<b>Chapter </b><b>99 </b>
HUNTER’S POV-
The door to my study mmed shut behind me with more force than I intended. My hands were shaking… actually shaking…as I reached for the crystal decanter on my desk.
The amber liquid sloshed against the ss as I poured myself
“You’re exactly like your mother.”
ree fingers of whiskey.
Celine’s words echoed in my head like a death sentence. I knocked back the drink in one burning gulp, but it did nothing to wash away the taste of her usation.
Cold. Calcting. Willing to destroy anyone who gets in my way.
Was that really who I’d be?
I sank into my leather chair and buried my face in my hands. The image of Caesar’s tear–streaked face wouldn’t leave me al
The way he’d looked between Celine and me, confused and scared by the tension crackling in that small room.
“I want Mr. Hunter to be my daddy.”
My chest tightened painfully at the memory of his innocent words. He wanted me to be his father. Not just any father…. ‘his‘ father.
The man who taught him chess and made funny voices during story time.
But what had I done the moment Celine threatened to leave? I’d turned into exactly the kind of man I’d always hated. The kind who used power and money to get what he wanted, consequences be damned,
Just like my mother.
I reached for my phone with trembling fingers and scrolled to Vincent’s number. It was past midnight, but I didn’t care.
I needed someone to talk sense into me before I destroyed the best thing that had ever happened to me. <fnaee3> Discover more novels at Find~Novel</fnaee3>
“Hunter?” Vincent’s voice was thick with sleep. “What’s wrong? It’s the middle of the night.”
“I screwed up, Vince. I screwed up bad.” The words tumbled out of me in a rush. “She was going to leave…Celine was packing to take Caesar and disappear….and I panicked. I threatened her withwyers.”
There was a long pause on the other end of the line. When Vincent spoke again, he sounded wide awake.
“You did what?”
“I know, I know it was stupid. But she was taking my son away from me, and I….”
“Your son?” Vincent’s voice was sharp. “Hunter, you’ve known about Caesar for what, a few weeks? Celine’s been his mother <b>for </b>three years. Three years of raising him alone, working herself to the bone to provide for him.”
“I know that….”
“Do you? Because threatening her with custody battles sure doesn’t sound like you know <b>that</b>.” Vincent’s <b>disappointment </b><b>cut </b><b>deeper </b><b>than </b>any <b>lecture </b>from my father ever had,
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“What were you thinking?”
<b>I </b>stood up and began pacing behind my desk, the phone pressed tight against my ear.
“I was thinking that I can’t lose them. Not now. Not when I finally understand what I’ve been missing my whole life.”
“And you thought the best way to keep them was to terrify a woman who’s already been hurt by your family?”
The truth of his words hit me like a physical blow. I stopped pacing and stared out the window at the dark grounds of the estate.
Somewhere out there, in the servant quarters I had relegated them to like they were less than human, Celine was probablyforting our
son.
Telling him everything would be okay even though I’d just threatened to tear their world apart.
“She said I was just like my mother,” I whispered.
“Were you?”
I wanted to deny it, to rage against theparison. But the whiskey and exhaustion had stripped away all my defenses
honesty.
only brutal
“Yes,” I admitted. “God help me, I was exactly like her. The moment Celine didn’t do what I wanted, I tried to buy herpliance with threats
and legal action.”
“At least you can see it,” Vincent said, his voice gentler now. “The question is, what are you going to do about it?”
I sank back into my chair, suddenly feeling every one of my twenty–six years.
“I don’t know. She doesn’t trust me, and after tonight, I can’t me her. Caesar wants me to be his father, but maybe Celine’s right. Maybe
he’s better off without the Reid family drama.”
“That’s the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard you say,” Vincent said tly. “I’ve watched you with that boy, Hunter. You light up around him in a way I’ve never seen before. And he adores you…anyone with eyes can see that.”
“But Celine….”
“Celine is protecting her child the way any good mother would. You can’t fault her for that.” Vincent paused, and I could practically hear him
thinking.
“You want to know what I think the real problem is?”
“What?”
“You’re treating this like a business merger instead of a family. You’re negotiating and strategizing and trying to find leverage when what you should be doing is showing them that you care.”
I frowned. “I do care. That’s why I can’t let them leave.”
“<b>No</b><b>, </b>Hunter. Caring would be respecting Celine’s right to make decisions for her son. Caring would be earning their trust instead <b>of </b>demanding theirpliance. Caring would be putting their needs above your own <b>fears</b>.”
His words settled over me like a heavy nket, suffocating in their uracy.
I’d spent so long viewing every rtionship as a transaction that I’d <b>forgotten </b>how to simply love <b>without </b><b>conditions</b>.
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13:16 Mon, 4 Aug A
“How do I fix this?” I asked, hating how lost I sounded.
“First, you call off anywyers you might have contacted-
“I didn’t call them,” I interrupted. “It was just a threat.”
“Good. Second, you need to apologize. Not just for tonight, but for everything. The way you treated her when she first started working here, the way you’ve kept them in the servant quarters like they’re beneath you, all of it.”
1 winced. When heid it out like that, it was even worse than I’d thought.
“And third,” Vincent continued, “you need to prove that you’ve changed. Not with grand gestures or expensive gifts, but with consistent, everyday actions that show you respect them both.”
“What if she won’t give me the chance? What if she leaves before I can show her I’m different?”
“Then you let her go.”
“Vince…”
“No, listen to me. If you love them…both of them…then you want what’s best for them, even if that means living withou someone to love you, Hunt. And you sure as hell can’t threaten them into staying.”
20)
ou can’t force
I closed my eyes, feeling the truth of his words settle into my bones. For so long, I’d been focused on what I wanted, what I needed, what I
deserved.
I’d never stopped to consider what Celine and Caesar needed from me.
Trust. Respect. Security.
None of which I’d offered them.
“You’re right,” I said quietly. “I’ve been selfish. I’ve been treating them like possessions instead of people.”
“The fact that you can admit that means there’s hope for you yet,” Vincent said with a slight chuckle. “Now, what are you going to do about
it?”
I straightened in my chair, feeling something shift inside me. A resolve that had nothing to do with business tactics or family expectations and everything to do with being the man Caesar thought I could be.
“I’m going to show them that I can be better,” I said. “Nowyers, no threats, no maniption. Just… me. The real me.”
“And if that’s not enough?”
I swallowed hard. “Then I’ll love them enough to let them go.”
“Good man,” Vincent said, approval clear in his voice. “Now get some sleep. You’ve got a lot of work to do tomorrow.”
After he hung up, I remained in my chair, staring at the family portrait on my desk. Three generations of Reid men, all wearing the same cold, calcting expression.
All sessful in business, all failures in the things that actually mattered.
I didn’t want to be like them anymore.
I wanted to be the kind of father who deserved a son like Caesar. The kind of man who could earn a woman like Celine’s trust and love.
10
11, 4 <b>Aug </b>
<b>200</b>%
Tomorrow, I would start over. No more Hunter Reid, the ruthless businessman. Just Hunter, the man who wanted nothing more than to be
worthy of his family.
I just prayed it wasn’t toote.
<b>AIA </b>
B