Too Late to Win Me Back

Chapter 7 I Won't Live Without You

The message was so blatant it barely qualified as provocation anymore. There was nothing left of the timid, nervous girl Jasmine had once pretended to be.

Katherine recorded both the video and the taunting messages with Nina's camera, then sent everything to her.

After Katherine died, everything would be made public.

An hour later, Nina rushed to Katherine's house.

"That shameless b***h!" Nina snapped through clenched teeth. "Katherine, do you have any idea what I found?"

She sent over several video clips and a medical file.

Ever since learning about Jasmine, Nina had been furious on Katherine's behalf. So she'd hired someone to dig into Jasmine's past.

The first video was recorded at a hotel five years ago. Spencer had been drugged. Barely hanging on to the last scraps of his reason, he staggered into a room.

In the corner of the footage, Jasmine stood, dressed in a server's uniform, watching it all with a calculating look on her face.

She could have called the police. She could have walked away.

Instead, a few minutes later, she let down her hair, tugged her uniform collar lower, and went into the room.

"Mr. Hopkins had already been on TV by then," Nina said, furious. "She recognized him. She knew exactly who he was, and she took advantage of the situation because she wanted to latch onto him!"

Nina had seen plenty of shameless women before.

But to be so shameless while pretending to be pure and harmless, that was a first?

Katherine, on the other hand, stayed much calmer.

The first time Jasmine sent her one of those passive-aggressive messages, Katherine had already understood what kind of woman she was.

The second video was taken at a hospital.

Jasmine was slightly pregnant by then. She hurried out of a doctor's office.

The medical file showed that she had spent half a month on pregnancy support treatment.

If that night had truly been an accident, she could have taken any number of steps afterward to prevent the pregnancy. Instead, she chose to keep it.

That meant the child had been deliberate from the start. Which also explained why she had erased all traces of that night and disappeared before dawn.

She had wanted the baby. She had wanted to carry Spencer's child in secret, only to reappear five years later with the perfect bargaining chip!

"If Mr. Hopkins ever finds out the sweet, harmless Jasmine he feels so sorry for was actually plotting all of this from the beginning..." Nina's voice shook with rage. "I wonder how much he'll regret it!"

Privately, Nina made herself a promise. After Katherine was gone, she would throw those videos and that medical file right in Spencer's face!

She wanted to make Spencer see exactly how the Jasmine who always played the victim had calculated against him and provoked Katherine!

People who betray someone's love deserve to choke on the consequences!

Nina wanted Spencer to spend the rest of his life regretting it. And to understand, far too late, that he would never be forgiven!

Aiden stayed in the hospital for a week.

During that time, Spencer remained constantly at Katherine's side. He took her back to their old college campus. He brought her to the restaurant where they used to go when they were dating. He even took her up to the highest rooftop in the city to look at the stars.

But halfway through, Spencer would always find some company excuse to leave.

The most recent time, he disappeared for nearly three hours.

While he was gone, Katherine got a call.

"Ms. Rivera, your identity records are currently being erased, and your divorce appointment has been scheduled for two weeks from now. Are you absolutely certain you want to destroy everything and proceed with the divorce?"

"Yes, I am certain about destroying my identity and the divorce," Katherine said.

Her voice had never sounded more certain.

The next second, Spencer suddenly pushed the door open and walked in.

"What? Destruction? Divorce?"

He looked panicked, completely stripped of the calm, polished composure people associated with a corporate president. He crossed the room in a rush with visible fear in his eyes.

Katherine didn't flinch.

"A friend of mine is getting divorced and moving abroad. She asked me to help her figure out how to divide her assets."

It wasn't even entirely a lie. One of Katherine's friends really had been preparing to move overseas.

Spencer believed her. The tension in his body loosened instantly. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead like he was holding something precious.

"You made me nervous. Baby, you can never leave me. If you do... I won't live without you!"

Katherine looked down.

Her fingertips trembled lightly as they brushed past the lipstick stain on his collar.

A few days later, it was time for Katherine's abortion.

By a cruel coincidence, it was the same hospital where Aiden had been staying, just on a different floor.

Nina waited outside the operating room as a family member.

Katherine lay under the harsh surgical lights while cold instruments entered her body. Downstairs, Spencer was with Jasmine, drawing a family portrait with her and Aiden.

As the life inside Katherine was torn from her piece by piece, Spencer was downstairs, bumping fists with Aiden, promising him he'd always be there.

When Katherine was finally wheeled out of surgery, her face was pale. Nina rushed to her side, grabbed her hand, and held on tight.

At that moment, Katherine's w******p chimed again.

Her eyes barely managed to open. She motioned weakly for Nina to unlock it.

What appeared on the screen was a photo, three hands clasped tightly together.

Jasmine's hand was on top. Aiden's hand was in the middle. And underneath theirs was Spencer's.

And on Spencer's finger was the wedding ring he still wore as Katherine's husband.

Jasmine: Have you ever seen Spencer cry because his child had to get an injection? Have you ever seen Spencer kneel on the couch just to coax me when I tried to take Aiden away? You only have Spencer's flimsy love now, but I have his child! Later we'll have a second child, and our third... His love for the children and me will only grow deeper. Do you really think there'll still be any room left for you in his heart?

Jasmine: The university where the two of you fell in love? He already took us there. The Ferris wheel where you had your first kiss? He took us there too. The bracelet worth millions that he gave you for your birthday? I picked it out for him. And those stars from the highest building in the city, the ones he took you to see? He brought us there a week before he brought you. Anything you can give him, I can give him too. And the things you can't give him? I can. So why aren't you giving up already? Do you really want the three of us standing in front of you while Spencer throws you out himself?