<b>Chapter </b><b>92 </b>
~CELINE~
I carried Caesar to our quarters, my hands shaking so badly I could barely turn the door handle. Once inside, I set him down and immediately turned the lock, then dragged a chair against the door for good
measure.
Caesar stood in the middle of our small living room, tears still wet on his cheeks, watching me with confused eyes.
“Mama? Why are you moving the chair?”
“Just… just making sure we have privacy, baby.” I tried to keep my voice steady, but it can thin.
it cracked and
I couldn’t stop seeing it…the way Mrs. Reid had held Caesar’s arm when he wanted toe to me. The way Hunter had snapped at him, made my sweet boy’s face crumple.
The way that perfect blonde woman had looked at us like we were some kind of entertainment.
My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might burst.
“Mama, you’re scaring me.” Caesar’s voice was small, uncertain.
I dropped to my knees in front of him, pulling him into my arms. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. Mama’s just… upset. But not at you. Never at you.”
“Why was Mr. Hunter mad at me?”
The question broke something inside me. “He wasn’t… I don’t think he meant to be mad. Sometimes grown–ups say things wrong when they’re stressed.”
But even as I said it, I remembered the sharp edge in Hunter’s voice, the way Caesar had immediately
recoiled.
How could Hunter speak to him like that? How could he let his mother treat us like we were nothing<b>? </b>
“Was I bad for asking about the prettydy?”
Oh God. My baby thought he’d done something wrong.
“No, Caesar. You weren’t bad. You did nothing wrong.” I smoothed his hair, pressing kisses <b>to </b><b>the </b><b>top </b><b>of </b><b>his </b>head.
“Sometimes adults haveplicated feelings about things, but <b>that’s </b><b>not </b><b>your </b><b>fault</b><b>.</b><b>” </b>
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He seemed to ept this, the way children do, findingfort in my touch even if he didn’t understand <b>the </b>exnation.
“Can we y with my cars?” he asked hopefully.
“Of course, baby. Get them out.”
While Caesar busied himself with his toys, I moved around our tiny space like a caged animal. My mind was racing, reying every moment of the past few weeks.
Mrs, Reid’s calcted kindness toward Caesar during her month–long stay, iming she was lonely at the Reid family estate.
Her cruel dismissals of me. The way she had orchestrated today’s humiliation.
She’d brought that woman here to show me my ce. To remind me that I was nothing
women like Mia ckwood were suitable for men like Hunter.
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And Hunter… God, Hunter. The way he’d looked at me when I’d demanded he stay away from Caesar.
Like I had pped him. But what did he expect? He had raised his voice at a three–year–old, then stood there
while his mother held Caesar against his will.
I thought about this morning’s breakfast, the way his fingers had touched my thigh, the heat in his eyes. <fnd2c5> Discover more novels at find?novel</fnd2c5>
Had that all been some kind of game to him? A way to pass the time while his mother arranged his real
future with someone appropriate?
A knock at the door made me jump.
“Celine?” It was Sally’s voice, uncharacteristically gentle. “Are you all right, dear?”
I didn’t answer. Couldn’t trust my voice not to breakpletely.
“Celine, I know you’re upset. We all heard what happened. Mrs. Reid was… she was out of line.”
Is Sally defending me against Mrs. Reid? That was new.
“I have some tea,” Sally continued. “And some of those cookies Caesar likes. Why don’t you let me in?”
“We’re fine,” I managed to say.
“No, you’re not. And that’s okay. You don’t have to be fine right now.”
The kindness in her voice nearly undid me. Sally, who had been nothing but stern <b>and </b><b>disapproving </b><b>since </b>had arrived, was offeringfort.
But I couldn’t open that door. Because if I did, I might fall apartpletely, <b>and </b><b>Caesar </b><b>needed </b><b>me </b><b>to </b><b>stay </b>
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“Please, Sally. We just need some time.”
A long pause. “All right. But Celine? Don’t do anything rash. Sometimes things look worse than they are.”
Her footsteps faded down the hallway.
“Who was that, Mama?” Caesar asked, looking up from his car.
“Just Sally, checking on us.”
“She sounded nice. She doesn’t usually sound nice.”
Out of the mouths of babes.
I sat down beside Caesar on the floor, watching him drive his cars around an imaginary track. His earlier tears were forgotten, reced by the simple joy of y.
How I envied him that ability to bounce back, to live in the moment.
“Mama, can we have sandwiches for dinner? I’m hungry.”
I looked at our tiny kitchte, and at the scarce supplies we had. We could make sandwiches, maybe heat some soup. But what about tomorrow?
What about next week?
The reality of our situation hit me like a physical blow. Yes, Hunter paid me well–better than I had ever earned before, and he had even given me bonuses when I had worked extra hours or handled special tasks.
But most of that money went straight to paying off the debts I’d umted beforeing here.
The medical bills from Caesar’s birth, the credit cards I had maxed out just trying to survive, the loans I had
taken when work was scarce.
Even with Hunter’s generous pay, I was barely keeping my head above water.
I had managed to save a small emergency fund, but it wouldn’tst long if we had to leave.
Finding another job that paid as well would be nearly impossible, especially with my limited work history
and a child to care for.
