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All Chapters of Too Late to Say Yes: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

My phone buzzed. It was a message from the HR director at the law firm.[Do you know whether Miss Graham is aware that you're resigning?]I picked up my phone and headed for the door.Victoria was still sitting at the dining table, watching me with a strange expression.After a long hesitation, she finally ventured, "Why didn't you ask me why this time?"I replied to the HR director before finally sparing Victoria some attention. "There's no point."I meant it literally.The first time we'd planned to get our marriage license, her junior associate, Dylan Fletcher, had complained of a stomachache.I'd waited on a bench outside City Hall from early morning until sunset before finally going home alone.The second time, Dylan claimed he didn't know how to prepare the case files.Victoria had left me stranded beside a busy highway, turned the car around, and driven straight back to the law firm without so much as a backward glance.After that, every time we made plans to get our

Chapter 2

I knew Victoria wasn't coming back, even though she'd said she'd be home at noon. This had happened far too many times in the six months since we'd gotten engaged.After dinner, I didn't leave a plate out for her like I used to.Instead, I opened my email. More than a dozen job offers from law firms in different countries filled my inbox.My cursor went straight to the offer from Monteclair. Without hesitation, I clicked Accept. Then I booked a flight to Monteclair for two days later.…The next morning, I started packing.In the master bedroom wardrobe, my clothes occupied the left side, while Victoria's filled the right.The brightly colored dresses and skirts were things she never would have worn before. But after Dylan came along, he told her that dressing this way made her seem more approachable and would help clients warm up to her.Since then, the designer suits I'd once carefully picked out for her had been left to gather dust at the bottom of the wardrobe.I smiled fa

Chapter 3

"I said I'd buy you a present yesterday, but I didn't get the chance. Today... I'm making it up to you."I froze for a moment. Only then did I remember what she'd said before leaving yesterday. "I'll bring you a present when I come home tonight."I hadn't expected her to remember.But when I glanced at the receipt, I saw that she'd bought the bag only half an hour ago. She'd probably noticed that I'd liked Dylan's post and felt guilty. Thus, she'd casually picked up a bag from a nearby boutique as compensation.I didn't take it or say anything.Victoria placed the bag on the bed and hesitated. "By the way, about next month's Best Employee selection at the firm, could you...""Give it to Dylan?"She clearly hadn't expected me to say it first. She nodded awkwardly. "He's just starting out. He really needs the recognition. You've already won it several times..."So even this casually bought gift came with a price.I nodded. "Okay."She froze, perhaps because she hadn't expected

Chapter 4

The moment the plane broke through the clouds, I turned off my phone.Outside the window stretched a blinding sea of white, bright enough to make my eyes ache.I closed my eyes, and fragments of the past five years flashed through my mind.The first time I saw Victoria at the law firm, she wore a dark gray suit and delivered a passionate argument during a mock trial.On our first date, she took me to a little roadside diner and told me that was where I could find the real taste of life.When I met her parents for the first time, she held my hand and said, "Don't be afraid. I've got you."On the day of our engagement, she got drunk, hugged me, and said, "Lucas, getting engaged to you is the greatest blessing of my life."I opened my eyes and smiled. "A blessing… I suppose even blessings have an expiration date."…After 12 hours in the air, I landed at Monteclair International Airport at 7:00 p.m. that evening, local time.The moment I turned my phone back on, messages flooded

Chapter 5

"Lucas!""Victoria, let's leave it at that." I hung up and turned off my phone.The colleague who had come to pick me up jogged over and apologized in Montaran for being late.I smiled and shook my head, then followed him out of the terminal.The night air in Monteclair was colder than back home and carried an unfamiliar scent. I took a deep breath, as though I could exhale the weight of the past five years all at once.…One month later, I sat by the window of LeMarsein, a small cafe in Monteclair's Ninth District, with a croissant and a latte in front of me.Outside, pedestrians hurried along the street. Some walked their dogs, others pushed strollers, and a few stopped to browse the bookstalls that lined the sidewalk."Lucas?"I looked up. A blonde, blue-eyed Montaran woman stood beside my table with a file in her hands."Amber." I rose and greeted her in fluent Montaran. "Have a seat."Amber Dupont was a partner at the law firm and my direct supervisor. In her early 40s,

Chapter 6

My Montaran was becoming more fluent by the day, and I was growing more comfortable with my work.Amber said that by next spring, she'd let me take charge of a case on my own.One night, after working late, I returned to my apartment and spotted a familiar figure downstairs.She stood beneath a streetlamp, wrapped in a black coat and holding a bouquet of flowers.The moment she saw me, she hurried over. "Lucas."It was Victoria. She had lost so much weight that she looked almost gaunt. Her eyes were sunken, her cheekbones prominent, and her lips cracked, as if she hadn't eaten or slept properly in a month.I stood still. "Why are you here?""I came to find you." Her voice was hoarse. "I couldn't wait any longer.""Wait for what?""For you to come home," she said. "But you won't answer my messages or take my calls, so I had no choice but to come find you."I glanced at the flowers in her handsL white roses, my favorite."These past three months, I've thought about you every s

Chapter 7

"But that day, those were the only things you said."Victoria froze."You never said you wanted to marry me."Her expression changed."You said... You said you'd love me for the rest of your life. You said so many things, but you never said you couldn't wait to call me your husband." I pulled my hand away. "I didn't think much of it at the time. I thought you were nervous and had forgotten. But later, I started to wonder if maybe you'd never actually wanted to marry me.""I did!" Her voice rose sharply. "I did! I spent so long preparing for it—""Then why didn't you get the marriage license?"She opened her mouth, but no words came out."Because in your heart, we were already married. You thought a license wouldn't change that. But you forgot one thing. Legally, we were never husband and wife."Her face went pale."Victoria, go home." I turned and headed toward the apartment."Lucas!" she called after me. "I'll wait here! I'll wait until you're ready to forgive me!"I didn'

Chapter 8

I didn't respond.Victoria wiped away her tears. "I know nothing I say now will make a difference, but I've really changed. I had Dylan transferred. I have nothing to do with him anymore."All I think about every day is you. I wonder what you're eating, whether you're sleeping well, and how work is going. I want to call you, but I'm afraid I'll disturb you. I want to come see you, but I'm afraid you'll be annoyed."She raised her head, her eyes red. "But I really can't take it anymore. I can't live without you."I looked into her eyes and saw fear, desperation, sincerity, and guilt."But I don't love you anymore," I said.The room fell completely silent.After a long while, she spoke, her voice rough as sandpaper. "Do I... really have no chance?"I said nothing.She searched my eyes as if she might find an answer there. In the end, she lowered her head and finished the pasta on her plate.She set down her fork and stood. "Thank you for making me pasta. I'll come again tomorro

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