All Chapters of Too Late For Regrets, Mr Sterling : Chapter 1 - Chapter 4

The steam rising from the ceramic mug on my dining table had long gone cold. It was a mug of black, foul-smelling Chinese herbal tonic—the third batch I had boiled this week, and the hundredth I had forced down my raw throat over the last five years.Every woman who has ever begged the universe for a child knows the smell of that bitterness. For five years, my life had been reduced to a humiliating cycle of basal thermometers, scheduled intimacy, invasive dye tests, and the quiet agony of white test strips that never turned pink.Whenever my period arrived, Julian would hold me in the dark. He would bury his face in my neck, his hot tears soaking my collarbone, whispering, "Don't cry, Evie. We'll try again next month. God is just testing us. I want a baby with you more than I want my own life."I believed him. I loved him so deeply that I had walked away from my family's astronomical fortune, keeping my true name buried so he could build his pride from the ground up without living in

The ballroom of the Sovereign Grand Hotel gleamed under massive crystal chandeliers. Champagne flutes chimed against laughter, diamonds threw cold sparks across velvet gowns, and the scent of expensive perfume hung heavy in the air.I stood near the marble terrace doors, wrapped in a simple, charcoal silk sheath dress. My skin was still pale from the surgery earlier that morning, but my posture was straight as a drawn arrow.Around my throat sat a modest silver chain. No flashy gems. No ostentatious heirlooms. After five years away from this world, I wanted to see everything clearly before the curtain fell."Evelyn?!"A harsh, irritated whisper hissed from the edge of the champagne fountain.Julian marched toward me, clutching an engraved leather folder to his chest. He wore a rented navy tuxedo that pulled too tight across his shoulders, his hair slicked back with too much pomade.Right behind him waddled Chloe. She was clad in a floor-length white chiffon maternity gown that billowe