I'm looking for a book with a plot like this: a heroine with some kind of a tragic childhood, maybe sexually assaulted, or her being cheated. betrayed, abandoned by a scoundrel, or all of that happened to her mother, brainwashed at school, anyway, she adopted a cynical view of man, and she decided to devote her whole life to her career and personal development, live like a nun, never date, marry or have children. She did get her wish and build a successful career – until she met her prince charming. At first she was just using him and taking benefits from him, as time went on she heart began to soften as he cracked her walls, she developed feelings for him against her better judgement, and then they had a brief relationship. But at a pivotal event she got a big assignment, a golden opportunity or something, and she chose her boss/client over him, they broke up. Years later they met again, he was happily engaged with another woman and she was a lonely cat lady, and perhaps not attractive as before. She implored him if they could rekindle their fire, he politely declined – too late, and she was devastated with deep regret.
I know this is very cliched and a bit too specific, kind of like La La Land or gender flipped Eugene Onegin, but I really wanna read a book like this, preferably no supernatural element, but with a religious flare, that she believed she was doing God's will as a professional woman, but she was proven wrong, like in the Sound of Music, marrying him was her calling, except in this case she missed it, all of her career was just her hiding from her true calling.
by Resident-West-5213