<b>Chapter </b><b>100 </b>


    -CELINE’S POV-


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    I couldn’t sleep.


    Caesar’s small body was curled up next to me in his tiny bed, but even in sleep, he wasn’t at peace. He kept tossing and turning, mumbling


    words that made my heart ache.


    “Daddy Hunter… don’t go… y chess…”


    Each whispered word was like a knife twisting in my chest. I smoothed his dark curls away from his forehead, the same way I had done every night for three years.


    But tonight felt different. Tonight, I wasn’t justforting him from a bad dream…I was watching him grieve for something he might lose.


    “Shh, baby,” I whispered, even though he couldn’t hear me. “It’s okay.”


    But it wasn’t okay. Nothing about this situation was okay.


    I shifted carefully, trying not to wake him, and pulled my phone from the nightstand. The screen’s blue light hurt my tired


    the browser and typed in “bus schedules New York City.”


    Three buses leave tomorrow morning.


    asi opened


    The earliest one was at 6:47 AM. If we left quietly, we could be gone before Hunter even woke up. Before he could call hiswyers or make good on his threats.


    My finger hovered over the “purchase tickets” button.


    One click, and we would be free. One click, and Caesar would never have to know what it felt like to be torn between two parents who


    couldn’t get along.


    One click, and I could protect him from the Reid family’s cold, calcted world.


    But I couldn’t do it.


    I set the phone down and looked at my son’s peaceful face.


    Even in sleep, there was a slight smile on his lips, probably dreaming about something Hunter had taught him or some game they’d yed


    together.


    When had Caesar ever smiled like that before Hunter came into his life?


    The truth was hard to swallow, but I couldn’t ignore it anymore.


    My son was happier now than I had ever seen him. For three years, it had been just the two of us against the world, and I had thought that


    was enough.


    I had convinced myself that Caesar didn’t need a father, that I could be everything to him.


    But watching them together these past few weeks has shown me how wrong I was.


    Hunter didn’t just tolerate Caesar’s endless questions…he encouraged them.


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    When Caesar asked why the sky was blue or how airnes stayed up, Hunter would sit with him for hours, drawing pictures and exining things in ways a three–year–old could understand.


    When Caesar spilled juice on Hunter’s expensive suitst week, I had braced myself for anger.


    Instead, Hunter hadughed and said, “Good thing I have more suits than I know what to do with.” Then he had helped Caesar clean up the mess without making him feel bad about it.


    And just a day before yesterday, when Caesar had a nightmare about monsters, Hunter had sat on the floor of his room and told him stories about brave knights until Caesar fell back asleep.


    These weren’t the actions of a man who saw my son as a duty or a way to secure his family’s legacy. These were the actions of a father who genuinely loved his child.


    “I’m scared that if I let you walk out that door, I’ll lose both of you forever.”


    Hunter’s words from earlier reyed in my mind. For just a moment, when he had admitted his fear, all his walls hade down.


    I had seen the real man underneath all that arrogance and control–the same man I had met in that club three years ago


    The man who had told me about feeling trapped by everyone’s expectations. The man who had listened to my dreams whether they mattered.


    The man who had made me feel beautiful and wanted for one perfect night.


    I had spent so long focusing on how he had hurt me that I had almost forgotten why I had been drawn to him in the first ce.


    rt school


    Caesar shifted in his sleep, reaching out as if searching for something. Without thinking, I took his small hand in mine, and he settled


    immediately.


    “Mama,” he mumbled, not quite awake. “Is Daddy Hunter still here?”


    My throat tightened. “Yes, baby. He’s still here.”


    “Good,” Caesar sighed, snuggling closer to me. “I love you both.”


    The simple innocence of his words broke something inside me. Here was my three–year–old son, who had somehow figured out what I was too scared to admit….that we were better together than apart.


    I picked up my phone again, but this time I didn’t look at bus schedules. Instead, I scrolled through the photos I had taken over the past few weeks without really thinking about it.


    Hunter teaching Caesar how to build boards, both of them frowning in concentration.


    Hunter was reading to Caesar, doing silly voices for all the characters when he thought I wasn’t watching.


