TOO LATE TO WANT ME BACK, MR CEO

Aurora

"From now on, she will be staying with us."

The words didn't feel real. Damien was holding the hands of a woman lovingly as they both stared at me like I was the stranger in the house.

She was decked in a breathtakingly sexy silk dress, its neckline daringly low and its back nearly nonexistent.

"What are you saying Damien?" I muttered under my breath, suddenly losing the strength to speak.

He made his way inside, ignoring my question. She sauntered past me, holding his hands like she was declaring her ownership, in a way I never was able to.

"I expected a warmer welcome." She gestured to the sofa, her lips curving in a condescending smile when I shook my head in disbelief.

"Oh, of course, Damien hadn't told you. I am his first love."

I stared at her, stricken. I knew her. Genevieve. The woman he never stopped talking about.

Wiping my sweaty hands on my apron, I suddenly became self conscious. I probably smelled like dinner and looked as tired as I felt on the inside.

Maybe this was all a joke. But nothing prepared me for his next words. "I want a divorce."

The words hung in the air, making breathing difficult. It was heavy and sharp, like something that could cut if I reached out to touch it.

For a moment, I thought I was imagining it. But when I looked up, Damien Cross was still standing there, calmly watching me with no emotion in his eyes.

My husband of four years. The man I had built my quiet, fragile world around. I walked away, heading back to the kitchen to continue cooking like nothing had happened.

I heard his footsteps seconds later and the sound of something dropping on the kitchen counter where I sliced the vegetables. My eyes followed its landing. It was a brown file.

Something warned me against opening it, but against my better judgement, I did.

My heart stopped beating at the sight of the words 'Divorce.'

"I don't want to put the both of us through another ten years of the same mundane life," he continued, his voice calm, like he had rehearsed this.

"I'm in love with Genevieve."

My grip on the knife tightened slightly.Genevieve. Of course. Her name had already carved its place into my life long before today.

"She struggles," he added, almost thoughtfully, "seeing the both of us together at events."

Something in my chest twisted painfully and I smiled wryly. She struggles, but I'm happy? I'm happy to have been a place holder for four years? I'm ecstatic that my husband moaned another woman's name when he was in bed with me?But the words never made it out.

Because speaking had never changed anything."We've both been miserable," he said. "This would be good for us."

A quiet scoff slipped past my lips before I could stop it. He didn't look guilty. If anything, he looked relieved. Like he had already walked away from this marriage long before today.

"Do you think I don't struggle too?" I asked quietly. "When you come home late... or don't come home at all?"

Damien frowned slightly, like the question genuinely confused him."Genevieve is my first and only love," he said simply.

"I thought she disappeared years ago. Now she's back and I can't let this marriage stand in the way of that."It was cold, but it was the truth.

I had always known from the very beginning that he was never meant to be mine. I was a second choice. No. I was the only choice he had when she left him.

And now that she was back, there was no longer a reason to keep me."Fine," I said tonelessly. "I'll sign it."

The more time I spent in his company, the more I realized there was no point engaging in any verbal warfare against the other woman. He knew what he wanted, and it wasn't me.

So there was no point in arguing, I thought numbly.I set the knife down carefully and turned off the stove, wiping my hands slowly with a towel.

Tears burned in my eyes, but I didn't let them fall as I signed.I opened the file and pulled out the papers. The words blurred at first, but I forced myself to read.

When I came to the realization that I was leaving with nothing, a hollow laugh almost escaped me. Damien Cross never left loose ends.

"I'll call Dorinda to finish dinner," I said softly after signing. He didn't stop or look at me as I walked out.

I packed quickly, stepping out of the house with my chest felt too tight, like I couldn't breathe properly. I didn't know where I was going. I just knew that I just needed to leave.

The road blurred as tears filled my eyes. I wiped them angrily, gripping the steering wheel tighter.

My thoughts were incoherent and I could scarcely see where I was headed with the tears blurring my sight.

My phone blared in the chaos and I picked without checking the caller. "Hello...?"

"Aurora, it's your gynecologist," the voice came through clearly. "You came in earlier today for your routine tests, remember?"

I frowned slightly, trying to focus amidst the tears and heartache. "Yes... I remember."

There was a pause before she continued."I have your results. You're pregnant."Everything stopped moving at that moment.

My tears halted instantly."What...?" I whispered.

"You're pregnant, Aurora. It's still early, but the results are clear."Pregnant.

The word echoed in my head over and over again, my heart beating harder and harder against my chest, and fear choking the hell out of me.

A strange calm washed over me as if I had stepped out of my own body.Damien's child was growing inside me.

My grip on the wheel loosened slightly as my mind drifted.Our baby.Would he have stayed if he knew? Would things have been different?The sound of a loud horn cut through my chaos and my head snapped up.

