Too Late, Mr. Hayes: She's a Queen

I'd moved on.

A decade ago, Ethan Hayes shattered my heart, ditching me for another woman after secretly giving me birth control disguised as vitamins, then publicly shaming me.

Now, I was Queen Sarah of Valoria, attending a glamorous D.C. embassy ball with my loving husband, King Alaric, and our charming son, Liam.

I thought I was free of the past.

Then I saw him.

Ethan.

Right there, with the same woman, Jessica Vance, her hand on a pregnant belly.

All the old agony, the humiliation, flooded back.

He and Jessica accosted me, mistaking my simple Valorian silk for catering staff attire, offering me cash, and then, claiming my dress was stolen, tried to have me thrown out for "harassing royalty."

He even unclasped his expensive cufflinks, offering them to me with a condescending smirk.

My heart pounded with the phantom pain of his betrayal, the audacity of his delusion.

How could he still be this man?

Just as he was about to signal security, my five-year-old son, Prince Liam, intervened, kicking the guard attempting to remove me.

Then, loud enough for the entire ballroom to hear, he declared, "She is my mother! Queen Sarah of Valoria!"

The room fell silent.

Ethan's face went white.

Alaric stepped in, his glacial gaze fixing on my ex.

This wasn't just a confrontation anymore—it was a diplomatic incident.

And it was time for my past to finally understand who I truly was.