You Had Me, You Lost Me, You'll Never Find Me novel Chapter 11

Sylvia Harlow slid into the back of the taxi, only just realizing she was still wearing Ashton Wyatt's coat, the fabric clinging to her with his distinct, clean scent mingled with the faint aroma of expensive tobacco.

She tossed the jacket aside, a suffocating wave of despair washing over her as memories of their time together flickered through her mind like a tragic highlight reel.

When she first started dating Ashton, someone had warned her. "Some things already belong to someone else. No matter how hard you fight for them, they'll never be yours. It's useless to hold on, understand?"

It was a blatant attempt to make her realize her place.

But back then, Sylvia had been so blindingly in love that she couldn't hear a word of it, diving into the relationship headfirst like a moth to a flame.

No matter how much people tried to warn her, it was a lesson she had to learn through her own devastating heartbreak.

She had clung to a desperate, lonely courage, genuinely believing she held a special place in his heart.

But she didn't.

Sylvia opened the social media app on her phone and pulled up the video again.

She paused it on a screenshot of his gentle, affectionate gaze fixed on another woman, the girl standing on her tiptoes, their faces so close they were practically kissing.

The image felt like a physical blow to her chest.

Sylvia dragged the screenshot into a hidden photo album on her phone, one she had previously named "Handsome Husband."

She had loved him so deeply once.

Ashton had caught her looking at the folder once and teased her, "Love me that much? You were definitely born to be my wife."

Sylvia deleted every other photo in the folder, leaving only that single screenshot as a brutal reminder.

Everything he had given her, he had also given to someone else.

Just then, her phone buzzed with a call from her mother, Valerie Logan.

"I'm your mother, why would I scheme for your money? I'm doing this for your own good! Either you get that cash, or you get back together with him and find a way to get pregnant. Give him a kid, preferably a boy, but a girl works too. Once you have a baby, your position is secure, and even if you split up later, you'll have leverage."

Sylvia's eyelashes fluttered as she took a deep, shaky breath.

"There are no millions of dollars, and there certainly isn't a baby. I saw Hugo in the city. Tell him to go home. I don't care how much of my money he wasted in the past, but he's not getting another dime from me now. Even if he stays in the city, he won't squeeze a single cent out of me."

Furious, Valerie snapped back, "You resent me, don't you? I knew you secretly held a grudge against me for giving your money to your brother! But he was grabbed by the casino guys! They weren't going to let him go without millions of dollars! He's your brother! How can you be so heartless..."

Sylvia didn't want to hear another word and hung up the phone.

Hugo Logan was Valerie's son from her current husband, five years younger than Sylvia.

Valerie had always blatantly favored her son, raising Hugo to be arrogant and selfish, and Sylvia had never liked her stepbrother.

Over the years, Sylvia had sent a significant portion of her acting paychecks to Valerie, only for her mother to secretly funnel it all into paying off Hugo's debts. Because someone was always there to bail him out, Hugo became increasingly reckless, gambling more and more until he was millions of dollars in the hole.