Her Regret Came Too Late Chapter 09

Her Regret Came Too Late Chapter 09

My fists clenched. The knuckles went white.

But Ariel didn’t back away. She put her phone back in her pocket.

Then she walked calmly across the room and positioned herself between me and Dillan, her back straight, her chin lifted.

“I already called the police,” she said. Her voice was ice. “They’ll be here in three minutes. If you’re not gone by then, you’re going to jail. Do you understand?”

Dillan’s face twitched. His eyes darted to the door, then back to her.

“Who do you think you are?” he spat. “What gives you the right to talk to me like that? Lambert, are you even a man? Hiding behind a woman? Pathetic.”

I didn’t answer him. I crouched down and spoke softly to the children.

“It’s okay, everyone. Don’t be scared. Callie, I need you to be brave for me, okay? Take the other kids into the back room and lock the door. Don’t come out until I come get you.”

Callie looked up at me with her red, tear-streaked face. Her lower lip trembled. But she nodded.

One by one, they filed into the back room. The door clicked shut. Then I heard the lock turn.

Dillan watched this. His face grew darker, more twisted. When the children were gone, he pointed at my face again, his finger shaking.

“You think you’ve won, Lambert?” he yelled at me. “You destroyed my life. Everything I built. Everything I worked for. Gone. Because of you.”

“You did that to yourself, Dillan,” I replied calmly.

“Shut up!” He took a step toward me. Ariel didn’t move. She stood her ground.

Outside, in the distance, a siren wailed.

Dillan froze.

The sound grew louder and closer.

cursed-a long stream of ugly words. His face went through a series of expressions: rage, fear, disbelief,

feat.

“You got lucky this time,” he said, backing toward the door. His voice was shaking now. “But this isn’t over, Lambert. You hear me? This isn’t over.”

He slammed the door so hard the glass in the window rattled. Then he was gone.

I stood there for a long moment, my heart pounding, my hands still shaking.

I looked up at Ariel. She was standing by the overturned workbench, looking at the mess. Her hands were clasped in front of her, but I could see them trembling.

I set down the paper. I looked at the children. They were staring at Victoria with curious eyes.

“Class is over for today,” I said. “I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

The children packed up their things slowly, dragging their feet. They kept looking back at Victoria as they left. Callie was the last to go. She stopped at the door and looked at me.

“Mr. Clark,” she said, “are you okay?”

“I’m fine, little one. Go find your aunt.”

She nodded and ran out.

The door closed.

The room was quiet.

I turned around and leaned against my workbench. I looked at Victoria with a face that showed nothing.

I asked quietly, “What do you want?”

Her eyes turned red immediately. Tears welled up but didn’t fall. She took one step toward me, then stopped -like she was afraid I would disappear if she got too close.

“I was wrong,” she said. Her lips trembled.

I said nothing.

“I know I shouldn’t have lied to you.” The tears started falling now. Her voice broke on every word. “The birth control. The hospital visits. Dillan. Everything. I was wrong, Lambert. I was so wrong. I shouldn’t have treated you like that.”

She took another step. Then another.

“Please come back,” she whispered. “Come home with me. We can start over. I’ll do anything. I’ll be better. I promise.”

I smiled. A small smile. There was no warmth in it.

“Three years ago, you married me,” I said, my voice flat. “Not because you liked me. Because Dillan needed

his position in the Clark family.”

rumpled, but she didn’t deny it.

ears, you didn’t want my child.” I kept going, each word a small, sharp blade. “You took birth ehind my back. You made excuses. You said you were too busy. But the real reason was that you fraid if I had an heir, Dillan would lose his standing in the family. You were protecting him. Not me.

ever me.”

“Lambert-“|

“You never, for one single moment, were honest with me.

“That’s not true,” she sobbed. “I really regret it. The night you jumped, I watched your video. I read your post. I sat on that cliff and I-”

“Enough.”

I turned around. I couldn’t look at her anymore.

“Leave,” I said. “I don’t want to see you again.”

“Lambert, please—”

“I said leave.”

Victoria stood there for a long time. I could hear her breathing-shallow, broken, full of tears.

Still, I didn’t turn around.

Finally, I heard the door open. I heard her footsteps move through it.

Then the door closed.

I stood there for a long time, my back to the door, my hands resting on the workbench. The workshop was so quiet I could hear my own heartbeat.

I thought about the woman who had just left. The woman who had lied to me for three years.

Then I closed my eyes, feeling utterly drained.