<b>Chapter </b><b>103 </b>
-CELINE’S POV-
Caesar’s hand was warm in mine, and when I looked across the table at Hunter, I saw something different in his face. The cold examination was gone, reced by something softer.
More human.
“Are you both happy?” Caesar asked, his blue eyes moving between us.
I squeezed his hand gently. “I’m getting there, baby.”
Hunter’s fingers tightened around Caesar’s other hand. “Me too, buddy.”
It was a small moment, but it felt meaningful. Like maybe we were finally moving in the right direction.
“Can I go y now?” Caesar asked, already starting to wiggle in his chair.
“For a little while,” I said. “But stay where I can see you from the window.”
“Okay, Mama!” He jumped up and ran toward the door, then stopped and turned back. “Daddy Hunter, will you help me build a fortter?”
“Absolutely,” Hunter said, and the smile on his face was genuine.
After Caesar ran outside, the kitchen fell quiet except for the distant sound of hisughter. Hunter and I sat across from each other, the importance of our conversation settling between us.
“This is strange,” I said finally.
“What is?”
“Having a polite conversation with you. I was starting to think it was impossible.”
Hunter’s mouth curved in a rueful smile. “I haven’t exactly made it easy, have I?<b>” </b>
“No, you haven’t.” I picked up my coffee cup, using it as something to focus on besides his face. “But I want to believe people can change.”
“Even me?”
I met his eyes then. “Especially you. Because if you can’t<b>, </b>then Caesar loses his father, and I won’t be responsible for that.”
“Celine,” Hunter said quietly, “I know I have no right to ask this, but can you tell me what happened that night? Three years ago?”
My stomach tightened. “Why?”
“Because I need to understand. I need to know how we got here so I can make sure I don’t mess this up again.”
I set down my cup and studied his face. There was no demand in his face, no expectation. Just a quiet request.
“I was <b>neen</b>,” I said slowly. “Working three jobs, trying to scrape together money for art school. My family kept saying I was <b>wasting </b><b>my </b><b>time</b>, that I should forget about art and focus on finding a good husband<b>.</b><b>” </b>
Hunter’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t interrupt.
<b>1/4 </b>
4 <b>Aug </b>
+64
“That night, I had just gotten the rejection letter. Art school said no….not because my work wasn’t good enough, but because I <b>couldn’t </b><b>pay</b><b>. </b>I felt like such an idiot for even trying.”
“So you went to a club?“.
“Caroline dragged me out. Some grand opening for her friend’s smiled at the memory.
Said I needed to stop moping around and actually live a little.” I
“She was pushy about it, but she was right. I needed to forget everything for one
“And you met me.”
night.”
“I met someone who seemed just as lost as I was. You told me about feeling trapped by everyone’s expectations, about never being good enough no matter what you aplished. You made me feel like I wasn’t alone.”
Hunter was quiet for a long moment. “I remember that conversation. You were the first person who didn’t see me as Hunter Reid, heir to a fortune. You just saw me as… Hunter.”
“Then why did you act like I was dirt when I started working here?”
“Because I was terrified,” he admitted. “Scared that if I admitted what happened between us mattered, I would have to d feeling something. And I had spent years convincing myself that caring about people was dangerous.”
h actually
“And now?”
“Now I realize that caring about people…about you and Caesar…. is what makes me feel alive instead of just going through the motions.”
I wanted to believe him. God, I wanted to believe him so badly it hurt.
“Hunter, listen to me. I’m not that lost neen–year–old anymore. I’m a mother now. Every choice I make has to be about keeping Caesar safe and happy.”
“I know.”
“Which means if you hurt him…if you make promises and then decide fatherhood is too hard….I’ll pack up and disappear. And this time, you
won’t find us.”
“I understand.”
“Do you? Because this isn’t just about you anymore. Caesar is already attached to you. He talks about you constantly, dreams about you, and
asks me every day if you still want to be his daddy. If you break his heart, I’ll never forgive you.”
Hunter leaned forward, his voice fierce. “Celine, I’d rather lose everything I own than hurt that kid. He’s…” He paused, struggling with the words. “He’s shown me what I’ve been missing my whole life.”
“What about your mother? What about all that pressure to marry the right kind of woman?”
“My mother can either ept this or find herself seeing a lot less of her grandson. And marriage…” He paused.
“Look, I’m not asking you to marry me or pretend we’re some happy family. <b>I </b><b>just </b>want us to figure out how to be good parents. <b>Together</b><b>. </b>
<b>It </b>wasn’t a love confession, but it was real, And <b>right </b><b>now</b>, real was exactly what I needed to hear.
“Alright,” I said quietly.
<b>“</b>Alright?”
<b>2/4 </b>
<b>13:16 </b>Mon<b>, </b>4 Aug
“We can try this. But there are rules.”
“Shoot.” <fn9d6e> Follow current nov?ls on Find~Novel</fn9d6e>
“First, no more games. If something I do pisses you off, say it. Don’t make me y guessing games or walk around on eggshells.”
“Deal<b>” </b>
“Second, Caesar’s needse before everything else. If we disagree about something that affects him, we hash it out like adults. No steamrolling
“Got it.”
“Third, I want to talk to yourwyer about those papers. I need to understand what you’re really offering here.”
“Absolutely.”
“Andst,” I took a breath, “we go slow. Caesar can move to that guest wing, but everything else happens step by step. No nishing, no assumptions.”
Hunter nodded. “Step by step sounds good to me.”
Through the window, I watched Caesar arranging sticks and leaves into some detailed creation. He was talking to himself,pletely absorbed in his little project.
When had Ist seen him this carefree?
“He’s been different since he found out about you,” I said.
“How so?”
“Happier. More sure of himself. Like he was waiting for something and finally got it.”
“That makes two of us,” Hunter said quietly.
I looked at him, and for a moment, I saw past the expensive clothes and the carefully controlled expression.
4+<b>201 </b>
I saw the man who had turned my world upside down, this beautiful, sinful man, whom I kept crossing the line for. Still remember the way he kissed me, touched me, and made love to me.
“Maybe we can make this work,” I said.
“Thope so, For Caesar’s sake.”
“And for ours?”
Hunter’s eyes met mine. “Yeah. For ours too.”
Caesar’sughter drifted through the window, and I found myself smiling. Maybe we were broken people trying to piece ourselves back together, but we were doing it for the right reasons.
We were doing it for love.