Too Late To Love Her

Chapter Three: Rumors and Realization

Chapter Three: Rumors and Realizations

Tasha’s POV

I loved the way people stared when I walked into the office tower.

The CEO’s mistress. The one who had “taken” him from his perfect wife. Let them talk.

Jide gave me what I wanted—access, gifts, power. He never questioned me. Never doubted me.

Until now.

Lately, his eyes had changed. He didn’t touch me the same. He barely smiled. He answered calls in silence and left early in the morning without a kiss.

I thought once Amara left, I would win. But Jide wasn’t mine. Not really. He was still haunted by her, even if he didn’t admit it.

So I did what I always did best—plant seeds.

“She was cheating, you know,” I whispered once while tracing my finger down his chest. “Men like Deji don’t stick around unless they’re getting something.”

He didn’t respond. Just stared at the ceiling, jaw clenched.

I was losing him. And I knew it.

But I wasn’t going down without a fight.

Jide’s POV

I sat in my car longer than necessary. I didn’t want to go upstairs. I didn’t want to go anywhere.

The house was too quiet without Amara. My office too cold. Even Tasha felt... fake now.

I opened my phone and scrolled through old photos. Our honeymoon. Her laughing with her eyes closed. The first morning in our old apartment when she burned the toast and tried to hide it.

God, I missed that version of us.

I had accused her of sleeping with Deji. I didn’t even have proof. Just words from a woman who had every reason to lie.

Was I wrong?

Had I pushed away the only person who ever truly gave a damn?

Amara’s POV

I started a journal.

Not the kind where I cried over heartbreak, but one where I mapped out who I wanted to become again.

I enrolled in a business seminar. Nothing fancy, just something to get my mind off the pain.

The instructor asked us: “What is your biggest regret?”

I didn’t speak. But in my mind, I answered:

Loving a man who never learned how to love me back.

I was healing. Slowly. But I was healing.

And the version of me that was rising?

She wouldn’t be so easy to ignore.

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