Too Late To Love Me I Already Left With His Twins (Lydia and Dave) novel Chapter 225

“Seek help.”

The woman laughed so hard I had to pull my phone away from my ear.

“You say that now,” she replied. “But you’ll be thanking me when we’re drinking hot chocolate by a fireplace looking fabulous.”

The worst part was that she was probably right.

Meanwhile, life continued moving around me.

Work was its usual controlled chaos. One client was trying to survive a media scandal. Another was accidentally creating one. A third was somehow doing both simultaneously.

At this point, I was convinced that ninety percent of my profession involved preventing wealthy adults from becoming their own worst enemies.

Still, I loved it.

The firm was growing faster than I had anticipated. New contracts were arriving almost weekly, and Madame Eloise had started handing me more responsibilities with the sort of suspicious confidence that usually meant she was planning something.

I knew that woman too well.

If she was being quiet, trouble was coming.

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The twins were doing well too.

Well, Ava was.

Eli was apparently conducting social experiments at school.

By Friday, I had received five separate calls from his teachers.

Five.

The first call came after he corrected his science teacher during class.

The second came after he corrected another student.

The third came after he corrected the vice principal.

The vice principal.

When the school called me again on Thursday afternoon, I pinched the bridge of my nose and prepared myself mentally.

“Mrs. Carter,” the teacher said delicately, “we’re concerned about Eli’s tendency to challenge authority.” 2

I already knew where this was going.

“Was he respectful?”

A pause.

“Yes.”

“Was he correct?”

Another pause.

“…yes.”

I sighed.

Of course he was.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t helping my case.

That evening, I sat him down for what was supposed to be a serious conversation.

“Eli,” I said carefully, “you cannot spend your entire life correcting everyone.”

He blinked at me.

“Why not?”

“Because society doesn’t work that way.”

“But if they’re wrong…”

“Eli.”

“If they’re wrong…”

“Eli.”

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He sighed dramatically, crossing his arms.

Exactly like his father.

Thated that.

“I’ll think about it,” he finally announced.

Which, translated from Eli-language, meant absolutely nothing was going to change.

By Friday morning, however, my attention had shifted completely.

Because for the first time in years, I was genuinely looking forward to something that wasn’t work related.

A girls’ trip.

Just saying it felt strange.

I had never done anything like this before.

No clients.

No deadlines.

No crisis management.

No conference rooms.

Just me and Anna disappearing into a cabin somewhere for three days.

The twins had opinions about that too.

Naturally.

“Three whole days?” Eli asked, sounding personally betrayed.

I looked up from my suitcase.

“Eli, I have traveled for work longer than that.”

“That’s different.”

“How?”

“Work isn’t fun.”

I stared at him.

Ava nodded solemnly beside him.

“That’s actually a good point.”

Traitors.

Both of them.

I reminded them that their father would be around. Their nanny would be there. They would be staying at Anna’s house. They would have company, supervision, food, entertainment, and approximately twelve adults hovering around them at any given moment.

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None of it seemed to matter.

Eventually, Eli shrugged.

“We’ll just miss you.”

And just like that, my heart melted.

Every time.

Without fail. 1

Children were emotional terrorists.

There was no other explanation.

By late afternoon, Anna arrived to pick us up, bringing enough energy to power an entire city.

She swept into the house wearing oversized sunglasses and immediately crouched in front of Eli.

“Listen carefully.”

Eli looked concerned already.

“My son has a dinosaur themed bedroom.”

“Oh.”

“If I walk into that room after three days and discover you’ve converted him into a dinosaur cult member, we’re fighting.”

Eli considered this seriously.

“That’s fair.”

I laughed so hard I nearly dropped my handbag.

The entire drive to Anna’s house was chaos.

The twins talked over each other. Anna talked over everyone. Ava kept laughing. Eli kept trying to explain black holes. Anna kept insisting matching pajamas were a fundamental human right.

None of the conversations were connected.

All of them continued simultaneously.

By the time we reached her house, my head hurt from laughing.

And then I saw the house.

Or rather

The mansion.

I removed my sunglasses slowly.

“Anna.”

“What?”

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ཀ }

“This is ridiculous.”

looked genuinely confused.

“What is?”

“Your house.”

The woman had the audacity to shrug.

“It looks normal.”

Normal.

The property was large enough to have its own weather system.

