Chapter 1 · Now They Regret, Too Late

Chapter 1

I'm a mother who will do anything for her child. So when the mysterious chairman of the company sponsoring her vocal competition invited us to a private dinner to discuss an international opportunity, I accepted.

It was a chance to secure her future.

But the man sitting across the table was Edward Fields, my ex-husband, the man who shattered my heart into a million pieces five years ago.

And with him was my son, the child who abandoned me for another woman he wished was his mother.

Now, the boy stands up and whispers "Mom" with a sob.

That powerful man who never once defended me is staring at me with tears in his eyes.

*****

We hadn't seen each other in five years.

My silence slammed the room into an icy stillness.

The other guests, totally clueless about our messy history, scrambled to break the tension, standing up to congratulate my daughter, Molly Fields, on her first-place finish.

Meanwhile, I felt like my skull was splitting open, my stomach twisting into knots. Wave after wave of nausea hit me like I was staring down the barrel of a loaded gun.

Edward Fields and Charlie Fields started moving toward me, their mouths forming words I couldn't process.

I couldn't hear them, and I didn't want to. All I wanted was to escape this suffocating room, but my feet might as well have been nailed to the floor.

Molly yelled anxiously, "Mom, are you okay?"

"Anna, talk to me. You're scaring me," Edward said, standing right in front of me, worry and uncertainty fighting behind his eyes.

"Mom, please, what's happening?" Charlie blurted out.

Unlike his father's controlled panic, Charlie grabbed my arm desperately. I shoved him away on instinct. He stumbled backward and crashed to the floor, staring up at me in shock.

Edward clearly hadn't expected that. His carefully maintained composure shattered. He seized both my hands. "Do you have any idea how much he's missed you? How can you be this cold? Why won't you just..."

He couldn't even finish. Tears pooled in his eyes as he fought for control, holding me in place no matter how hard I tried to pull away.

"Let go of my mom!" Molly yelled. "Can't you see she's not okay?"

She shoved her father, the man she hadn't seen in five years, with all her might. "You have no right to talk to her like that!"

I stared at her, barely recognizing this brave young woman. She wasn't that timid little girl anymore, the one who used to cower in Edward's presence.

"We're leaving," I said. "Find someone else to sponsor."

For Molly's sake, I couldn't show weakness. I forced down the nausea, steadied my breathing, and looked around the room.

"Anna...

"Are you really just going to leave us? Leave your son?"

From behind me, a choked sob broke the silence.

I didn't answer. Just like five years ago, when I signed those divorce papers without hesitation while he hurled threats and insults at me, I took my daughter's hand and walked out without looking back.

A car pulled up to the curb. The driver's door swung open.

"Darling, what happened?" Ryan Carter blurted out.

He must've rushed over the second I called. The sight of those crooked buttons made me laugh despite everything, and just like that, the nausea finally eased up. "I'm fine now, really," I said, reaching over to fix his shirt. "Don't worry."

He let out a shaky breath. "Jesus, Anna. You scared the hell out of me."

A year ago, I got married again.

Ryan was the man who pulled me from the wreckage of my first marriage. When I was at my absolute lowest, he was the one who reached out and helped us get back on our feet.

Ryan was nice to me. He loved Molly like she was his own flesh and blood. Hell, he even offered to get a vasectomy, just to make sure she always felt secure, to prove our little family was enough for him.

His steady love has been the anchor Molly needed. She adored him, and in every way that mattered, he was her father.

"Dad, we're starving! Let's go!" Molly chirped.

She was jogging back from the convenience store with a bottle of water, her face flushed from the run. She didn't mention a single thing about what had happened.

Ryan had always been respectful of our boundaries. Unless I brought something up first, he never pried.

That unconditional trust and the way he always chose my side was what pulled me out of the darkness and back into the light.

"Is Molly asleep?" Ryan asked softly.

It was past ten when Molly woke up screaming from a nightmare, tears streaming down her face.

It took me nearly an hour to calm her down. Seeing Edward must've shaken her more than she let on.

"Yes, she's asleep now," I answered softly.

Curling into Ryan's arms, I pressed my ear against his chest, letting his steady heartbeat anchor me.

His voice rumbled under my cheek. "Annie, listen to me. You're free of that life. As long as I'm here, nobody's going to hurt you or Molly. I promise."

He was right. No point being afraid of ghosts from five years ago.

Ryan's soothing voice lulled me toward sleep.

But my dreams were a minefield of memories.

I was secretly in love with Edward for six years.

We met in high school music club and hit it off immediately. Then I fell hard and fast, but I kept it locked away.

Later, I followed him to the same music college, working up the courage to finally confess. But at a post-finals party, I watched him pull his girlfriend close and kiss her while everyone cheered them on. His eyes were so full of love for her.