Bright lights flashed directly in front of me."Shit!"

I tried to turn the wheel but it was too late. The impact came hard, the glass of my vehicle shattering on my face as my body jerked forward violently as the car spun.Everything went silent.

But pain existed in the silence. Then came the voices."Someone call an ambulance!"

"She's still inside!"My eyes fluttered weakly. I couldn't see clearly as everything was hazy. Just then the car door was forced open and cold air rushed in.Strong hands reached for me.

"It's okay... I've got you," a deep voice said.It sounded so familiar that my heart trembled."Damien..." I whispered weakly.

Of course he came.He wouldn't just leave me like that... right?The man pulled me gently from the wreckage, holding me close."You're safe," he said again.

I clung to him, my fingers weakly gripping his shirt."I knew... you'd come..." I murmured, my voice breaking. The darkness crept in as I laid in his arms.

The last thought I had was that even if I died right now. I would die happy knowing he came after me

Aurora (18 months later)

When I opened my eyes, everything felt... wrong.

The world felt slow and heavy like I had been asleep for too long. A dull headache throbbed behind my eyes as I blinked, trying to focus.

The ceiling above me was unfamiliar, white and just too bright.Beep... beep... beep...The sound was sharp and annoying.

It filled the room like it was mocking me, interrupted by a soft whimper. I turned my head slightly in the direction of the sound and came face to face with the sight of a man standing by the side of the room, holding a small child wrapped in soft cloth.

He was feeding the baby carefully, like he had done it a hundred times before.I frowned, feeling very confused and disoriented."What..."

My voice came out as dry as paper. "What is going on?"

The man froze before slowly turning to look at me. Shock filled his face."You're awake." he breathed.

Before I could ask anything else, the doctors rushed in, checking me and probing for questions"Her vitals are stable!"

"She's conscious!"

"Can you hear me, ma'am?"Nothing was making sense. It felt like I was in a fever dream and everything was happening too fast. Until they said it.

"You were in a coma for eighteen months."My world stopped.Eighteen months? That was impossible.

"You had a severe accident and you were lucky to survive.

"Accident? The memory of the car crash came back in full force. The road. The lights. The person who saved me.

I glanced at the young man who was in the room with the baby and still didn't understand his involvement in this. One of the doctors seemed to realize my confusion and smiled gently."He's yours.

"The words didn't register."He... what?"

"Your son," the man added softly, stepping closer. "You gave birth while you were unconscious.

"I stared at the baby in silent shock. I gave birth while I was in a coma? It was my baby?"No," I shook my head slowly.

"That's not possible."But it was. They explained everything bit by bit until I understood and my memory returned to me in pieces.

Damien had left me and I had gotten a call about my pregnancy, just before I had gotten into an accident. Someone else had saved me. Not Damien.

And somewhere in between all of that, I had began a new strange life.My gaze returned to the child.

He had big familiar eyes. He looked like Damien. A sharp ache pierced through my chest.Everything felt like a cruel joke.

It all seemed like a grand prank scheme. I half expected someone to pop out from the shadows with a smile and a camera and say."We got you!"

But in the past two hours since my 'resurrection', everything still seemed very real. Everything that made the past and my present real, was a goddamn blur.

The only thing left was my future.I reached for my phone with trembling hands. It felt strange, like I was holding something from another life. I turned it on and the date stared back at me. My breath caught.

A year had gone by just like that.My fingers moved slowly as I searched for the only name my heart still remembered. Damien Cross.

The results came quickly. There were news articles and headlines of the young billionaire of course. I thought with a wry smile. My chest tightened as I opened one.

"Business Tycoon Damien Cross Announces Engagement to Longtime Love Genevieve."

My eyes burned with tears. There they were. Smiling. Happy. Complete. Like I had never existed. They were engaged huh?

My grip on the phone tightened before I dropped it onto the bed. Tears slid silently down my face and I wiped away at them angrily.

I could no longer waste any tears for him or anyone else.Besides me, the whimpering sounds persisted. I turned my head to see the baby awake already looking at me with a smile.

My heart clenched and hesitantly, I reached out and picked him up. He was warm and so small, yet so real.

My lips trembled as I held him closer."My baby..." I whispered.

His tiny fingers curled around mine and I could not hold back on my tears as I held him in my arms. I guess I could cry for you.

I thought with a smile as my heart swelled with a feeling I could not describe. I held him tighter, tasting salt as the tears kept pouring.

"I don't know how... or why this happened," I said softly. "But I promise you..."

"I will protect you."From everything. From the world. From the pain I knew too well. And most of all..."From him."

