Home / The Last Autumn We Shared / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of The Last Autumn We Shared: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

28 Chapters

Chapter 1

The flames leaping inside the cremation furnace seemed to be burning straight through my heart.I raised my hand and slapped myself hard across the face.If I'd had a driver's license, if I hadn't trusted Caleb Foster, maybe my mother, Helen Lane, would still be alive.Caleb heard the smack over the phone and apparently assumed I'd thrown my phone in a fit of anger."Yvette Lane, enough already," he said impatiently. "Yara's worried you're going to obsess over this, so she specifically asked me to call and check on you. Why can't the two of you just get along?"Get along?The sting burning across my cheek had never left me more clearheaded.A year ago, Caleb had made an exception and hired Yara Cole even though she'd dropped out of high school. All I'd done was question the decision once, and she'd held it against me ever since.If I spent eight thousand dollars on a business trip, she'd approve eighty for reimbursement. The next day, she'd deliberately alter one of my project proposal

Chapter 2

A distinctive notification tone cut me off mid-sentence.Caleb's phone lit up. The message was from a contact saved as "Wifey."[Caleb, are we really married now? I'm so excited I haven't slept all night. How am I supposed to work today?!]I knew it was Yara.After seeing her social media post, I'd watched both of them change their profile pictures to matching couple photos.Meanwhile, Caleb had always insisted on keeping things "professional" with me. In his phone, I was nothing more than the cold, impersonal "Yvette Lane."He'd apparently forgotten I was standing there, because he immediately typed back.[Then come to the office now. You can sleep in my office so you don't oversleep, sleepyhead.]So that was why he'd still been awake when I came home. He hadn't stayed up waiting for me. He'd been too excited about marrying Yara to sleep.Caleb finally noticed where I was looking and calmly turned off his screen."It's her first time getting married. She's so nervous and excited she c

Chapter 3

I lowered my eyes with a bitter smile.Back when Caleb had put that rule in place, he'd told me it was because he planned to keep me tied to him for the rest of my life and never let me get away.Now, he was probably dying for me to leave.As I stepped out of the HR office, I heard my coworkers talking nearby."Did you guys see Yara's post? If she hadn't posted the screenshot, I never would've believed Mr. Foster was capable of driving that fast.""Remember when we were almost late for that bid presentation? I told him to just gun it through a yellow light, and he refused because it wasn't safe. He must really be gone for her.""No man stands a chance against a girl who knows how to play innocent. But what about Yvette? She's been in love with Mr. Foster for seven years. How is she supposed to take this?"The moment my name came up, everyone fell silent.Caleb had always said it looked unprofessional for the CEO to be dating someone inside his own company, so we'd kept our relationship

Chapter 4

I followed the voices and saw a middle-aged couple dripping in jewelry swagger into the office.They dropped onto one of the couches as though they owned the place and immediately started taking off their shoes.The woman pointed at me. "You. Make me some premium green tea."Her husband had already stuck a cigarette between his lips and was reaching for his lighter.I frowned, took it from his hand before he could light up, and set it on the table."Sorry, there's no smoking in the office. Do you have an appointment?"The woman actually laughed, planting her hands on her hips."Do you have any idea who we are? We're your boss's in-laws! These earrings cost over two hundred grand. And the Rolex on my husband's wrist? He bought that too. Five hundred grand!"She thrust all five fingers into my face, practically spraying me as she spoke."You'd better take good care of us. Maybe we'll tell him to give you a raise and a promotion. Otherwise, we'll have him fire you."So these were Yara's p

Chapter 5

Caleb took the paper and started to look it over.Yara's eyes were quicker. She shot me a surprised glance, then casually covered most of the page with her hand."Caleb, just sign it. Yvette's asking for a raise."He didn't question her for a second. He scribbled his signature across the bottom and handed the paper back to me."Yvette, your mom's condition is expensive to manage. The medical bills aren't going to stop, so you're going to have to work harder from now on."His tone was polite, detached, almost corporate.I stared at his signature, not knowing what I was supposed to feel.I made only three thousand dollars a month. Out of that, I helped pay Caleb's mortgage and covered our everyday household expenses. I picked up side jobs on top of all the overtime I worked, surviving on three or four hours of sleep a night. Most days, I was so broke I wouldn't even let myself buy a lemonade.Yet Caleb had always refused to promote me or give me a raise. He said people would accuse him o

