Regrets Chapter List
A table of contents for new readers.
Welcome to the chapter list for Regrets. Here is a place for new readers to orient themselves to the story and all of the items published to date. I update chapters on Tuesdays and Fridays, and mix in some author content on other days.
THE STORY:
Nicole Templeton is the interim CEO of her late father’s defense tech empire, a position she neither expected nor asked for. Thrust into power amid grief, Nicole finds herself battling a hostile board, a controlling mother, and a public engagement to Aaron Scott, a charismatic lawyer whose presence soothes investor fears but masks his own dark agenda. Behind the veneer of power and poise, Nicole is emotionally unraveling.
Over eighteen days, her past (ex-Army PI Cam Spencer) and her potential future (lawyer Alexis Blackwell) collide with corporate conspiracies and an erosion of trust.
Literary noir. Queer women. Messy relationships. Emotional complexity over neat resolutions.
Regrets is a queer literary noir about emotional armor, intimacy as resistance, and the wreckage left behind when power and love collide. With alternating perspectives, sharp prose, and deep psychological insight, it’s a story of women who love fiercely, break messily, and rebuild—on their own terms.
I call this work Queer Noir and I hope you enjoy this universe.
CHAPTER INDEX
WEDNESDAY - WEEK 1
Chapter One: Inheritance Without Instructions - Meet Nicole.
Chapter Two: Scar Tissue - Nicole checks into the past.
FRIDAY - WEEK 1
Chapter Three: Dinner Performance Art - Nicole holds up her end of the bargain.
SATURDAY - WEEK 1
Chapter Four: Saturday Morning In Hell / The Dress and The Date - A double dose of Nicole’s not so great day.
TUESDAY - WEEK 2
Chapter Five: Damage and Closure - Say hello to Cam.
Chapter Six: The House and The Hustle - Cam gets a job offer.
Chapter Seven: Pressure Points / Ghosts and Cigarettes - Aaron makes a move, and Cam makes a decision
WEDNESDAY - WEEK 2
Chapter Eight: The Meet / The Pivot - A week from the board meeting, Nicole makes some moves
Chapter Nine: Therapy Sucks / Smoke Signals and Battle Scars - Nicole makes contact with Alexis, and Cam makes plans for a trip to Tucson
Chapter Ten: The Performance - Nicole has dinner with Aaron’s family, and gains an ally.
Chapter Eleven: Whiskey and What Comes Next - Nicole confronts her past before facing the future.*
THURSDAY - WEEK 2
Chapter Twelve: Preflight Rituals / Terms of Trust - Cam starts her journey while Nicole gathers intel.
Chapter Thirteen - The Reframe - Cam reconnects with an old friend in San Francisco.
Chapter Fourteen - The Last Nightcap - Cam takes Mo’s advice and meets her match in a dim bar.*
FRIDAY - WEEK 2
Chapter Fifteen - Messy Personified - The Morning After / The Edge Of The Ask - Cam deals with the aftermath, while Nicole meets with another possible ally.
Chapter Sixteen - Worth Finding / Haunted House - Nicole learns there is no pre negotiating forgiveness and finally faces up to Alexis.
Chapter Seventeen - Control Issues / Messy Personified - The Finale - Cam gets two different kinds of offers on her last night in San Francisco.*
SATURDAY - WEEK 2
Chapter Eighteen - The Problem/Eggs and Armor/What Wasn’t Said - AJ gathers evidence, but there’s a hitch. Nicole and Alexis circle the truth and Nicole confesses her past.
Chapter Nineteen - Reckoning/The Ask And the Answer - Nicole faces what her choices have cost her
Chapter Twenty - Reclamation/Aftershocks - Nicole returns to what she lost and learns what keeping it will require*.
Chapter Twenty One - Back To Life/Draw A New One - Nicole faces the outside world creeping in, while Alexis asks the hard thing and Project Ascension comes into focus.
SUNDAY - WEEK 3
Chapter Twenty Two - Seamless/Sunday Meet - Cam hits Tucson, while Nicole gets the good and bad news from AJ.
Chapter Twenty Three - Brunch and The Backup Plan/Desert Light, Bar Shadows/The Choice - Nicole meets with all the Scotts, Cam gets an invite to a formal engagement event on Saturday, and Nicole makes a commitment to Alexis*.
MONDAY - WEEK 3
Chapter Twenty Four - Ricochet Work/Contingencies/Maggie Begins - Its Monday, Week 3, two days from the board vote, and Cam meets with AJ, Nicole and Jim plan and Cam meets Mo’s friend.
Chapter Twenty Five - Optics and Orders - Nicole has a special dinner with Aaron, and returns home to a surprise.
* Content warning chapters
Author Notes
Why I Finally Started Writing Again - It took four years, a lot of notes, and one moment in a car mirror this time
Why I Use Content Warnings (And Why I Didn’t, At First) - Context, Honesty and Permission
Prologues and POV’s - How a POV shift reshaped the whole book — even the scene I tossed aside.
The Problem With Nicole - The problem wasn’t her. It was me.
Flips and Flops - Adjusting on the fly and going back to the drawing board.
A Few Words Before You Read Regrets - Content Warnings, Tones and Themes and For Readers Seeking Safety
Thirty Years, Same Theme - An old story gave me a look into the writer I wanted to be.
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