Novel & Cerita His Love For Me Came Too Late

Matt had forced me to cut off my friends, making me believe they were a bad influence, but Vivian had never stopped caring about me. Hearing her ramble about her crush made me feel like the young, unburdened girl I used to be before I threw my life away for a loveless marriage. We talked for a while. "Good. Rest up tonight, okay? I will see you tomorrow," Vivian said warmly. "Love you, Tyla." "Love you too, Vivi. Bye." I hung up the phone and set it back on the desk. But before I could even touch my keyboard to type the next line of code, the desk began to vibrate against my hands once more.

Like I’d bleed for her. And when we both came, it was loud, messy, devastating. She shook under me. I buried myself in her and stayed there, head resting against her shoulder, our skin slick and steaming. For a long time, we just breathed. And then I said the only truth I hadn’t dared say aloud until now. “I love you, Sara. Even when it hurts.” She turned to me, eyes soft but steady. “I know. That’s why I keep coming back.” And I knew, right then, it was already too late.

When the fire trapped me, my Alpha mate, Graeme Blackwood, was throwing a birthday party for my little sister, Ayana. I was locked in the basement, trembling so violently my bones clattered against each other. When the flames first caught, I called him. Begged him. His voice was ice. "Evelyn, stop the act. It's Ayana's birthday. I'm not letting you out just so you can ruin it. Let her have her night. Once she's happy, I'll let you out." I tried to explain. With the last shred of strength I had, I called him again. He hung up on me. So I just watched. Watched the flames swallow everything.

He couldn’t feel me at all. It was as if I had become a transparent ghost? But he didn’t stop. He leaned down and pressed his forehead to mine. I flinched. Could he feel me? Could I feel him? “I should’ve fought for you. But I hid. I watched. And now… now it’s too late. I love you, Rhea. I always did. Please, come back…” He said, voice raw, barely a whisper. He... He loved me?!

He looked at me with late, clumsy tenderness. "Ava is gone. South Harbor is clean. But I know all of it came too late. I'm not saying this so you'll forgive me. I just want you to know that I love you." His thoughts stayed quiet for a long time. Then I heard that familiar voice again. [Vivi, I really love you. This time, I don't need you to prove anything. I don't need you to turn back. I just hope you don't hurt because of me anymore.]

I can't hold back from crying now. He held onto me, tapping my back and reassuring me. “I’m sorry for coming so late,” he muttered. “I… I almost made the wrong decision.” “Thank you for coming back for me,” I told him, still crying. Looking into his eyes, I muttered those three words heavily. “I love you.”

And then she said the sentence that changed everything. A sentence that stole my breath. “Because I love him.” I froze. My eyes widened. She repeated it. “I love him, Claire. I’ve loved him for a long time. Even before your marriage. And I always knew that one day, he would realize he never stopped loving me either.” I stood there, motionless. Silent. I think my heart stopped beating for two seconds. She kept going, as if finally vomiting out her truth: “And yes… I signed.

"Juliana, I know it's too late to say any of this. But I still need you to know. I love you." I listened quietly and felt nothing. The love he thought he had discovered had come too late. Worse, it felt cheap. "It's too late," I said, meeting his gaze. "I'm married. I have a child. Whatever you're saying now means nothing to me." The blood drained from his face. He took a step toward me, as if he wanted to grasp something before it slipped away, but he did not dare touch me. "If I had understood my own heart five years ago..." His voice cracked. "Would the one who married you have been me?"

From that moment on I'd come there not just for an escape, but for her. The pain in my chest as she offered those words of friendship days ago, offering to listen despite the distance was the final straw that brought my realization. I loved her. And it was too late. I felt my heart break when I kissed her forehead. I hadn't said those words only from being too late to see her as she was. It was too late to do anything about it. A warm pressure on my arm made me nearly flinch until I met familiar eyes and yellow blonde hair in pinned ringlets. I was so out of it that I hadn't noticed her entrance?

"No, no… That's not true. I love this child. How could I not love him? He was our child. He was born from the precious bond between you and me. He was one of a kind to me. How could you bear to let him go?" I forced myself to sit up against the headboard. With a voice as cold as ice, I shattered Henry's last illusion. "To a man like you, nothing is one of a kind, not even your ridiculous idea of love."