After settling the twins in and exchanging instructions with approximately everybody living in the house, I hugged Ava and Eli goodbye.

To my immense offense, they were already distracted by a board game and barely noticed my dramatic departure.

I was still recovering emotionally from that betrayal when Anna linked her arm through mine and practically dragged me toward the waiting SUV.

“We’re free,” she announced.

I rolled my eyes.

“We’re gone for three days.”

“Exactly.”

Then she pointed dramatically toward the road ahead.

“Adventure awaits.”

For once, I didn’t argue.

As the city disappeared behind us and the highway stretched endlessly ahead, I leaned back into my seat and allowed myself to smile.

Three days.

No work.

No pressure.

No responsibilities.

Just friendship.

Just rest.

Just life.

And honestly?

I couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

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Road trip

Lydia POV

The road trip itself felt like an event.

Honestly, if somebody had told me six months ago that I would willingly spend three hours trapped inside a car with Anna and somehow enjoy every second of it, I would have laughed in their face.

Then again, three months ago I was also juggling emotional landmines, unresolved history, two children, a growing firm, and a man named Dave who seemed determined to trigger every complicated emotion I possessed.

So perhaps life had simply become unpredictable.

The first thirty minutes of the drive were spent singing.

Not singing well.

Singing loudly.

There is a difference.

Anna immediately connected her playlist to the car speakers and before I could object, an Ashley Kutcher heartbreak song filled the vehicle.

I turned to look at her.

She looked at me.

Then we both started singing dramatically as though we had personally written the lyrics. 1

Ten minutes later we were listening to Asa.

Twenty minutes after that it was Fola.

Then somehow we transitioned from heartbreak music to love songs.

Then from love songs to Afrobeats.

Then from Afrobeats to old nostalgic songs that neither of us should have remembered but somehow knew every single lyric to.

By the end of the first hour, I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt.

“How did we get here?” I asked between laughs.

Anna glanced at me from the driver’s seat.

“Get where?”

“From heartbreak music to party music in less than an hour.”

She shrugged.

“That’s girlhood.”

I stared at her.

“No, seriously. We started with crying songs.”

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“And now we’re celebrating survival.”

That was a very deep answer.”

“I know.”

“Did you plan it?”

“Absolutely.”

I rolled my eyes.

She grinned.

Then she pointed at me dramatically.

“You know what your problem is?”

I immediately frowned.

“Excuse me?”

“The way you’re behaving, Lydia, it looks like this is your first girls’ trip.”

I stared at her.

Then sighed.

“Thank you for saying it out loud.”

“You’re admitting it?”

“I never denied it.”

Anna gasped.

The woman actually gasped.

“Oh my God.”

“Please stop.”

“No. This is historic.”

“It is not.”

“It is.”

She slapped the steering wheel lightly.

“My best friend is experiencing her first girls’ trip.”

I covered my face.

The embarrassment was immediate.

“Oh God.”

“This is beautiful.”

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“Anna.”

m emotional.”

“You are dramatic.”

“I’m documenting this memory forever.”

I groaned.

She laughed so hard she nearly missed her exit.

And honestly?

For the first time in a very long time, I wasn’t thinking about work.

I wasn’t thinking about Dave.

I wasn’t thinking about court documents.

Or co parenting schedules.

Or public relations disasters.

Or quarterly reports.

Or anything else. 1

I was simply existing.

Talking.

Laughing.

Listening to music.

Watching the scenery pass outside the window.

It felt strangely freeing.

The farther we drove from the city, the lighter I felt.

The buildings gradually disappeared.

The roads became quieter.

The air seemed cleaner somehow.

By the time we reached the mountain roads leading toward the cabin grounds, even Anna had lowered her voice slightly.

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Over

Lydia pov

The scenery was beautiful.

No.

Beautiful wasn’t the right word.

It was breathtaking.

The kind of place people posted online and everybody assumed the photographs had been edited

Rolling green hills stretched into the distance.

Tall pine trees lined the roads.

The evening sunlight filtered through the branches in golden streaks.

Small lakes reflected the sky like glass.

Everything looked unreal.

Like a painting.

Or a movie set.

Or one of those P*******t boards people saved and never actually visited.

When we finally pulled into the cabin grounds, I just sat there for a moment staring.

Anna looked entirely too pleased with herself.

“I know.”

I continued staring.

“I know.”

She laughed.