บททั้งหมดของ Too Late to Say Yes: บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 8

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

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

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

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