it.Or maybe I knew exactly what to do.And that was nothing.Because attention given too late didn't heal old wounds.---I was scrolling through my phone one morning when a text from Lucas appeared.Survived another boring business meeting. Reward me.I laughed.Immediately, another message followed.Coffee?A smile tugged at my lips.Before I could answer, I felt eyes on me.I looked up. Ryan stood in the kitchen doorway watching me.His expression was unreadable. But so

WHAT'S GOING ON?

Amelia's POVI woke up at six in the morning. I didn't wake up because of the alarm. I didn't have anywhere to go either. I woke up early because of the date.For several seconds, I lay still in bed, staring at the ceiling.Listening to Ryan's slow breathing beside me.Listening to my own heart.Trying to convince myself that today didn't matter; but it did.No matter how many times I told myself otherwise.No matter how much I tried to act indifferent.Today mattered. And nothing was going to change that.Because today was our wedding anniversary.Eight years.Eight years since I stood in a white dress and promised to love Ryan Carter for the rest of my life.Eight years since he slipped a ring onto my finger.Eight years since he looked at me as though I was the only woman in the world.I closed my eyes. The memory hurt more than it comforted.Because somewhere along the way, that version of Ryan disappeared.Or maybe I lost him. I wasn't sure anymore.Slowly, I turned my head.Ryan

AFTER ANNIVERSARY

Amelia’s POVI didn’t sleep after the anniversary, not really.I lay in bed staring at the ceiling while Ryan sat somewhere downstairs, silent, distant, and absent in a way that felt even worse than being physically gone.He came home late. Of course he did.I heard the door around midnight. There were footsteps.I paused.Then nothing. No explanation. No attempt to speak.Just silence settling between us like dust.And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t go looking for him. I didn’t ask where he’d been.I didn’t care enough to break myself again.Instead, I stared at my phone until morning.At Lucas’s messages.At the way he made simple things feel like air.At the way Ryan had once made everything feel like home.Now neither of them felt like that. One felt like escape. The other felt like memory.And I didn’t know which hurt more.---The decision to confront Evelyn came suddenly.It came too suddenly.Like something inside me snapped after weeks of swallowing questions that

THE SECRET RYAN BURIED

Amelia’s POVI didn’t go home after Evelyn’s office.I couldn’t.The streets blurred past me like they didn’t belong to my life anymore.Like I was just passing through someone else’s story.Evelyn’s words kept replaying in my head.Not as sentences; as pressure, and as weight also.As something pressing down on my chest until breathing felt optional.Your pregnancies were monitored… interfered with…And worse—Ryan never stopped loving you.That one refused to leave me alone.Because it didn’t make sense.None of it did. Not anymore.By the time I reached the mansion, my hands were shaking.Not from fear. From something worse. And that is clarity.The kind that comes right before everything breaks.---The house was quiet when I entered. It was way too quiet.Ryan’s car was in the driveway.So he was home. Of course he was.He was always home when it was already too late.I closed the door behind me slowly.Like the sound might wake something up.Or break something that was already br

ONE SMALL STEP

Amelia's POVPeople think healing begins with something extraordinary.A life-changing speech, a dramatic decision, a miracle.They're wrong.Sometimes, healing begins with putting on a pair of sneakers you haven't worn in three years.I stared at them sitting beside the front door.Well...They used to be white. Now they were covered in dust.Just like me. Unused and forgotten.I bent down slowly and picked them up.My fingers brushed away the dust before I slipped them on.They felt tight, not because they had shrunk; because I had changed.I looked at myself in the hallway mirror.I wore oversized sweatshirt with black leggings.Hair tied into a messy ponytail.I looked nothing like the woman Ryan had married.For a second, doubt crept in.What was I even doing?A walk wasn't going to fix my marriage.It wasn't going to erase the miscarriages.It wasn't going to make the loneliness disappear.Then my phone buzzed.It was Lucas. He had texted me.‘I'm outside. Don't pretend you're no

FIGHTING FOR ME.