Mrs. Reid knew this. She might only be staying here temporarily, iming loneliness at the family estate, but she was using her time to study our vulnerabilities.
She understood exactly how precarious our situation was, how dependent I had be on this job–not because Hunter underpaid me, but because I had started from such a deep hole.
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And now she was using that dependence to slowly take Caesar away from me.
Another knock interrupted my spiraling thoughts.
“Celine.” Hunter’s voice was rough and strained. “Please. Let me exin.”
I froze a piece of bread halfway to the te in my hands.
“I know how it looked, but it wasn’t… I would never hurt Caesar. You have to know that.”
Caesar looked up from his car. “Is that Mr. Hunter?”
I didn’t answer, couldn’t move.
“Celine, please. Just let me exin what happened.”
“Go away,” I finally whispered.
“I can’t. Not like this. Not with you thinking I would hurt him.”
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“You did hurt him!” The words exploded out of me. “You made him cry! You let your mother hold him when
he wanted toe to me!”
Silence. Then: “You’re right. I did. And I hate myself for it.”
His voice was so broken, so full of pain, that for a moment I almost believed him. Almost.
“Mama?” Caesar had abandoned his car and was standing beside me, tugging on my shirt. “Uncle Hunter
sounds sad.”
He did sound sad. He sounded devastated.
But I couldn’t afford to care about Hunter’s feelings. Not when Caesar’s safety was at stake.
“Please go away, Hunter. Please.”
A long pause. Then: “Caesar? Can Mr. Hunter talk to you for just a minute?”
Caesar looked at me questioningly. I wanted to say no, to keep him away from all of this adult mess. But he was already walking toward the door
“Mr. Hunter? Are you still mad at me?”
“No, buddy. I’m not mad at you. I was never really mad at you. I was mad at the situation, and I spoke too harshly. That was wrong of me, and I’m very sorry.”
Caesar pressed his hand against the door. “It’s okay, Uncle Hunter. Sometimes I get mad at situations too.”
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I heard Hunter’s breath catch. “You’re a very understanding little boy. Your mama raised you right.”
“Mama’s the best mama in the whole world.”
“Yes, she is. And she loves you very much. That’s why she got scared today. She thought someone might
hurt you, and that made her protective. Like a mama bear.”
Caesar giggled. “Mama’s not a bear!”
“No, but she’s just as fierce when ites to protecting you.”
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I sank at our small table, tears streaming down my face. Hunter was talking to my son with such gentleness,
such care.
This was the man who’d held me in theundry room, who had kissed me like I was pre
to him.
The man who had made sure I was wellpensated for my work, who had noticed when i was struggling, and quietly helped without making me feel like charity.
But it was also the man who was going to marry someone else. Someone appropriate.
“Uncle Hunter?” Caesar’s voice was thoughtful. “Are you going to marry the prettydy?”
My heart stopped.
“No, Caesar. I’m not going to marry her.”
“Good. I don’t think Mama liked her very much.”
Another pause. “Your mama is very smart. She has good instincts about people.”
“What’s instincts?”
“It’s when you know something without anyone telling you. Like how you know when someone is nice or when someone might not be safe.”
“Oh. Mama has lots of instincts then. She always knows when I’m getting sick before I even feel bad.”
“That’s because she pays attention to you. She watches out for you because you’re the most important thing in the world to her.”
I pressed my hand to my mouth to muffle a sob. He understood. Somehow, Hunter understood exactly what
Caesar meant to me.
“Uncle Hunter? Will you still y with me sometimes?”
The question hung in the air like a prayer.
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“I would like that very much, buddy. But that’s up to your mama. She gets to decide what’s best for you.”
“I’ll ask her. Maybe when she’s not sad anymore.”
“That sounds like a good n.”
I heard Hunter’s footsteps moving away from the door, then stopping.
“Celine? I meant what I said. About never hurting him. Whatever you think of me, whatever I’ve done wrong, please believe that.”
I wanted to answer, wanted to tell him I did believe him. But the words wouldn’te.
After his footsteps fadedpletely, Caesar came back to where I sat.
“Mama, why are you crying?”
I wiped my eyes quickly. “Just thinking about things, baby.”
“Sad things?”
“Complicated things.”
He climbed onto myp, wrapping his small arms around my neck. “I love you, Mama.”
“I love you too, sweetheart. More than anything.”
As we sat there holding each other, I tried to figure out what to do next.
We couldn’t stay here…that much was clear. Mrs. Reid would only be here for another few weeks, but the damage was already done.
She would never stop her campaign to im Caesar, and I couldn’t trust myself around Hunter. The way he’d spoken to Caesar just now, the gentleness in his voice…
I was falling for him. Had already fallen. And that made me weak, made me vulnerable in ways I couldn’t
afford.
We had to leave. Somehow, I had to use my small savings to get us away from here before it was toote.
The debts would have to wait.
Caesar’s safety mattered more than my credit score.
But as I looked around our small quarters, at the expensive clothes in Caesar’s closet, at the security andfort this ce provided, I felt the weight of starting over settling on my shoulders.
How do you rebuild when you’re still paying for the life you left behind?
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