They Loved Me Too Late

Erin Harrington is the only daughter of one of New York’s old-money families. After losing her parents at a young age, she was doted on by her three older brothers and her childhood sweetheart, Adrian. To Erin, they were not just family—they were her entire world. Three years ago, Erin met Chloe, a young woman with no one to rely on, through a charity project. Out of kindness, Erin personally brought her into the Harrington family. She never imagined that from that moment on, the affection of both her brothers and the man she loved would slowly begin shifting toward Chloe. What no one knows is that six months earlier, Erin had already been diagnosed with osteosarcoma and urgently needed to travel to Boston for high-risk treatment. On the morning she and Adrian finally complete their civil marriage, Erin believes she is about to begin the life she has always wanted. But that very afternoon, because of Chloe, she is pressured into signing an application to annul the marriage. That is the moment Erin finally wakes up. She stops fighting, stops explaining, and decides to use her upcoming surgery—and a carefully staged “death”—to make Erin Harrington disappear from New York completely. Everyone assumes her sudden changes are nothing more than jealousy, attention-seeking, and another childish tantrum. Only when news of her death finally reaches them do they discover that Erin had been seriously ill all along. By then, they also begin to uncover the truth behind Chloe’s years of manipulation and deliberate attempts to turn them against Erin. Three years later, Erin has successfully completed treatment and is living under a new identity. She rebuilds Sunrise House, the shelter that once gave her a temporary place to stay, and meets Eli—a man who never uses love as an excuse to control or pressure her. A news report eventually reveals that the family she left behind is still trapped in regret. Soon afterward, an old land-rights issue involving Sunrise House is suddenly froze