All Chapters of Too Late To Love Me: I Already Left With His Twins: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Lydia POVStraight at me.For one stupid second, I almost pretended I had spoken to the toaster.Dave’s eyes narrowed slightly.“What?”I lifted my mug and nodded toward the files.“The merger,” I said. “It’s not the numbers making you hesitate.”Silence.Then, very flatly, “And what exactly makes you think you know what I’m hesitating over?”Rude.Consistent, but rude.I leaned one shoulder against the kitchen arch and took a sip of coffee before answering.“Because if the numbers were the issue, you’d already have walked away.”His expression didn’t change.But something in his face sharpened.I continued before I could overthink myself into shutting up.“It sounds like you don’t trust the leadership.”He stared at me.Actually stared.Not the usual half-dismissive glance he gave me like I was a decorative inconvenience.This was different.This was attention.Dangerous thing.I set my mug down on the counter.“They’ve had too many reputation issues too close together,” I said. “Eve

Dave POVThe merger had taken three weeks, two near-collapses, and more emergency calls than I cared to count. By the time the ink dried, I was done with boardrooms, done with spreadsheets, and done with people who needed things from me.So I booked dinner.A private rooftop at one of the most expensive restaurants in the city. The kind of place where discretion came with the bill.I didn't usually do gestures.Not because I didn't know how.Because I found most of them performative.But tonight felt like it required one.So I arranged the flowers.The candles.A violinist in the far corner, subtle enough not to be offensive.A skyline view.Soft lighting.A dessert course I knew she liked.And, because Cyn loved spectacle more than subtlety, I added a fireworks package timed for dessert.It was excessive.She would like that.When I arrived, everything was already set.The table sat near the edge of the terrace, overlooking the city in a spread of gold and white lights. Tall candles

Lydia POVDave came home with a face I had never seen before.Not angry.Not even his usual emotionally constipated billionaire expression.This one was worse.He looked tired.The kind of tired that sits behind a person’s eyes after something has gone very wrong and they are trying not to let it show.It was… unsettling.Mostly because Dave Ashton did not come to this house at night.At least, not like this.Not without warning.Not without his usual polished, controlled air that made him look like he had never once lost an argument, a deal, or a woman.But tonight?Tonight he looked like life had just slapped him across the face in public.And strangely enough, I hated how much I noticed.I was downstairs in the living room with my laptop open on my lap, half working, half pretending I was not emotionally attached to fictional Korean people whose lives were somehow still more stable than mine.A half-finished strategy document sat on my screen.I had been trying to work through a ce

Lydia POVHis hand lifted. Slowly. Like he was giving me time to stop him.And when his fingers touched my jaw, every thought in my head vanished on impact.I should have stepped back. I know that. I should have remembered every annoying thing about him. Every dismissive thing. Every cold thing. Every Cyn thing.But he was looking at me like none of that existed in the room anymore.And maybe I was lonelier than I wanted to admit. Maybe he was too. Maybe that was the real danger. Not attraction. Need.His thumb brushed lightly against my skin, tracing the line of my jaw with a gentleness that felt almost unfair. My breath caught. He looked at my mouth again, then back at my eyes.And very quietly, he asked, “Tell me to stop.”I should have. God knows I should have.Instead, I just stood there looking at him like my common sense had died in the hallway downstairs.That was apparently answer enough.Because the next second, he kissed me.And every single intelligent thou

Lydia POVI stared at my reflection again, and for the first time in my life, I looked like someone I did not know how to help.I changed in under two minutes.A loose boubou gown.Slides.Face cap.No earrings.No dignity.I didn’t even tell Bernard where I was going.I just rushed downstairs, booked a ride, and left before anyone could ask questions.The mall close by was still open.Thank God for capitalism.I walked into the pharmacy section trying very hard not to look like a woman whose life was currently dissolving from the inside out.I failed.Miserably.The girl at the counter looked about nineteen and far too calm for the emotional apocalypse I was carrying in my chest.“Hi,” I said.She smiled. “Good evening, ma.”“Pregnancy test.”Her smile stayed exactly the same.Professional queen.She reached under the counter and placed two brands in front of me.I bought both.By the time I got home, my palms were sweating.Bernard saw me at the entrance and immediately frowned.“Ma