I couldn't move.Not because I didn't want to move.Because my body refused to cooperate.The morning after my walk with Lucas, every muscle I owned protested.I groaned as I slowly sat up in bed."My legs..."I whispered to myself."They're plotting against me."Even getting out of bed felt like climbing a mountain.I planted my feet on the floor. I felt pain. I tried standing up. I felt more pain. I took one step.I immediately regretted every life decision that had led me to this moment.A laugh escaped my lips despite myself.Who knew walking could be this cruel?As I limped toward the bathroom, Ryan looked up from where he was knotting his tie.His eyes followed my awkward movements."What happened?"I tried to sound casual."I walked."Ryan frowned."You walked?""Yesterday."His brows pulled together."You can barely stand."I gave him a dry look."Thank you for noticing.""I'm serious.""So am I."Ryan looked like he wanted to say something else.Instead, he walked to the night

THE WOMAN IN THE MIRROR

Change doesn't happen overnight.If it did, I would've given up years ago.Real change is quiet.It's choosing to get out of bed when every part of you wants to stay there.It's going for another walk when your muscles still ache.It's saying no to the voice in your head that insists you'll never be enough.Most importantly...It's continuing even when no one notices.Weeks passed.My days now had structure.Three mornings a week with Sophia.Meal planning with Maya.Morning walks on the days I wasn't training.Coffee with Lucas every Friday after my workout.Painting in the afternoons.Reading before bed instead of crying myself to sleep.Little by little, life stopped feeling like something I was surviving.And started feeling like something I was living.---One morning, I woke before my alarm.Not because of anxiety; because I'd actually slept.I lay there for a moment, confused.The room was quiet.The sun hadn't fully risen.Ryan was still asleep beside me.Normally, I woke seve

PICKING UP THE PIECES

Amelia's POVThere was a room in the house I hadn't entered in almost four years.Not because it was locked.Not because anyone had forbidden me.Because every time I stood outside its door, I remembered the woman I used to be.And I wasn't sure I could face her.The room sat at the end of the upstairs hallway.Its white door was covered with a thin layer of dust.I stood there for several minutes, staring at the brass handle.My heart pounded. It was only a room.So why did it feel like opening it would change something?I reached out for the handle. Then I stopped. My hand trembled."Come on, Amelia," I whispered to myself."It's just a room."Slowly, I turned the handle.The hinges creaked softly.A faint smell of old paint and wood drifted into the hallway.I stepped inside the room. The curtains were still drawn. Dust floated through the air like tiny stars.Against one wall stood an easel.Beside it were shelves filled with dried paint tubes, brushes, sketchbooks, and rolled-up

BEAUTIFUL AGAIN

Amelia's POVThe invitation arrived on a Wednesday morning.I almost threw it away.It looked like another charity fundraiser—one of the many elegant events Ryan used to attend while I stayed home, convincing myself I didn't belong anywhere anymore.I glanced at the envelope again.The Riverside Charity Art ExhibitionI frowned. Art exhibition?I didn't remember signing up for one.Curious, I opened it.Inside was a cream-colored invitation.«Dear Ms. Amelia Carter,We are delighted to inform you that your artwork, After Winter, has been selected for this year's Riverside Charity Art Exhibition. We sincerely hope you will attend the opening evening and meet our guests.»I blinked. Then I read it again.My artwork?My heart started racing."No..."I whispered."There has to be a mistake."I quickly reached for my phone and called Lucas.He answered after the second ring."Morning, sunshine.""Lucas...""Uh-oh."His playful tone disappeared."What's wrong?""I'm holding an invitation to

RUMORS

Amelia's POVI never liked attention.Not the kind that came from strangers.Not the kind that came from cameras.Not the kind that followed people who appeared in magazines and business columns.Ryan was used to it. I wasn't.That was one of the reasons I rarely attended public events with him.People always stared, whispered, and judged.After I gained weight, it became even worse.Some pitied me.Others mocked me behind fake smiles.Eventually, staying home became easier than pretending their words didn't hurt.So when I left the charity exhibition that evening, I thought it was over.I thought it would become another beautiful memory.I couldn't have been more wrong.---The next morning, I woke to the sound of my phone vibrating nonstop.Message after message.Call after call.Notifications I didn't recognize.I frowned."What on earth..."I unlocked my phone.The first message was from an old college friend I hadn't spoken to in years.‘You looked amazing last night! So happy to

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