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All Chapters of Too Late to Want Me Back: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

68 Chapters

Chapter 21: What's Inside

Elena slipped out through a side exit of the Grand Meridian, David close behind her, Robert following with his phone still in hand."The message came from an unregistered number," Robert said. "No name, no trace.""Locker 307," Elena said. "Where?"David checked his phone again. "A private storage facility on Weston Avenue. I'm cross referencing the address now."His face changed as the results loaded."Elena," he said slowly, "this facility is tied to Cross Industries. Old records archive, decades old."Elena's jaw tightened. "Then this isn't just about Vivian.""It might not be about her at all," David said."I'm going," Elena said."Let me go first," Robert said. "We don't know what's waiting there.""It's my name on that message," Elena said. "I'm not sending someone else to face it for me."Across town, Vivian sat alone in her car, humiliation still burning hot in her chest from the ballroom.Her phone buzzed. A single line from the unknown contact.Locker 307. Elena will find it

Last Updated : 2026-08-03

Chapter 22: A Name From the Past

Elena stared at the file in her hands, the storage room silent except for the hum of old fluorescent lights overhead."Still on your board," she repeated quietly. "David, are you certain?""The authorization trail leads to an active employee account," David said. "I need more time to confirm the exact name."Damian took the file from her, scanning the signature again. "I know this name from somewhere else.""Where?" Elena asked."My father's old executive records," Damian said slowly. "This person worked under him. Before I ever took over Cross Industries."Elena watched his face change, the certainty in his eyes giving way to something unsteady."You didn't know," she said. It wasn't a question."No," Damian said. "I trusted my father's decisions without questioning them. Maybe I shouldn't have."Robert closed the box carefully. "We need to get this back to Marchetti Group. Somewhere secure.""Agreed," Elena said, though she didn't move right away.For a moment, she and Damian stood

Last Updated : 2026-08-04

Chapter 23: Inside the Building

David sprinted down the hallway, Robert two steps behind him, security radios crackling through both their phones."He's near the executive records room," David said. "Not Elena's office yet. We still have time.""Time for what?" Robert asked. "We don't even know who we're looking for.""We will," David said. "Just not yet. First we confirm quietly, before whoever this is knows we're onto them."They ducked into a side office, pulling up badge logs on a secure terminal."Cross reference every employee who had loan department access seven years ago," David said. "Narrow it against who's still on payroll."Robert typed quickly. "That's still eleven names.""Cross reference again against who had authority to file legal amendments," David said.The list shrank. Four names.Elena sat in her office, David's earlier warning still echoing in her mind, when she made herself walk the floor as she always did, greeting employees with the same calm nod she'd given them for months."Miss Marchetti,

Last Updated : 2026-08-04

Chapter 24: Someone She Trusted

Elena stared at Robert, while David stood frozen beside her. The calm certainty in Robert's voice was somehow more unsettling than panic would have been."Seven years," Elena said quietly. "You've been waiting for seven years.""Waiting," Robert corrected. "Planning came later.""Why?" Elena asked. "What did my father ever do to you?"Robert's expression hardened."My father spent fifteen years building his company," he said. "Then one decision Marco Marchetti made destroyed everything he'd worked for."Elena frowned."You believe my father ruined your family.""I don't believe it," Robert replied. "I watched it happen.""Even if that's true," Elena said, her voice steady, "you destroyed innocent lives to get your revenge."Robert gave a bitter smile."Revenge never stays focused, Elena. It spreads."David stepped forward."You altered the loan agreement.""Yes," Robert admitted."You manipulated company records.""Yes.""You betrayed the people who trusted you.""I did."Silence sett

Last Updated : 2026-08-04

Chapter 25: A Name He Never Expected

Damian sat alone in his office, the old shareholder document still open on his screen, the unfamiliar name staring back at him.Alexander Cross.A name he'd heard exactly once, as a child, quickly hushed before he could ask questions.He picked up his phone and called the only person who might still remember."Mr. Bellamy," Damian said when the line connected. "I need to ask you about someone. Alexander Cross."A long pause stretched on the other end."Where did you hear that name?" the old man asked carefully."A shareholder document," Damian said. "Tied to Cross Industries, decades old.""Damian, some things are better left buried.""Not anymore," Damian said. "This name is connected to a threat against Marchetti Group. Against Elena. I need to know who he was."Another pause, longer this time."Your father had a brother," Bellamy said finally. "Alexander. Older than your father, sharper too, according to some. There was a falling out, business related, before you were born. Your fa

