All Chapters of Too Late To Love Me : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Valarie's POVThe first scream broke into several more as Elle scrambled backward off the grave, her hands clawing at the wet grass beneath her. She looked down at herself, at the dark, dried stains soaked deep into the white fabric clinging to her body, and let out another cry, high and broken, stumbling to her feet."No. No, no, no." She grabbed at the skirt of the gown with shaking hands, as if she could tear the horror away from her skin. "What is this? What happened?"She spun in a wild circle, searching the cemetery, scanning every row of headstones, every shadow between the trees. There was nothing. No masked women. No black bus. No sign that anyone had ever been there at all, aside from the girl standing terrified atop a grave that bore her sister's name.She snatched her phone up from the grass and took off running, the long skirt of the gown tangling around her legs with every stride. She made it barely past the cemetery gates before her foot caught in the hem, and she pitch

Valarie's POVI drifted away from the two brothers standing frozen in that heavy silence, my mind spinning with a new, uncomfortable thought. If Osborne truly suspected Caspian, and Gerald was only now beginning to see it too, then whatever was happening to Elle might not be some outside stranger's revenge at all. It might be tearing my family apart from the inside, brother against brother, exactly the way I feared.I did not know who was behind the masked women, the messages, the bloodstained dress. But if this continued much longer, I suspected there might not be much left of the Fernandez family to answer for anything.I returned to Elle's room, curious to see how she would behave once she believed herself alone.She lay quietly beneath her blanket for a while after our parents finally left to rest, staring at the ceiling with an expression I couldn't quite read. Then she reached for her phone and dialed a number, holding it close to her ear."Hey," she said softly, her voice still

Ariana's POVThe wall of screens in front of me flickered between a dozen different angles of the Fernandez mansion, each one showing a small, quiet piece of the family's life. The kitchen. The staircase. The long hallway outside Elle's room. Cameras so small they had gone unnoticed even by staff who cleaned every corner of that house daily.It had gone smoothly. Almost too smoothly.While the family gathered at the cemetery, playing their little charade of grief over a grave that held every secret they were trying to bury with it, my men had slipped into the mansion and finished the installation within twenty minutes. Nobody had noticed a single wire out of place. By the time the family returned home, I already had eyes in every room that mattered.I leaned back in my chair, studying the paused frame on the largest screen, Elle's unconscious body sprawled across the grass, dressed in white, stained dark red.That particular detail had not been part of my original plan. I had intended

Osborne's POV"I want my lawyer," I said, keeping my voice level despite the fury building beneath my ribs. "I won't answer a single question, sign a single document, or cooperate in any way until he arrives. Is that understood?"The lead agent studied me for a moment, then gave a short nod. "That's your right, Mr. Fernandez."They escorted me out of my own office in full view of my staff, past desks where people I had hired and trained and promoted stood frozen, watching their employer walk out flanked by federal agents like a common criminal. I kept my spine straight and my expression composed, though something inside me burned with a humiliation I had no outlet for. I was a man who gave orders, not one who received them.The ride to the financial crimes building passed in tense silence. My phone rang halfway there, and I glanced at the screen to see my father's name."Dad.""Osborne, what's going on?" His voice carried an edge of concern he rarely let slip. "I just got off the phon

Osborne's POVI dialed the office line again, pressing the phone hard against my ear as though that might somehow speed up the answer."I'm sorry, Mr. Fernandez," the voice on the other end said, apologetic but unmoving. "Replacement access cards typically take up to three business days to process and activate.""Three days." I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Fine. Have it expedited if possible. I'll deal with it tomorrow."I ended the call and climbed back into the car, my frustration mounting on top of an already unbearable day. First the raid, then the mysterious woman, now a missing access card I couldn't even explain, since I distinctly remembered having it clipped to my belt that very morning.As the car pulled out of the company compound, I caught sight of a black sedan parked at the corner of the street, its windows tinted too dark to see inside. Something about it made me pause, some instinct prickling at the back of my neck, and I found myself watching the rearview mirror as