Legacy 9_The Billionaire’s Secret Heirs

-CELINE’S POV-

 38)

 The second my body hit the mattress, I let out a deep breath, one of those breaths that carry the weight of an entire day. My muscles screamed in protest, but I didn’t care.

 Sleep was all I needed.

 Caesar had knocked out the second his stomach was full, and I should’ve followed right after him. But exhaustion wasn’t the only thing pressing against me.

 It was everything.

 The weight of today. The weight of tomorrow. The weight of having to wake up and do it all over again.

 I turned onto my side, pressing my cheek into the pillow, willing my mind to shut off. But my phone buzzed, dragging me right back into reality.

 I groaned and reached for it, the screen illuminating the darkness. A message from ke. And another from Caroline.

 I opened ke’s first.

 ke: Hey Celine, how are you doing? We haven’t talked in a while… thought I’d check in.

 My fingers hovered over the keyboard. A lump formed in my throat because the truth was, I wasn’t fine. Not even close. I was drowning, barely keeping my head above water.

 But thest thing I wanted was to dump my problems onto someone else.

 So I typed:

 Me: Yeah. Everything’s fine.

 A lie. But what else was new? 

 I tapped Caroline’s message next.

 Caroline: Hey honey, how are you? How did the job go? Did he hire you? Do you like it so far?

 A bitterugh slipped past my lips. Did I like it? The job that made me feel invisible? The job that had me scrubbing floors until my hands were raw? The job where Hunter looked at me like I was nothing?

 I wiped at my face, only to realize tears were falling. I hated that. Hated how easily the emotions broke through the surface when I was alone.

 I took a deep breath, forcing the lie through my fingertips.

 Me: Hey B. It’s going great. I love my new job. I’m so thankful you helped me get it.

 Another lie. An even bigger one. If Caroline were here, she’d see right through me.

 I tossed my phone onto the nightstand and exhaled slowly, trying to pull myself together. But before I could, a small voice broke through the silence.

 “Mom?” 

 9:07 pm G G G B 

 38

 I turned to see Caesar blinking up at me, his tiny hands reaching for my face. He swiped a finger across my cheek, his brows pulling together in concern.

 “Are you crying? What happened? Did you get eaten by ants?”

 That made me smile, even though it shouldn’t have. Even though I still felt like breaking apart.

 I shook my head, brushing his soft hair away from his forehead. “No, sweetheart. Just a small bite.”

 Caesar’s face twisted in concentration, like he wasing up with a solution. Then, with the seriousness of a doctor delivering a diagnosis, he said, “If I was a doctor, I’d kiss your boo–boos away.”

 I felt my heart squeeze. This boy. My sweet boy. The reason I fought so hard to keep going.

 I pulled him into my arms, and within minutes, his breathing evened out again, his small body warm and safe against mine.

 I stared at the ceiling, my mind drifting to work. To Hunter. To the way he looked at me like I didn’t deserve to be there. I didn’t understand it.

 I worked hard. I kept my head down. So why did he act like I was an inconvenience?

 But I couldn’t waste my energy trying to figure him out. I had bigger things to worry about. More important things. Like making sure Caesar never saw just how broken I was inside.

 I turned onto my side, shutting my eyes, letting the exhaustion pull me under.

 ** 

 When I opened my eyes again, I wasn’t in my bed anymore.

 I was somewhere else.

 The neon pink lights flickered. The music pulsed through my veins, loud and rhythmic. The air smelled like cheap alcohol and cigarette smoke.

 Caroline’s club.

 I remembered this night. The way I sat at the bar, trying to blend in but feeling entirely out of ce.

 I swirled the drink in my hand, my gaze moving over the room, watching people dance, </bugh, lose themselves in the

 moment.

 And then I saw him.

 A man sitting alone, his presence somehow louder than the music.

 I didn’t know why I kept looking. Maybe because he wasn’t trying. He wasn’t putting on a show like everyone else.

 Or maybe it was because, for the first time that night, I wasn’t the only one who seemed like they didn’t belong.

 I couldn’t breathe.

 Or maybe I could, but it didn’t feel like it. Because the second his eyes met mine, something shifted inside me. Something deep. Something unexinable.

 And I hated it.

 2/6 

 9:07 pm G GGG.

 +38 

 I wasn’t the kind of girl who locked eyes with a stranger and suddenly felt like the universe was trying to tell her something. But here I was, feeling it anyway.

 I tried to look away. He did too. But we kept finding each other, like two mas caught in some invisible pull. He was sitting across the club, nowhere near me, and yet it felt like he was right here.

