Too Late to Win Me Back

Chapter 5 I'll Never Do It Again!

Aiden wrapped his arms around Spencer's leg and looked up at him with wide, pitiful eyes.

"Baby, something came up at the office. I really can't get away right now! Wait for me. I'll be home in two hours. I promise!"

He was clearly trying to end the call. Katherine's voice came soft and even.

"Spencer, do you remember what I said when we first got together?"

His hand froze on the phone. A flicker of unease passed through him.

"Baby... Why are you bringing that up?"

Katherine kept her tone calm.

"It's nothing. If you ever stop loving me or meet someone you love more, you must tell me the truth. You can't lie to me. Otherwise, I will leave you forever!"

Something in Spencer's chest lurched. He shifted his feet restlessly.

"Baby, wait for me. I'm coming right..."

Before he could finish, Jasmine let go of his sleeve.

She looked down, looking wounded and brave all at once, then reached for Aiden's hand.

"Go ahead," she said softly. "Aiden's already used to not having a father around."

That one sentence stopped Spencer cold.

He glanced down at Aiden, took a deep breath, then lifted the phone again.

"Baby, I'll definitely be home within two hours. Wait for me!"

Who would have thought that the words spoken ten years ago would feel like a curse finally coming true?

Katherine ended the call. She lifted a hand to her face and only then realized she was crying.

Something inside her chest felt like it was caving in, pounding so hard she could barely breathe past the ache in her throat.

She wiped away the tears, made sure the hidden camera had captured everything, then turned the lens toward herself and kept recording.

"Spencer, this is the first time in ten years you've missed my birthday. You missed it because you were with Jasmine and Aiden."

Her voice caught, but she forced herself to continue.

"By the time you see this video, I'll already be gone. You'll never have to celebrate my birthday again. And you'll never have to keep lying to me just so you can go be with Aiden."

Right in front of the camera, Katherine reached up and unclasped the necklace around her neck.

Spencer had bought it the year they graduated, with the first startup money he'd ever made. He had fastened it around her neck himself.

Later, he gave her countless pieces more expensive than this one. But this necklace had always been the one she treasured most.

She held it up to the camera.

"You put this on me. Now it doesn't need to exist anymore."

Then she threw it. The necklace flashed once in the air before it hit the pavement.

"Congratulations, Spencer. You got the son you wanted."

The second the necklace left her hand, it felt as though something inside her went with it.

The September air was still warm, but her chest felt cold and empty, as if the wind were blowing straight through the hole in her heart.

She pressed down on the gas. The tires rolled over the necklace. A sharp c***k split the air.

Katherine never looked back.

Before she went home, she stopped at a pawn shop.

She sold the bracelet Spencer had just given her and donated every cent to children in impoverished rural areas.

She would be dead in a month. There was no point in keeping any of it. At least this way, it could mean something to someone.

Only after that did she drive home.

The moment she got inside, exhaustion hit her.

Her body had been getting weaker by the day. Even sitting upright for too long left her drained.

She had barely lowered herself onto the couch when she heard hurried footsteps outside.

Before she could react, the front door flew open.

Spencer came charging in like a man out of his mind. He was drenched in sweat. His breathing was ragged and shallow, his steps uneven, as though he had run all the way home.

"Baby, why did you sell the bracelet I gave you? You didn't like it?"

Katherine hadn't expected him to find out this quickly.

"We have too much jewelry," she said, using the excuse she had already prepared. "I thought I'd donate some of it, building a good reputation for us."

Spencer stared at her for a beat. Then his panic slowly eased. He finally breathed a sigh of relief and pulled her into his arms.

"If you don't like it, just tell me. I'll handle things like that. It's my fault. I shouldn't have left you for work. I'll never do it again!"

His palms were damp with sweat. She could feel how hard he had rushed to get back to her.

Katherine stood motionless in his arms.

'He reacts like this over a bracelet. If he knows I am really leaving... If he knows I was about to die... How much worse would he lose his mind?'

He cared about her so much. And still, he had a child and another family.

Spencer always said Aiden was his responsibility, that Katherine was the only woman he had ever truly loved.

But Katherine no longer understood how a man could claim love and responsibility were two separate things.