All Chapters of Next Time, Don't Come Back: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

I pressed my hand to my chest and looked past the water curtain again. Adrian was smiling, his gaze fixed on Cecilia.So it wasn't that he couldn't smile. He just no longer wanted to smile like that for me.I called a car and headed back to the Hayes family's seaside villa. Martha, the housekeeper, saw how pale I was and hurried over. "Ma'am, are you feeling unwell again? Should I call Mr. Hayes?""No." My throat was so dry it ached, and my voice barely came out. "Is Ella asleep?""She is. She waited for you and Mr. Hayes all evening. She only just drifted off."I didn't have the energy to respond. I gripped the banister and made my way upstairs to the bedroom. When the tideheart scale flared, plain water could only dampen the skin temporarily. It couldn't stop the moisture from draining out of my body.I filled the bathtub with warm water and poured in an entire jar of sea salt. The moment I lowered myself in, my chest felt as though red-hot needles were piercing it all at once. I cur

I opened my laptop, typed up my resignation, and planned to submit it as soon as I finished tying up loose ends.Mia told me with red-rimmed eyes, "Cecilia's been going around the office all morning saying she and Adrian are the real love story and you're the one who came between them. You got to where you are on your own. They can't match you, so they're spreading lies about your background and your marriage."I wiped away her tears. "They can't erase my work. All they're doing is exposing their own lack of character. Don't lose your job over people like that."Adrian and Cecilia soon walked over. He handed me the Tides' End script. "Cecilia is new to the industry and still learning the ropes. Stay on and guide her through the project. Your name will still be on the final credits."Cecilia smiled with studied innocence. "Evelyn, I didn't mean to take your project. It's just too important for the Roland family. You're so talented. There'll be other opportunities for you."Adrian took m

The boat reached Northshore before dawn. I shifted back to my legs before we entered the harbor, took Ella by the hand, walked off the dock, and settled into the seaside rental my lawyer had arranged. It was close to a school, with a quiet path from the back door leading straight to the bay. And it wouldn't show up on any property records for Adrian to trace.Once Ella was settled, I opened social media. Sure enough, Adrian had handled the company crisis and publicly admitted his wrongdoing. But those belated statements meant nothing to me.At first, all I had wanted was to use his guilt to secure some financial safety for Ella and me. I hadn't planned to release everything. What pushed me past the point of mercy was watching him stay silent while strangers called his daughter a bastard.I could take the attacks on myself. Ella couldn't. As a mother, I had to protect her first. And as Evelyn, I had to pull myself out of a marriage that kept hurting me.After my grandmother died, no one

Cecilia pushed the script toward me. "This isn't a bargaining chip. It's restitution. You don't have to accept my apology. You can still keep it."She admitted she had once looked down on me for coming from a remote bay. She had been jealous that I could stand on my own without any family connections. She also admitted that she was the one who had broken up with Adrian years ago. When none of the men after him measured up, she mistook wounded pride for love."I thought if I got rid of you, he'd love me again." Cecilia let out a rueful laugh. "But after he truly lost you, he wouldn't even look at me. That's when I realized I wasn't fighting for him at all. I just couldn't accept that someone I'd once looked down on was doing better than me."I looked at her. "Adrian isn't as perfect as you imagine. You've just never been willing to take him off the pedestal you put him on. Love is only one part of life. Finding it is a gift, but not having it is no reason to sacrifice your dignity or yo