My eyes hardened slightly. Damien Cross would never know. He would never take this child away from me or be able to hurt him like he hurt me.

As I vowed to myself I realized quietly that for the first time since I woke up, I wasn't lost. Because now, I had something worth fighting for.

Aurora

I had nowhere to go. I realized that long before I was discharged from the hospital.

I was practically homeless as I had no husband, or home to call my own. I could go back to my parent's but it would just be an extra financial burden on them especially with my baby.

I held him closer as I stepped out of the hospital, the sun too bright against my eyes.

The world had moved on without me. Everything felt unfamiliar, odd, and cold.

"Aurora."

I turned at the sound of my name. It was the stranger. The man who had been there when I woke up.

The one who had been taking care of my baby like he belonged to him. Leon.

He walked toward me, calmly, like he had all the time in the world."Where do you plan to go from here?" he asked simply.

I swallowed, avoiding his eyes out of embarrassment. "I'll figure something out."

"You don't have to." His gaze strayed to the baby in my arms, then back to me. "Come with me."I hesitated.

I didn't know him at all. But he had been the one to save me and take care of my baby for the long period of my comatose state. For some reason, I trusted him.

And also, I had no one else. I nodded in agreement.His house was quiet, clean and warm.

I stood awkwardly in the living room while he set my things down."You can stay here as long as you need," he said.

"Why?"

I asked before I could stop myself. "Why are you helping me?"He paused, then shrugged slightly. "Because you need help.

"That was it. There was no pity or questions or expectations. My heart was filled with gratitude.

As the days passed, I slowly started to adjust. Leon helped more than he should have. He bought things for the baby.

Woke up at night when he cried. Cooked. Cleaned. And never complained. Neither did he ask for anything in return and that scared me a little because I wasn't used to kindness without a price.

One afternoon, I tried calling home. My fingers trembled as I held the phone to my ear. But it rang until it went straight to voicemail.

I kept trying everyone's number but none went through.A tight pain formed in my chest as I slowly realized. They didn't call me or look for me, not even when I was in a coma or even when I almost died.

My family had always been responsible for asking, asking and asking even while I was sinking.

My getting married to Damien had been a poverty alleviation scheme to them.They had tormented me about giving him an heir to seal my position as his wife forever.

I would forever be grateful to God for not permitting that to happen as my child would have been subjected to a life of misery and suffering from him and his mistress.

A bitter laugh slipped past my lips as I slowly lowered the phone.

"I guess I really am alone."As if to remind me of his presence, a small giggle broke the silence and I turned to the sight of my laughing baby, staring at me with wide eyes.

"No..." I whispered, walking toward him. "I'm not alone." I picked him up gently, holding him close."I have you, Theo," I whispered softly, brushing my fingers against his cheek.

The name felt right, like something new. I had not realized that we weren't alone until I heard the voice of Leon and looked back to find him leaning against the door, watching quietly."Theo," he repeated.

"It suits him."I smiled faintly, acknowledging him."I'm heading to work." He announced, lifting Theo in his arms and playing with him a little.

The sight brought a genuine smile to my face. That could have been Damien. I quickly got the thought out of my head. He didn't deserve that. Not with me.

The days quickly became boring with me practically eating and sleeping daily. I didn't want to sit around and do nothing. I couldn't.

So one evening, while Theo slept, I picked up a pencil and I started sketching.The ideas flowed out of me like they had been waiting and when I was done, I stared at the paper in shock."Did I really draw this?"

It was beautiful, better than anything I remembered.My fingers trembled slightly.Fashion design. I used to love it. It used to be my dream.

"Maybe..." I whispered to myself. "Maybe I can do this again."But reality hit quickly. I had nothing to my name. No money at all.

My savings were nothing to write home about. The little I had had been siphoned by my family.

My chest tightened as worry crept in."How am I supposed to even start?"

"By not overthinking."I froze.I turned to see Leon standing behind me, holding one of my sketches.

"When did you–"

"This is good," he cut in simply. "Very good."I blinked.

"It's just a drawing."

"No," he said, meeting my eyes. "It's a business."

I smiled proudly at that but then,"I don't have the money for that," I said quietly.

He didn't hesitate as he proposed immediately. "I'll invest in your business."

The words stunned me."What?"

"I'll fund it," he repeated. "You build it."

I stared at him, completely thrown off."Why would you do that?"

He looked at me for a long moment before answering."Because I believe in you."

Silence filled the room and the only sound that could be heard was the sound of my heart pounding.

No one had ever said that to me before. Not like this. Not without conditions.

I looked down at the sketch in his hand, then at Theo sleeping peacefully nearby.Maybe this was it.

A second chance at a new life.I took a slow breath."Okay," I said softly.

"Let's make this a business."