All Chapters of Too Late, Mr. Cross: Chapter 101 - Chapter 108

Damian’s POV “I stayed because I loved you.” Elena stood across the study with Richard’s letter resting on the table between us. I had imagined hearing those words in other versions of our life. In none of them did I deserve them less. “I knew.” Elena’s eyes stayed on mine. “You knew?” “I knew you loved me.” She came back toward the table slowly. “For how long?” “Long enough that pretending otherwise became useful.” Her hand rested on the back of the chair. I could have told her I had only suspected. I could have hidden inside uncertainty and allowed the years to become a misunderstanding between two people who had failed to speak plainly. That would have been another theft. “I did not understand everything you felt,” I said. “I did not know how much you were enduring to keep the marriage alive, and I convinced myself your loyalty came from duty whenever that made me more comfortable. Still, I knew enough.” “Enough for what?” “Enough to know you would keep tr

Damian’s POV “You can still walk away before the buyer signs.” Ethan turned the valuation report toward me. “Cross has other assets.” “Cross has assets employees depend on.” I signed the consent beside the aviation schedule. “Meridian is mine.” “That distinction sounds noble when you say it slowly.” “It is a legal distinction, which should appeal to you.” “I am not your lawyer.” “You behave like one when you are irritating.” Ethan leaned back in the chair across from my desk. The sale agreement for Cross Meridian Aviation had taken forty-eight hours to negotiate and most of a decade to make painful. I had bought the first controlling stake after Richard told me the company was too small to matter. He had been wrong, which made building it more satisfying than I ever admitted. Meridian grew because I wanted it to, rather than because Cross Group required another division or my father had already drawn the route. The buyer was acquiring control, the hangar leases, operating l

Elena’s POV “The baby’s heartbeat is strong.” Dr. Patel kept the monitor angled toward me while she reviewed the tracing. “What happened yesterday sounds consistent with uterine irritability, although I want closer monitoring from this point forward.” I looked at the line moving across the screen. “Does that mean preterm labor?” “It means I am watching for it. Your cervix is stable today, which is reassuring, and the pain settled without progressive contractions.” Damian sat in the chair I had told him he could use. “What changes would require her to come in immediately?” he asked. “Regular painful contractions, bleeding, fluid leakage, significant pelvic pressure, or a noticeable reduction in fetal movement.” Dr. Patel entered a note into my chart. “I am giving Elena written instructions before she leaves.” “Thank you.” “What do you mean by closer monitoring?” I asked. “More frequent appointments, periodic growth scans, and a lower threshold for assessment if symptoms retur

Elena’s POV “Do not reply until the tracing team is ready.” Agent Mercer sat across from me in the Williams security room, the photograph of my father still open on the isolated screen. “Victor may expect immediate emotion. Delay is useful if we control it.” “I am not interested in performing panic for him.” “I am interested in keeping him engaged long enough to make mistakes.” I looked at Adrian’s photograph again. He had a pencil in his right hand. The page on his lap contained six lines of equations. “Can you enlarge the lower half?” The analyst did, and one symbol was blurred near Adrian’s wrist. “What are you looking for?” Damian asked from beside the far table. “Anything my father would not write by accident.” Agent Mercer glanced toward me. “You think he is communicating?” “I think Adrian has spent years using mathematics when ordinary memory fails him. I am not assuming anything until I understand the page.” My phone rang through the secured relay, an unknown numbe