Chapter 6

Caleb stared at me in disbelief.Then he gave a cold scoff, every trace of warmth vanishing from his face."If you're going to lie, at least make it believable. What major company would be stupid enough to hire her? Stop playing along with this."His arrogance immediately set everyone off, and several of my friends shot to their feet.I grabbed their arms and told them to calm down.Yara, meanwhile, rushed in front of Caleb as though she needed to protect him, her face full of injured innocence."I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked for that shrimp. Please don't fight with Caleb because of me."Then she turned to me."Yvette, you don't have to pretend you're moving overseas just to make Caleb chase after you, and you definitely don't need to gather all these people here to embarrass him. I'll leave."She turned and ran out.Caleb shot me a glare and immediately went after her."All this over one piece of shrimp? Yvette, you're getting more childish by the day. We'll settle this when I get

Chapter 7

I followed her gaze.The moment I looked down at the knitted beanie in my hands, my fingers clenched around it.It felt like I'd been struck by lightning.Caleb had given me the hat on Christmas Day the year before. He'd said Yara had helped him pick it out and told me not to give her a hard time over it.Because of my red-green color blindness, I'd always thought it was Christmas red. Festive. Perfect for the holidays.It was the first gift Caleb had ever given me, and I'd been so happy that I'd worn it all winter.A few coworkers had tactfully told me the color was "a little unusual," but I'd never thought much of it.Now I understood.It was an ugly, glaring green.And Yara had known exactly what she was doing.Heat rushed to my head.I gripped the beanie in my fist and stormed back out to confront Caleb, who was putting away the first-aid kit.He'd still been wearing a cold expression, but the second he saw what I was holding, a flicker of unease crossed his face.My voice came out

Chapter 8

Behind me, Caleb's face darkened.Yara deliberately called after him, "Caleb, go after her!"His hands curled into fists, his nails digging into his palms, but he stubbornly held his ground."I didn't say anything that wasn't true. She's the one who started this... Besides, we're supposed to be getting married. Let her throw her tantrum. The next time her mom starts pressuring her about the wedding, she'll be the one regretting it."I had slowed for half a step.At those words, I walked even faster.Caleb Foster, I would never look back again.I checked into the first hotel I found. Not long afterward, Megan messaged to tell me my resignation had been fully processed. All I had left to do was pick up the last of my paperwork whenever I had time.The company alternated between five- and six-day workweeks, so I knew she'd gone out of her way to rush everything through and even come in on Sunday for me. I thanked her and booked a flight to Northvale for the next morning.The following day

Chapter 9

Megan paused, then gave me a warm smile."You're leaving that soon? I could take the day off and drive you to the airport."I shook my head. "No need. The weather's good today, and I already have a car waiting downstairs."Watching the two of us talk, Caleb's expression darkened instantly."Megan, who gave you permission to process her resignation? Do you want to lose your job too? I specifically told you that Yvette was the one person who couldn't..."Megan pulled out my resignation letter and turned it toward him, looking confused."Mr. Foster, isn't this your signature?"Caleb stared at the familiar scrawl.Something seemed to click into place, and all the color drained from his face.He turned to Yara in disbelief."Didn't you say..."Yara slapped a hand lightly against her forehead, putting on an expression of regret."I must not have looked closely enough that day. It's my fault, Caleb. I had no idea Yvette would take things this far."Caleb's thoughts were clearly in chaos, but

Chapter 10

Whenever my mother came up, I couldn't stay calm.I could still see her clutching her chest, her lips turning blue as she cried and apologized to me, making me promise that no matter what happened, I would never kneel and beg anyone for her sake again."Caleb, if you didn't want to drive my mother to the hospital, you could've said no. I could've called 911. What you couldn't do was crawl along on purpose and keep her from getting treatment in time!"Caleb dragged a hand through his hair in frustration, abandoning the polished composure he usually worked so hard to maintain."This is because of you! If I hadn't driven her, you would've held that against me too and accused me of not caring about you. Why can't you be more like Yara and stop making everything so difficult?"Yara made things easy for him?She called Caleb every other day with some new crisis. The power was out. A pipe had burst. She was hungry and apparently couldn't figure out how to feed herself. She got sick and someho

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