All Chapters of Late Remorse: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Sienna's POVI hung up and stared quietly at the birthday dinner on the table. It had long since gone cold and congealed.A film of cold grease had formed over the top. Beside the plate sat a tiny strawberry cake.I picked up the plate, carried it into the kitchen, and scraped every last bit of it into the trash.The clock read eleven when I heard someone at the door.Levi walked in, with Tessa right behind him."Sienna, how come you're not crying today?"She peeked out from behind Levi, swallowed up in his huge black rain jacket, looking tiny and innocent.Levi changed out of his shoes and glanced up to find me sitting on the couch. His lips curled into a mocking smile.He went over to the kitchen island and poured himself a glass of water, his tone careless."Still up? Finally come to your senses?"If you apologize right now and promise to stop policing who I'm friends with, maybe I'll still give you the birthday present I bought you."I looked at him and said nothing.I

Biscuit was wheeled into the ICU.The vet told me he was in critical condition. His organs were failing, and all they could do was try their best.I went to the front desk and paid a $4,000 deposit, then sat on a plastic chair in the hallway, dripping wet, like something dragged out of a lake.My phone buzzed.It was a text from Levi's buddy, Jason Crowe.He'd sent the location of an upscale restaurant."Sienna, it was your thirtieth birthday yesterday. Levi booked out the whole place to surprise you and make it up to you."He talks tough, but he's a softie. Get over here. Everyone's waiting for you."I stared at the words on the screen. It was absurd.Wasn't he soaking in a hot spring up in the mountains? How was he suddenly back in the city, booking out a restaurant?Tessa had probably had her fill of the hot spring, and only then did he graciously remember that yesterday was the thirtieth birthday of the girlfriend he'd been with for seven years.I looked at the closed do

Third-person POVLevi figured Sienna was just throwing a tantrum.Over the past five years, she'd threatened to break up plenty of times.The worst time, she'd actually packed her suitcase and dragged it all the way to the elevator.But he'd just stood in the doorway and said coldly, "If you get in that elevator today, don't ever come back."Sienna had burst into tears on the spot. She'd dragged the suitcase back inside and cooked him dinner, crying the whole time.So this time, Levi wasn't worried in the slightest.He even believed that pouring out the liquor at the restaurant was just an extreme move to force him to back down."Let her stew for a couple of days. She'll come crawling back on her own," he told Jason.For three days, he deliberately stayed away from the apartment and didn't send Sienna a single message.Then, on the afternoon of the third day, Tessa cut her finger opening a package at the office.She held up her finger, a bead of blood welling on it, and whin

Levi returned to the empty apartment.He didn't turn on the lights.In the glow of the streetlights outside, he threw himself onto the couch.It was too quiet.He patted his pocket for a cigarette, only to find the pack empty.He leaned forward and pulled open the coffee table drawer, looking for a spare pack.He didn't find any cigarettes. Instead, his hand landed on a thick hardcover notebook.Levi took it out and, by the light of his phone's flashlight, opened it to the first page.It was a scrapbook.It was full of clippings and printouts, with Sienna's neat handwriting all over the margins.The first section was nothing but recipes for his favorite dishes."Levi won't eat cilantro. Cut the green onions into big pieces so he can pick them out.""He loves barbecue ribs, but not too sweet. Add extra apple cider vinegar."Further in, it was all guides for managing his stomach condition."Prilosec: take it thirty minutes before meals.""After he drinks with clients, alwa

One evening in early winter, the temperature plunged.The sea breeze turned biting.I put away the carving tools on the studio counter and got ready to pull down the rolling door and close up.The moment I turned around, I froze.Someone was standing under the streetlight outside.It was Levi.I barely recognized him.He'd lost so much weight he looked like a different person. The black coat that used to fit him perfectly hung off his frame.His eyes were sunken and bloodshot, and his jaw was covered in dark stubble.There was no trace left of the composed, superior executive he used to be.He stood in the cold wind, shivering.And there was a strange bulge inside his coat.When he saw me turn around, he strode toward me.He unzipped his coat and pulled out a puppy.A golden retriever puppy.He couldn't have been more than a month or two old, a fluffy little thing that looked exactly like Biscuit had as a puppy.Levi looked at me, and his eyes went red.His voice was h