That night, I snuck out and cried hard. Then I buried those feelings deep and threw myself into my studies.

After graduation, my talent for songwriting and performance caught the attention of a music company. A senior from college set up an interview for me.

Never in a million years did I expect the company owner to be Edward.

He said he remembered me, and he had followed my college performances, so he wanted me on his team.

I hesitated. Could I work for him? But then my friend dropped the bomb—he and his girlfriend had broken up because she had gotten a scholarship to study abroad, and he couldn't go with her. She chose her career over him.

And just like that, those buried feelings came roaring back to life.

What happened next could've been ripped from any romance novel. Working together drew us closer. Late nights at the office made the line between boss and friend blur into something electric.

Chapter 1

It was a chance to secure her future.

But the man sitting across the table was Edward Fields, my ex-husband, the man who shattered my heart into a million pieces five years ago.

And with him was my son, the child who abandoned me for another woman he wished was his mother.

Now, the boy stands up and whispers "Mom" with a sob.

That powerful man who never once defended me is staring at me with tears in his eyes.

*****

We hadn't seen each other in five years.

My silence slammed the room into an icy stillness.

The other guests, totally clueless about our messy history, scrambled to break the tension, standing up to congratulate my daughter, Molly Fields, on her first-place finish.

Meanwhile, I felt like my skull was splitting open, my stomach twisting into knots. Wave after wave of nausea hit me like I was staring down the barrel of a loaded gun.

Edward Fields and Charlie Fields started moving toward me, their mouths forming words I couldn't process.

I couldn't hear them, and I didn't want to. All I wanted was to escape this suffocating room, but my feet might as well have been nailed to the floor.

Molly yelled anxiously, "Mom, are you okay?"

"Anna, talk to me. You're scaring me," Edward said, standing right in front of me, worry and uncertainty fighting behind his eyes.

"Mom, please, what's happening?" Charlie blurted out.

Unlike his father's controlled panic, Charlie grabbed my arm desperately. I shoved him away on instinct. He stumbled backward and crashed to the floor, staring up at me in shock.

He couldn't even finish. Tears pooled in his eyes as he fought for control, holding me in place no matter how hard I tried to pull away.

"Let go of my mom!" Molly yelled. "Can't you see she's not okay?"

She shoved her father, the man she hadn't seen in five years, with all her might. "You have no right to talk to her like that!"

I stared at her, barely recognizing this brave young woman. She wasn't that timid little girl anymore, the one who used to cower in Edward's presence.

"We're leaving," I said. "Find someone else to sponsor."

For Molly's sake, I couldn't show weakness. I forced down the nausea, steadied my breathing, and looked around the room.

"Anna...

"Are you really just going to leave us? Leave your son?"

From behind me, a choked sob broke the silence.

A car pulled up to the curb. The driver's door swung open.

"Darling, what happened?" Ryan Carter blurted out.

He let out a shaky breath. "Jesus, Anna. You scared the hell out of me."

A year ago, I got married again.

Ryan was the man who pulled me from the wreckage of my first marriage. When I was at my absolute lowest, he was the one who reached out and helped us get back on our feet.

His steady love has been the anchor Molly needed. She adored him, and in every way that mattered, he was her father.

"Dad, we're starving! Let's go!" Molly chirped.

She was jogging back from the convenience store with a bottle of water, her face flushed from the run. She didn't mention a single thing about what had happened.

Ryan had always been respectful of our boundaries. Unless I brought something up first, he never pried.

That unconditional trust and the way he always chose my side was what pulled me out of the darkness and back into the light.

"Is Molly asleep?" Ryan asked softly.

It was past ten when Molly woke up screaming from a nightmare, tears streaming down her face.

It took me nearly an hour to calm her down. Seeing Edward must've shaken her more than she let on.

"Yes, she's asleep now," I answered softly.

Curling into Ryan's arms, I pressed my ear against his chest, letting his steady heartbeat anchor me.

His voice rumbled under my cheek. "Annie, listen to me. You're free of that life. As long as I'm here, nobody's going to hurt you or Molly. I promise."

He was right. No point being afraid of ghosts from five years ago.

Ryan's soothing voice lulled me toward sleep.

But my dreams were a minefield of memories.

I was secretly in love with Edward for six years.

We met in high school music club and hit it off immediately. Then I fell hard and fast, but I kept it locked away.

That night, I snuck out and cried hard. Then I buried those feelings deep and threw myself into my studies.

After graduation, my talent for songwriting and performance caught the attention of a music company. A senior from college set up an interview for me.

Never in a million years did I expect the company owner to be Edward.

He said he remembered me, and he had followed my college performances, so he wanted me on his team.

And just like that, those buried feelings came roaring back to life.

What happened next could've been ripped from any romance novel. Working together drew us closer. Late nights at the office made the line between boss and friend blur into something electric.