All Chapters of Too Late To Love Me : Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

Valarie's POVI hovered near the corner of the study, staring between my two brothers with something close to disbelief. Had the past several weeks of chaos finally driven them mad?Only minutes earlier, I had felt something close to relief watching Osborne take Elle's phone, the way he'd carefully studied her hesitation, the suspicion evident in his careful handling of the device. For one brief, hopeful moment, I'd allowed myself to believe things might finally begin settling, provided whoever had been impersonating my ghost didn't attempt anything further.Now, listening to Gerald pull Osborne aside, his voice dropping into something urgent and secretive, I understood how foolish that hope had been.I drifted closer, taking full advantage of my invisible, silent existence, listening carefully as their conversation unfolded. Gerald's words about the showcase, about Caspian's claim at the hospital, about the strange woman who'd returned Osborne's access card, all of it built steadily

Ariana's POVThe apartment sat quiet around me, late afternoon light slanting through half-closed blinds, falling across the scattered photographs spread over my desk. I had dressed down for once, hair loose around my shoulders instead of pinned beneath a wig, no mask, no tinted glasses, no careful layers of disguise I normally wore like armor before approaching a target. Just me, sitting alone with the face I'd been born with, studying the man my father had ordered me to kill.Mr. Fernandez stared back at me from a dozen different angles, candid photographs captured over weeks of surveillance, boardroom meetings, charity galas, quiet moments walking through his own garden. A dignified man, silver-haired, carrying himself with the kind of practiced warmth that photographed beautifully for press conferences and investor meetings alike.This assignment had proven easier than I initially expected, if I was honest with myself. He had practically delivered himself into my reach the moment

Osborne's POV"Did we hit someone?" My voice came out strange, too high, not sounding like my own at all. "Gerald, did we just hit someone?""I don't know!" Gerald already had his door open, scrambling out into the dark road. "Stay there!"I didn't stay there. I threw my own door open and ran around the front of the car, my heart slamming so hard against my ribs I thought it might actually give out before I reached whatever we'd hit.A deer lay crumpled at the edge of the road, legs still, eyes open and glassy in the dim light from our headlights.The relief hit me so fast my knees nearly buckled. "It's a deer. Gerald, it's just a deer.""Oh my god." Gerald pressed a hand to his chest, breathing hard. "I thought... I genuinely thought...""Me too."We stood there a moment, both of us staring down at the animal, neither of us quite sure what to do next."Do we move it?" Gerald asked."I don't know. Leave it, maybe? Someone else will deal with it.""That feels wrong.""Gerald, we're on

Valarie's POVI hovered near the ceiling, staring down at my own family debating whether I was alive, and I couldn't decide if I wanted to laugh or scream. My body was missing. My actual, physical body, the one they'd buried in that coffin, the one I'd watched them lower into the ground, had simply vanished. And instead of asking the obvious questions, instead of wondering who would steal a corpse from a sealed grave, they'd jumped straight to believing I'd somehow crawled out of it myself and started an elaborate revenge campaign.Even dead, apparently, I couldn't catch a break."We can't handle this alone," Gerald said, breaking the heavy silence that had settled over the living room. "Whoever's doing this, whether it's actually Valarie or someone working with her, they're too far ahead of us. We need help.""What kind of help?" Caspian asked."A private investigator. Someone who knows how to dig without drawing attention." Gerald's eyes moved to Osborne. "We start with the woman wh

Osborne's POVTwo weeks of nothing. No messages, no leaked files, no strange accidents. It should have felt like relief. Instead, it felt like waiting for a second shoe that refused to drop.I poured another drink and told myself it was the third. I didn't entirely believe it."You're doing it again," Gerald said, walking into the study without knocking."Doing what?""Staring at your phone like it owes you money."I set it face down on the desk. "I'm just checking for updates.""From the investigator?""From anyone."Gerald sat across from me, eyeing the glass in my hand. "That's a lot of refills for a Tuesday.""I've lost count, if that makes you feel better.""It doesn't."I didn't argue with him. I didn't have the energy to."Anything new from your guy?" Gerald asked."Same as last time. No trace of the woman from my office. No leads on the messages. Whoever's behind this vanished the second we started actually looking.""That's good, isn't it? Means they're scared.""Or it means