 So close, I could feel him.

 I was still staring when the lights cut out.

 A voice pulled me from my thoughts.

 “Celine, hold this.” A bottle of wine pressed against my stomach. I could barely make out her face, but I knew the voice.

 Caroline.

 I barely had time to respond before she disappeared toward the bathroom, leaving me alone in the dark.

 The scent of the wine curled into my nose, sweet and warm. The room was shifting–people moving, voices murmuring, feet shuffling toward the exits. I didn’t like it. The closeness. The noise. 

 I needed air.

 moved, slipping past bodies until I found a corner of the club that wasn’t packed with people.

 second I sat down, I felt it.

 That presence. That pull.

 And then came the scent.

 Cinnamon and spice and something entirely intoxicating.

 My stomach clenched, my pulse quickened. I wasn’t alone.

 I turned my head just enough to confirm what I already knew.

 Him.

 The stranger from across the club.

 He was sitting right next to me, his body still, his shirt dark enough to make him almost invisible in the dim lighting. But I felt him there.

 I pretended not to notice.

 Poured myself another drink.

 Took a sip.

 And then the lights came on.

 I swallowed hard.

 Because up close? He wasn’t just attractive. He was…. breathtaking. Sharp jawline, tousled dark hair, piercing blue eyes.

 3/6 

 9:07 pm BGGG 

 If *cute was what I thought from afar, *devastating* was what he became under full exposure.

 He drummed his fingers against his knee, watching me. Studying me.

 And then he spoke.

 “You’re hot.”

 The confidence in his voice sent something sharp and electric through my body.

 I smirked, heat rushing up my neck. “You’re hotter.”

 His lips quirked up. “I think you’re hotter.”

 +38)

 I raised a brow, my pulse skipping, my vision blurring ever so slightly. The wine was kicking in, making me feel weightless. Like I could float.

 Like I could swim. Like I could do something incredibly reckless without thinking twice about it.

 “Nah,” I teased, voice lower now. “Those lips of yours scream fire.”

 His smirk deepened, his body shifting forward. “I disagree.” His voice was smooth,ced with something dangerous. “Why don’t we go find out who’s hotter?”

 ve said no.

 d’ve thought about Caroline.

 But I didn’t.

 Instead, I ced my hand in his, my body already deciding before my mind could catch up.

 I handed him the bottle of wine. “Have some first.”

 He took it without hesitation, tilting his head back and drinking everyst drop before setting it down.

 Then he stood.

 I stood too.

 And the next thing I knew, we were outside. <fnbb2b> Follow current nov?ls on FιndＮovel</fnbb2b>

 His mouth was on mine. His hands were in my hair. My dress was slipping from my shoulders.

 Everything blurred into everything else. Lips and skin and heat and desperation. His touch burned through me, igniting something deep and uncontroble.

 We consumed each other like fire, over and over, until exhaustion finally won.

 And then nothing.

 Darkness.

 Silence.

 The sun woke me up.

 4/6 

 9:07 pm GGGG 

 A sharp, blinding light cutting through the hotel room window, slicing into my skull like a de.

 I groaned, pressing my palm against my forehead. The pounding in my head was unbearable, like my brain was trying to punish me for whatever the hell I’d donest night.

 And then I remembered.

 I sat up fast, scanning the room, my heartbeat skyrocketing.

 The bed beside me? Empty.

 The floor? Empty.

 The whole damn suite? Empty.

 No note. No name. No way to trace him.

 I closed my eyes, rubbing my temples. *Shit. Shit. Shit.*

 I had a one–night stand with a stranger.

 Aplete stranger.

 38

 I swung my legs over the side of the bed, pulling myself to my feet. Every step felt heavier, my body still sore from the night before. I needed to get out of here.

 As I stepped into the hallway, whispers reached my ears.

 “Did you see him?”

 “Oh my God, I saw him too.”

 “That’s surprising. For a minute, I thought I was the only one who saw him. Hunter Reid is such a strange man.”

 My stomach plummeted.

 My eyes shot open, my breath caught in my throat.

 I was in my bedroom.

 Not in a hotel.

 Not hungover.

 It was a dream.

 It was just a dream.

 But the name. *Hunter Reid.*

 I sucked in a breath.

 Because suddenly, I wasn’t sure anymore.

 Maybe it wasn’t a dream after all.

 9:07 pm GGGG 

 Maybe the stranger from that night wasn’t a stranger at all.

 Maybe I’d just slept with the one man who hated me more than anything.

 And my entire world tilted on its axis.

 6/6

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Legacy 9