Last Updated : 2026-08-04

Chapter 26: The Man Arrives

Damian's phone buzzed again before dawn, Priya's voice tense on the other end."Sir, security flagged an arrival at the airport under diplomatic clearance. The name doesn't match anyone on our watch list, but facial recognition pulled a partial match to old Cross Industries archive photos.""Alexander," Damian said quietly."I can't confirm that yet," Priya said. "But whoever this is, he's already in the city."Damian called Elena within minutes."He's here," Damian said, before she could speak."I know," Elena said. "David just told me. Someone matching his description checked into the Sterling Regency an hour ago.""We need to coordinate," Damian said. "Whatever old resentment is left between us, it can wait.""Agreed," Elena said. "For now."They met at Marchetti Group within the hour, David and Robert's replacement security team standing watch outside."I spoke with Bellamy again," Damian said. "He remembered more once I pushed him.""What did he say?" Elena asked."My father didn

Last Updated : 2026-08-05

Chapter 27: Someone Elena Never Expected

Elena stood frozen on the terrace, the city wind tugging at her hair as Alexander watched her with a calm, unreadable smile."You don't remember my full name," Alexander said. "Understandable. Your father only introduced us for a few minutes that night.""My father would never keep something like this from me," Elena said, forcing her voice to remain steady.Alexander chuckled softly."Every parent keeps secrets."He took a slow step closer."Yours simply kept bigger ones."Damian moved instinctively beside Elena, his shoulders tense."You're saying our fathers knew each other long before the loan?""Long before it," Alexander replied. "That's all you need to know tonight.""That's not an answer," Elena said.Alexander's smile widened."It's the only answer you're getting for free."Damian's patience snapped."Enough games.""What do you actually want?"Alexander folded his hands behind his back."Control.""A twenty percent stake in Marchetti Group.""A permanent seat on the board."

Last Updated : 2026-08-06

Chapter 28: What He Threatens to Take

Elena sat across from Damian in her office, the terrace conversation replaying in her mind on a loop she couldn't shut off."He wants twenty percent of Marchetti Group," Elena said. "A board seat. And silence, apparently, about whatever he thinks he has on my father.""And your child," Damian said quietly, "as leverage if you refuse.""I know what he threatened," Elena said, sharper than she meant to."I'm not trying to upset you," Damian said. "I'm trying to understand what we're actually negotiating with."Elena exhaled slowly. "A man who's spent twenty years planning this. That's what we're negotiating with."Damian leaned forward. "Then let me take the financial exposure. Cross Industries can absorb a stake transfer that Marchetti Group can't afford to lose right now. Give him equity in my company instead of yours.""No," Elena said immediately."Elena—""No," she repeated, firmer. "This isn't your debt to pay off alone, Damian. It's mine too. My father's history, my company, my c

Last Updated : 2026-08-06

Chapter 29: The Man Who Waited Outside part-1

The car took the corner too fast, and Elena's hand slapped flat against the door."Slow down.""No." Damian's jaw stayed locked, both hands tight on the wheel."Damian.""He called you eleven minutes ago. If Alexander wanted him hurt, he'd already be hurt." His eyes dropped to her stomach for half a second, then went back to the road. "He wants him scared. And he wants you driving like this."She hated that he was right. She hated more that her heart was slamming like something caught in a box."Call him again," Damian said.She did. Three rings. Four. Five. Then her father's voice came through, thin and short of breath."Elena?""Are you inside?""Yes. I locked the door. I locked all of them.""Is he still out there?"The pause went on long enough for her nails to dig into her palm."He's gone." Marco's voice dropped to a whisper. "He stood there twenty minutes. He didn't move. He didn't shout. He just looked at the house like he was remembering something.""We're two streets away. D

Last Updated : 2026-08-06

Chapter 29:Part-2

"Switched off. Remotely." He scrolled with his thumb. "The account that did it belongs to a security firm. Cross Group has paid that firm for nine years."Elena felt the floor shift half an inch under her feet. "So he wanted us to know he can watch. Then he made sure nobody could watch him.""He wanted your father to see him with his own eyes," Damian said. "No footage. No proof. Just a memory."Marco's hand found the back of a chair and gripped it."Papa. Sit."He sat. The chair creaked under him. He stared at the table for a long moment, and when he finally spoke his voice had gone somewhere far away."He was my friend.""You told me you barely knew him.""I lied."Elena lowered herself into the chair across from him. Damian stayed by the wall, silent, giving them the space."How close?" she asked."We started together. Two boys, one idea, no money." A small smile touched Marco's mouth and left again. "He was cleverer than me. Everybody said so. He never forgot that they said so.""

Last Updated : 2026-08-06

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