    Hunter and Caesar are in the garden, both covered in dirt from nting flowers. In every single photo, they looked like what they


    were….father and son.


    There was no denying the resemnce, <i>not </i>just in their matching blue eyes, but in the way they moved, the way they tilted their heads when they were thinking, the way they both got that same stubborn look when they didn’t want to do something.


    But it was more than gics. There was genuine affection between them, a bond that had formed naturally despite all theplications.


    How could I take that away from either of them?


    <b>13.10 </b>Mon<b>, </b>4 Aug


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    I thought about what ke or Caroline would say if they were here. They would probably tell me to stop being so stubborn and give Hunter a


    real chance.


    ke had pointed out that Caesar deserved to have both his parents, and that maybe…just maybe….Hunter was capable of change.


    But ke hadn’t been the one humiliated by Hunter’s cruel words when I first started working here. She hadn’t been the one treated like a servant, looked down on, or made to feel small and worthless.


    She also hadn’t seen Hunter’s face when he realized Caesar was his son. The wonder and terror and overwhelming love that had shed


    across his features before he could hide it.


    “Being a father is more than sharing DNA,” I had told him earlier.


    But wasn’t I being hypocritical? I had been angry that he hadn’t been there for Caesar’s birth, his first steps, his first words. How could I be mad about that and then deny him the chance to be there for everything that came next?


    Caesar stirred again, and this time his eyes fluttered open.


    “Mama?” His voice was small and confused. “Why are you crying?”


    I hadn’t realized I was. I quickly wiped my cheeks and forced a smile. “I’m okay, sweetheart. Just thinking.”


    “About Daddy Hunter?”


    The casual way he said it….like Hunter had always been his daddy, like it was the most natural thing in the world….made my chest tight.


    “Yeah, baby. About Daddy Hunter.”


    Caesar sat up, suddenly more awake. “Are we still leaving? I heard you packing.”


    I looked into my son’s eyes…Hunter’s eyes….and saw a maturity there that shouldn’t exist in someone so young. He had already experienced too much dy in his short life.


    Moving from apartment to apartment when we couldn’t make rent, me working multiple jobs just to keep food on the table, never knowing if we had to leave again.


    For the first time in his life, Caesar had stability. A home where he didn’t have to worry about anything except being a kid. A father who wanted to be part of his life.


    And I was going to take that away because I was scared of getting hurt?


    “I don’t know, baby,” I said honestly. “What do you want to do?”


    Caesar was quiet for a moment, his little face serious. “I want to stay with Daddy Hunter. But I want you to be happy too.” He reached touched my cheek.


    up


    and


    “Can’t we all just be happy together?”


    Out of the mouths of babes.


    “It’splicated, Caesar….”


    “But why does it have to be?” His question was so innocent, so logical, “Tommy’s parents fight sometimes, but they still love each other. Can’t you and Daddy Hunter love each other too?”


    I didn’t know how to exin to a three–year–old that love wasn’t always enough. That sometimes people hurt each other, even when they


    13:16 Mon, 4 Aug A


    didn’t mean to.


    That trust, once broken, was incredibly hard to rebuild.


    But looking at Caesar’s hopeful face, I realized maybe I was making it moreplicated than it needed to be.


    Maybe the question wasn’t whether Hunter and I could work out our issues. Maybe the question was whether we were both willing to try….for Caesar’s sake, if nothing else. <fa5> For more chapters visit Find?Novel</fa5>


    Would you like that?” I asked. “If Daddy Hunter and I figured out how to get along?”


    Caesar nodded eagerly. “Yes! Then we could be a real family.”


    A real family. It was everything I had dreamed of giving him and everything I had convinced myself we didn’t need.


    I kissed the top of his head and tucked him back under the covers. “Get some sleep, baby. We’ll figure it out in the morning.”


    “Promise?”


    “I promise we’ll try.”


    As Caesar drifted back to sleep, I sat in the darkness and thought about promises. About the one I had made when he was born….to always put his needs first, no matter what.


    Maybe it was time to stop running and start fighting….not against Hunter, but for our son’s future.


    Maybe it was time to see if Hunter Reid was capable of being the man Caesar already believed him to be.