Too Late For His Regret Now

quiet neglect, all while believing I was his fiancée, building a future for us after sacrificing my own professional dreams. This illusion shattered one nigh

olina, plans for a bridal fitting, and a cruel group chat with Jeanie plotting my departure. Lying in bed beside him as he texted his tru

dusty CPA textbooks, wiping away three years of neglect, and registered for the exam

t just leave; I would dismantle everything

pte

rey

ogany dining table. The heat seared straight through the

asted copper. In the foster care system, showing pain only made yo

hed down the front of my faded cotton shirt, trying to make

al flute of champagne in her hand. She looked

arp enough to cut glass. "You are going to ruin

step backward off the patter

k up. He never did. He had spent his entire life bowing to his mother's iron wi

keeping my voice sof

s thumbs kept flying ac

air directly to Kieran's right, ready to sit bes

ainst her water glass. The sharp

er fork toward the far end of the long table, where

r. I looked at Kieran, waiting for him to say som

ok a slow sip, and deliberately loo

nd suffocating. I let go of the chair. I walked to th

ed," she complained loudly. "It's like chewing le

l of dry asparagus and forced it into my mouth.

ce, broken only by Jeanie's relentless, one-sided criticis

on her plate. "Wash the hand-painted porcelain plates. By h

tched Kieran offer his arm to his mother, es

the tap was freezing cold. It soaked my raw, blist

ds on a towel. I prepared a silver tray with two cups of E

wood door was

ie's hushed voice drifted through t

hands suddenly felt like it weighed a hund

nie said. "We need the capital injection from C

voice was hesitant. "Sh

he is a free nanny, Kieran. She does the

ree years, I had scrubbed their floors and catered to their every whim, believing

e agonizing seconds o

eran finally said.

ilver tray. I bit down on my lower lip so hard the s

nt step backward in

mporary substitut

d ever