All Chapters of Too Late, Mr. Vale: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

ELARA'S POVThe air in the private wing of St. Jude’s Clinic smelled of sterile ozone and expensive lilies.I stood in the shadowed alcove of the pharmacy corridor, a small brown paper bag containing my basic daily supplements clutched against my ribs. I hadn't meant to follow them. But when Lucien left the house without looking back, a desperate, pathetic part of me still needed to see it with my own eyes.Through the floor-to-ceiling glass panel leading out to the sunlit private courtyard, I saw them.Lucien stood near a white marble fountain, his dark wool coat unbuttoned, looking down with a rare, relaxed warmth in his eyes. Standing beside him was Celestine Ardent, radiant in a cream cashmere coat, her soft laughter carrying faintly through the glass.And between them was seven-year-old Amelie.My breath hitched in my chest. Amelie was twirling in a pale pink dress, her dark curls bouncing under the morning sun. Celestine knelt gracefully beside her, taking a velvet ribbon from h

ELARA'S POVThe grandfather clock in the foyer chimed midnight, its heavy echo ringing through the silent halls of the Vale estate.I stood in my small, stripped fragrance room, holding a simple canvas duffel bag. I packed only what truly belonged to me: my essential botanical oils, my leather formulation journal, my passport, and my late foster mother’s silver carved locket. Every diamond necklace, designer gown, and silk coat Lucien had ever purchased for me remained untouched in the dressing room.I didn't leave a note. The platinum wedding ring on his desk said everything that ever needed to be said.I slipped out through the side entrance, stepping into the violent coastal rainstorm roaring over Aurelia. The wind howled against the grand estate, blowing cold rain across my face, but for the first time in eight years, I felt like I could actually breathe.I got into my worn, decade-old silver hatchback…the one car I had kept in my own name, and turned the ignition. The engine sput

ELARA'S POVThe steady, rhythmic beep of a heart monitor was the first sound that pulled me from the darkness.I opened my eyes, expecting the sterile smell of bleached corridors and cold metal. Instead, the rich scent of crushed white lilies, cedarwood, and rain filled the air. I was lying in a plush bed, swathed in Egyptian cotton, inside a massive private medical suite that looked more like an estate bedchamber than an ICU."Careful," a low, gentle voice murmured beside me. "Don't try to sit up too fast. You have two fractured ribs."I turned my head slowly. Standing by the edge of my bed was the man from the crash…the dark-haired giant with those striking green eyes. He wore a crisp white medical coat, but his expression was stripped of all clinical detachment.In his hand, he held a worn, yellowed black-and-white photograph."Where... where am I?" I rasped, my throat raw and dry. "Who are you?""You are safe," he said softly, stepping closer. "You're at Villa Seraphine, in the pr