All Chapters of TOO LATE TO WANT ME : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Skylar’s POVAll my life I had been trampled on by others. People saw my quiet nature and thought it meant weakness, something they could step on without consequence. It chipped away at my self-esteem for years, shaping how I moved through the world, always expecting the next blow. But I had improved. I had stood up to Jason when it mattered most, finding strength I didn’t know I possessed. So who the hell was Natalia Dimitri to embarrass me like this in public, especially when I wasn’t at fault? The anger that had been simmering beneath the surface boiled over into something fierce and unyielding.Before I could even think twice, I reached down and yanked one of her legs out from under her. Natalia came crashing to the floor with a satisfying thud. She was all bones and sharp angles under that expensive dress. Nothing but fragile arrogance. The impact echoed through the now-quiet venue, drawing even more stares. I didn’t stop there. I grabbed a fistful of her perfectly styled hair

Chapter 32Skylar’s POV“Alright, let’s go to my car,” I said, glancing around the dimly lit area outside the venue. The adrenaline from the fight was still fading, leaving me hyper-aware of every stare and whisper that followed us.Mara hesitated, her eyes flicking toward the direction where Eric usually waited. “Won’t your assistant be there? Is it okay if he listens?”I pursed my lips, thinking it through. Eric was loyal, but some things were better kept between friends for now. “You have a great point. Let’s go to your car instead.”We walked slowly toward the parking lot, the cool night air brushing against my skin and making the damp patches on my clothes feel even colder. Eric was already standing by the vehicle, arms crossed in his usual watchful stance. His brow raised noticeably when he took in my disheveled appearance, wine-stained dress now hidden under Mara’s jacket, messy hair, and the faint redness still lingering on my cheeks from the confrontation. I gave him a small

Chapter 34 Zane’s POVI arrived back in New York late in the evening, the city lights pulled through the darkness as I drove. I hadn’t informed Skylar I was coming. There was something satisfying about dropping in on her unexpectedly, then watching her eyes widen with surprise, maybe even a flicker of fear before it melted into relief. I wanted to scare her a little, just enough to remind her how easily I could slip back into her world. She needed that reminder sometimes.The evening was cool, a light drizzle falling steadily and turning the streets glossy under my headlights. The fog hung low, thick and swirling, as I maneuvered my car through the quieter parts of the city. On purpose, I took the route through the old neighborhood where Skylar had once lived with Jason. The streets were familiar from all the reports and surveillance footage I’d studied. Every corner and every rundown building carried the ghost of her past struggles, and driving through it now fueled the cold satis

Skylar's POV"No… he doesn't. Why do you ask such creepy questions?" I ate my last piece of food and set the fork down."I just needed to be sure he wasn't threatening you. If that's all clear, I'll go up and change." He walked away.I stayed at the table after he left. The dining room was quiet with just me in it, the leftover warmth of my finished meal still in the air. I pressed my fingers to the side of my glass and looked at nothing in particular.Things had settled in the past few days in the way that only happens after a long stretch of everything going wrong at once. No drama. No phone calls from Jason. No messages from Natalia. No journalists sniffing around the story that had gone briefly viral and then, like all things, been replaced by something newer and louder. Just the studio, the training sessions, the evenings here. I had started sleeping properly again, which I took as a sign.I pushed back from the table and started gathering the dishes.I had just about finished st

Chapter 38Skylar's POVI made the coffee without saying much.Zane sat at the kitchen counter and talked about his plans for the day, about something he had read in the news that morning, about whether Agnes had remembered to restock the particular brand of tea he liked. But I was not present.I was standing at the counter with a mug in my hand and my mind somewhere else entirely, turning the nightmare over and over the way I did when something won't sit right. I had told myself it was just a dream. Dreams were just the brain cleaning house, sorting through the day's material, processing old fears, occasionally producing something horrifying from the combination of two completely unrelated memories. It meant nothing. I knew it meant nothing.But I kept thinking about the bottle.The label. The specific word… aphrodisiac. It was clear and legible in the dream, not blurred the way things in dreams usually were. The way he had held it up and turned it in