Too Late for Sorry, Mr. Billionaire (Chasing my Wife Back) novel Chapter 102

A hush fell over the compound the moment Adrian made the request.

The twins gasped dramatically. George swallowed hard. Even Wendy’s eyes widened in quiet curiosity.

And Amelia… Amelia actually blinked.

Did Adrian just ask her that?

For a split second, she wondered if she had misheard him. Tea? Inside this house? The very house she had walked out of years ago with her dignity barely stitched together?

She smiled, that controlled, elegant smile she wore when she needed time to think. She was already forming the polite refusal in her head.

‘No, thank you. Maybe next time.’

‘The boys need to leave.’

‘I have work.’

But before a single word could escape her lips—

“Yeah! That is a great idea!” Gabriel burst out.

“Yes, mummy! Come in! We would love it!” Gaddiel chimed, gripping her hand tighter as if she might disappear again.

Amelia turned to them, her smile softening into something maternal and patient.

“Honey,” she said gently, smoothing Gabriel’s hair, “we really need to head back home, you know. School tomorrow, and I have to be at work. We need to go back home on time.”

Her tone was firm but kind, the voice of a responsible mother who had already made up her mind.

But the twins were not backing down.

“Pleaseee!”

“Just small time!”

“We want to show you something!”

George cleared his throat politely.

“It would only be a few minutes, ma,” he added respectfully.

Adrian said nothing at first. He simply looked at her, not pleading now, but hopeful. But vulnerable, and waiting.

Then quietly, “Just tea,” he said.

There was something in his voice. Not pressure. Not command.

Just… sincerity.

Amelia exhaled.

Her shoulders dropped slightly, that was the smallest surrender.

“Okay,” she said finally. “Just tea.”

“Just tea,” Adrian echoed quickly, as if sealing a fragile agreement.

“Yeeeee!” the boys screamed in triumph, clinging to her arms as though they had won a championship.

And together— ex-wife, ex-husband, children, staff, they walked toward the grand doors of the mansion.

Amelia crossed the threshold slowly. The first time she had stepped out of this house, she had been heartbroken. Now, she stepped back in. Just for tea.

***

Late into the night, the mansion had grown quiet.

The twins had gone back with Amelia, probably asleep in their bedroom right now, their earlier excitement finally surrendered to exhaustion. Wendy had retired to her room, George maybe. Even the night seemed softer and calmer, as though it, too, was aware that something unusual had happened within those walls that evening.

Adrian sat alone at the dining table.

His laptop was open before him, spreadsheets and proposals glaring back on the screen, but he hadn’t typed a single word in the last ten minutes. The cup that had once held tea now sat empty at his right hand, a faint ring of amber at the bottom.

He exhaled slowly.

The evening replayed in his mind with relentless clarity.

Amelia sitting in that very chair across from him. The twins squeezed on either side of her, arguing over who would pour her more tea. The sound of her laughter which was restrained at first, then freer as the boys teased her, filled the air. The way she had instinctively wiped Gabriel’s mouth with a napkin. The way she had thanked George politely.

And the way she had avoided looking at him for too long.

A small smile tugged at Adrian’s lips.

For a brief hour, it had felt normal.

Like before.

Like the house had remembered what it was built for.

Hazel would run gaga if she heard, he thought, shaking his head faintly. She had warned him for years that he would regret his choices. She would probably scream *“I told you so!”* from across the world.

The smile widened.

He was still lost in the memory when he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder.

He jolted slightly.

“Oh! George,” he said, looking up.

George stood beside him, hands clasped respectfully in front of him, a knowing smile resting on his face.

“You are pretty having a great time, sir,” George said lightly.

Adrian leaned back in his chair, closing the laptop halfway.

“Why won’t I?” he replied with a soft chuckle.

George laughed quietly and nodded.

“Indeed, sir.”

There was a pause, a comfortable one.

“She is such a homely woman, sir,” George continued carefully. “I mean… your ex-wife.”

Adrian’s smile deepened, though this one carried weight.

“I know,” he said. “Thank you.”

He glanced down at the table, fingers tracing the wood absentmindedly. Then the smile faded slowly, like a candle running out of wax.

“I wish I could turn the hands of time,” he murmured.

Regret lingered in the air.

George shifted slightly but did not interrupt.

“I thought I was in control,” Adrian continued, voice lower now. “I thought I could manage everything.” He scoffed faintly at himself. “I was foolish.”

George chose his words with care.

“Sir… sometimes people only understand the value of a thing when it is no longer theirs.”

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