Now You Want Me? Too Late

Evelyn’s lips parted. For a moment, she forgot how to breathe.

"My degrees, my career, my success... none of it means anything when I come home to an empty life without you."

Her heart twisted painfully. Tears gathered in her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away.

She had spent years wondering whether she had ever mattered to him. Now he was telling her that his entire world felt incomplete without her. The happiness was almost too overwhelming to contain.

A part of her wanted to surrender immediately, to forgive him, embrace him, and return to the life she had once dreamed of. But another part reminded her of everything she had suffered.

She couldn’t make it that easy for him.

"I know you don’t want me anymore," Ian continued. "But I still want a chance. Give me three months. Let me try to win you back."

His gaze was unwavering. "After those three months, if you still believe I’m not sincere enough, you can leave. I won’t stop you. I won’t come after you again. I promise."

Evelyn studied his face.

Ian was a serious man. He didn’t make promises casually. If he had said he wanted her back, he meant it. And judging by the determination in his eyes, he was truly prepared to fight for her.

She wanted to tell him that she had already forgiven him. She wanted to tell him that she was ready to start over. But she wouldn’t.

Not yet.

She wanted to see what he would do. She wanted him to understand what it had felt like to spend years trying to win someone’s heart.

Evelyn wouldn’t make things easy for him. She wanted to be pursued, to be cherished. She wanted Ian to prove that this wasn’t merely a moment of regret.

"Fine. I’ll give you a chance."

Hope immediately flickered in Ian’s eyes.

"But there are conditions."

His smile faded slightly as he listened.

"During these three months, your priority should be me and Leo. If you leave us in the middle of our time together because of your work, we are done."

She pointed a warning finger at him. "You’ll lose your chance right there."

Ian stared at her for a moment before a genuine smile slowly spread across his face.

"I won’t disappoint you." He reached for her hand and gently held it. "I promise. I’ll learn to balance my responsibility toward my patients with my responsibility toward my family."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Late at night...

Elias was far too excited about Elena’s pregnancy to fall asleep.

He lay beside her, staring at her peaceful sleeping face. Every few moments, his fingers moved through her hair, gently stroking the soft strands away from her forehead.

He still couldn’t believe it.

Elena was pregnant. His children were growing inside her.

The thought filled his chest with an overwhelming mixture of happiness, awe, and protectiveness. Those two tiny lives were completely dependent on Elena. She was carrying his babies, nurturing them with every breath she took.

It was beautiful. But it was frightening, too. If anything happened to Elena, the children would be affected.

"I’ll erase every obstacle from your path," he whispered, his gaze dropping to her still-flat stomach. "No one will ever hurt you."

He leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss against her forehead.

Just then, his phone vibrated on the nightstand.

Elias glanced at the screen.

Owen’s name blinked.

His expression immediately turned serious. He had been waiting for Owen’s update about the encrypted emails.

Carefully, he slipped out of bed, making sure not to wake Elena. He walked out of the bedroom and quietly closed the door behind him before answering the call.

"Hello? What did you find?"

"Sir." Owen’s voice was tense. "I tracked down the email accounts."

Elias’s eyes narrowed. "And?"

"They are fake. They were created recently and used solely to mislead us. After the messages were sent, the accounts became inactive."

Elias’s expression hardened.

Whoever it was, they played them and fooled his entire security team.

"I tracked the IP address used to generate the encrypted emails," Owen went on. "It led us to a rented apartment in the eastern district."

He took a brief pause before speaking again. "My men and I are there now. We found the person who was using the accounts. He appears to be a professional hacker. We were going to catch him."

"Good." Elias’s voice was cold. "Bring him in. I want to know who hired him. Make sure he doesn’t slip away."

"We will. I’ll call you as soon as we have him."

The call ended.

But Elias didn’t return to bed immediately. Something about Owen’s words left him uneasy.

The truth was finally within reach.

Meanwhile, across the city...

Owen and his men surrounded the apartment building where the hacker had been hiding.

They had tracked him through the IP address used to send the encrypted messages. The connection had initially been routed through several temporary servers, making it difficult to identify the actual location. But Owen’s team had eventually traced the final connection to the apartment.

When they entered the building, the hacker realized immediately that someone had found him. He grabbed his laptop and rushed toward the back exit.

"Stop," one of Owen’s men shouted.

The man didn’t listen. He bolted through the narrow corridor and burst out through the rear door.

"Catch him," Owen ordered.

His men immediately chased after him.

The hacker sprinted down the dimly lit alley, clutching his laptop bag against his chest. His breathing became ragged as he pushed himself harder.

Owen and his men followed close behind.

"Don’t let him escape."

The hacker glanced over his shoulder. Seeing Owen gaining on him, panic flashed across his face. He suddenly turned onto a wider road.

"Max," Owen shouted. "He is going that way."

They chased him after. But before they could reach him, a car came speeding around the corner.

The hacker barely had time to turn his head, and the car slammed into him with terrifying force. His body was thrown several feet through the air before hitting the pavement.

Owen and his men froze. For a moment, nobody moved.

The entire incident had happened in seconds.

"Damn it," Owen cursed. He rushed toward the man and crouched beside him.

The hacker lay motionless on the road in a pool of blood. There was no response.

Owen checked for a pulse.

Nothing.

The man was dead.

Owen’s face darkened with frustration. "Fuck," he cursed again.

Everything had happened too quickly.

His men had been focused entirely on catching the hacker. None of them had managed to get a clear look at the vehicle, let alone its license plate.

By the time they looked up, the car was already disappearing into the distance.

"Did anyone see the number plate?" Owen demanded.

His men exchanged helpless glances.

"No, sir."

Owen clenched his fists. They had finally found the person who could lead them to the mastermind. And now he was dead.

"Search the area," Owen ordered sharply. "There has to be a surveillance camera somewhere nearby. Check every building, traffic camera, parking lot—anything that could have recorded that car."

"Yes, sir."

His men immediately scattered.

Owen pulled out his phone and called the police to report the accident. While he waited, his gaze remained fixed on the dead hacker.

Something about the timing felt wrong. It was too convenient.

The man had been caught. He had been chased. And then, within seconds, a car had appeared out of nowhere and silenced him forever.

’Was this really an accident?’ Owen’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.

On the other end, the car sped through the deserted streets. The driver kept his eyes on the road, his hands firmly gripping the steering wheel.

After several turns, he pulled out his phone and made a call.

Vivian answered almost immediately.

"It’s done, ma’am. The hacker is dead."

Vivian fell silent. A long breath escaped her lips.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. He died at the scene. Owen and his men were chasing him. Before they could catch him, I silenced him."

Vivian closed her eyes. Relief washed over her.

The one person who could have exposed her involvement was gone.

She had been terrified that Owen would force the hacker to reveal everything, that Elias would eventually discover the truth behind the fake emails and learn that she had orchestrated the entire scheme.

But now there was nothing left for them to uncover. At least, that was what she believed.

"That’s good," she whispered. Her shoulders finally relaxed. "My secret is still safe."

She ended the call and stared into the darkness outside her window. A faint smile appeared on her lips.

"Elias will never find out the truth. Tomorrow, he has to fire Elena. He can’t go against the board."

Vivian’s eyes gleamed with cold satisfaction. She believed everything was finally going according to plan. By tomorrow, Elena would lose her position at the company, and the project would be cancelled.

Vivian was certain Elena’s perfect life would begin to crumble.

"This is just the beginning, Elena. Slowly, you will lose everything."

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