Too Late To Love Me I Already Left With His Twins (Lydia and Dave) novel Chapter 224

Divorce

Lydia POV

“We never actually finalized the divorce properly.”

The room went still.

I continued carefully.

“We separated emotionally. Practically. Physically.”

I swallowed once.

“But legally?”

Silence.

“We’re still tied together.”

Dave looked at me quietly now.

No interruption.

No defensiveness.

Nothing.

And somehow that made this harder.

I forced myself to continue.

“If we’re going to co parent properly… I need closure properly too.”

My voice stayed calm.

Controlled.

But softer now.

“I can’t build healthy boundaries while technically still existing inside a marriage that already died years ago.”

That landed heavily between us.

Dave stared at me for a long moment.

Then finally nodded once.

Slowly.

Like he already expected it.

“…Okay.”

Just that.

No argument.

No persuasion.

No emotional manipulation.

Just okay.

I think somehow that hurt more.

“I’ll contact my lawyer,” he said quietly afterward. “I’ll get the papers prepared.”

I nodded once.

“Thank you.”

And suddenly the room felt strange again.

Because there it was.

The real ending.

Two people quietly acknowledging that whatever existed between them had already ended long ago.

Dave leaned back slowly afterward.

Then finally spoke softer.

“You know… when I was talking to the twins yesterday…”

I looked at him carefully.

“You noticed I left certain things out.”

“Yes.”

He nodded once.

“I wasn’t going to tell six year olds I cheated on their mother.”

The word sat heavily inside the room immediately.

Cheated.

Ugly word.

Heavy word.

He looked down briefly.

“I wanted them to understand accountability without carrying adult ugliness too early.”

I stayed quiet.

Because honestly?

He handled that part correctly.

No child needed that information yet.

After a few seconds, he looked back at me.

“I was horrible to you.”

No defense.

excuse.

Just truth.

And weirdly?

That almost destabilized me more than anger would have.

Because this was the first time in years he was actually saying things plainly.

No ego.

No avoidance.

No emotional hiding.

Just honesty.

“You didn’t deserve any of it,” he continued quietly. “Not the neglect. Not the humiliation. Not the things I said when you got pregnant.”

My throat tightened slightly.

“I know.”

Silence again.

Then finally I laughed softly.

But without humor.

“You know the funniest thing?”

He looked at me carefully.

“I genuinely thought I was the problem for a while.”

His expression changed immediately.

Painfully.

I continued anyway.

“Because imagine sleeping with your husband after he became sweeter overnight.”

The word sweeter sounded bitter even now.

Years later.

“You know how humiliating that feels?”

Dave closed his eyes briefly.

“I know.”

“No. You don’t.”

My voice stayed calm.

Controlled

That night made me feel disposable.”

He looked shattered quietly now.

Good.

Because I had carried that feeling alone for years.

“I already spent most of my life feeling second place,” I admitted softly. “Second choice. Second option. Less important person in the room.”

I looked at him directly.

“But you didn’t have to reinforce it.”

The silence afterward felt suffocating.

Dave dragged a hand slowly over his face.

“I know.”

“No,” I repeated quietly. “I don’t think you fully understand.”

My voice remained calm but steadier now.

“Because before the pregnancy, I had already accepted the marriage emotionally for what it was. You ignored me. You barely came home. You gave me scraps of attention and honestly? I adapted.”

I laughed softly again.

Sad this time.

“I became very good at surviving emotionally alone.”

His jaw tightened painfully.

“But the pregnancy changed everything,” I continued. “Because suddenly I realized I was carrying children for someone who did not even want me emotionally.”

Dave looked physically uncomfortable now.

As he should.

“And after I moved countries?” I continued softer now. “Things became so hard initially that yes, I hated you.”

There.

Truth.

Raw and simple.

“I hated you for a while.”

He stayed completely silent.

Then eventually I shrugged lightly.

“But eventually life became too busy for hatred.”

That part surprised him.

Could tell immediately.

“I stopped thinking about you entirely after some time,” I admitted. “The twins became my focus. Work became my focus. Survival became my focus.”

I leaned back slightly.

“You stopped mattering eventually.”

That one hit.

Directly.

I saw it immediately in his face.

But strangely?

I wasn’t saying it to hurt him.

Just honesty.

Dave nodded slowly after a long silence.

“…Fair.”

Then quieter:

“I deserved that too.”

And somehow after that, neither of us spoke for a while.

No screaming.

No romance.

No reconciliation.

Just two exhausted people sitting across from each other finally saying truths that should have been said years ago.

And honestly?

That felt heavier than anger ever did.

----

Scrolling

Lydia POV

By the time I finally got home, I was exhausted.

Not regular tired.

Not “I need a nap” tired.

I mean emotionally, mentally, physically exhausted.

The kind of tired that settles somewhere inside your bones and refuses to leave.

The conversation with Dave had drained me more than I expected.

Not because we fought.

Honestly, I almost wished we had.

At least anger is simple.

Anger burns hot and then disappears.

What happened instead was much worse.

Truth.

Years and years of truth finally spoken aloud.

And apparently that was far more exhausting.

The house was already quiet when I arrived.

The twins were asleep.

The nanny informed me that dinner had gone smoothly, homework had been completed, baths had been taken, and my tiny dictators had successfully negotiated for an extra fifteen minutes of bedtime stories before finally surrendering to sleep.

Typical.

I smiled despite myself.

Then I checked on them anyway.

Because I always did.

Eli was sprawled dramatically across his bed like he had personally fought a war before bedtime.

Ava slept properly beneath her blanket, one hand tucked under her cheek.

Looking at them instantly softened something inside me.

It always did.

No matter how terrible a day became.

No matter how stressful work was.

No matter how complicated Dave was.

Mese two somehow made everything feel manageable.

I kissed both their foreheads quietly before leaving their rooms.

Then I headed to mine.

At that point, all I wanted was a hot shower, my skincare routine, my bed, and complete silence.

In that exact order.

After showering, I stood in front of my vanity applying my night products carefully.

Because absolutely not.

Life could stress me.

Clients could stress me.

Dave could stress me.

But none of them were taking my glow.

I had suffered enough.

My skin would not suffer too.

I was halfway through applying moisturizer when my phone buzzed on the vanity.

I glanced down.

Anna.

I immediately smiled.

Now that was surprising.

We hadn’t spoken properly in a few days.

Not because anything was wrong.

Because life had happened.

She was busy.

I was busy.

We were both adult women juggling careers, responsibilities, and approximately eight hundred different forms of stress at any given time.

Still, seeing her name made me smile.

A second message appeared.

Are you awake?

I quickly replied.

Unfortunately, yes.

Almost immediately another message came.

I call?

I laughed.

Only Anna asked permission after already deciding she was going to call.

Sure.

The call came through less than three seconds later.

I answered.

And immediately regretted it.

Because somehow Anna was glowing.

Actually glowing. 

At almost eleven at night.

Meanwhile I looked like someone who had just survived emotional warfare.

“Hi!”

The amount of energy in that greeting should honestly be studied scientifically. 

I stared at her.

“Why are you like this?”

Anna laughed.

“What?”

“How do you still have energy?”

She leaned closer to the camera dramatically.

“Because I am thriving.”

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.

“No one thriving calls people at eleven p.m.”

“Rude.”

“True.”

She gasped.

Then burst into laughter.

Honestly, Anna was impossible.

God help us all

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify