<b>Chapter </b><b>117 </b>


    -CELINE’S POV-


    (A Few Hours Earlier)


    My cheeks burned with humiliation as I stumbled through the west wing corridors, Hunter’s Egyptian cotton sheet wrapped around me like a makeshift toga.


    The soft fabric that had felt so luxurious against my skin just moments ago now felt like a scarlet letter, announcing my shame to anyone who might see me.


    The door to our small quarters couldn’te fast enough. I burst through it like I was being chased by demons, my heart hammering against my ribs.


    ke was already up, moving around our cozy little kitchen with the easy grace of someone who had imed this space as home.


    She had a steaming mug of coffee in her hands and was humming softly to herself when I crashed through the door like a tornado.


    “Well, well, well,” she drawled, her eyebrows shooting up as she took in my appearance. “Someone’s doing the walk of shame this morning. Though technically, it’s more of a run of shame, isn’t it?”


    “ke, please,” I whispered, my voice hoarse with embarrassment.


    Her teasing expression immediately shifted to concern. “Hey, what’s wrong? Why are you running around half–naked at seven in the morning?”


    Copsed onto our small sofa, burying my face in my hands.


    The events of the morning crashed over me in waves – Hunter’s mother’s cold, judgmental stare, the way she’d looked at me like I was something she’d scraped off her designer shoe, the humiliation of being caught in such an intimate moment.


    “His mother,” I managed to choke out. “She walked in on us. Just…. stood there, staring, while I was naked in his bed.”


    ke’s coffee mug hit the counter with a sharp clink. “So the wicked witch of the east wing has returned,” she said grimly.


    “And let me guess – she hates your guts on sight.”


    I nodded miserably, my face still buried in my hands. “The look she gave me, ke. Like I was dirt. Like I was nothing but a cheap whore trying to seduce her precious son.”


    “Where’s Caesar?” I asked suddenly, panic fluttering in my chest as I looked around our small apartment.


    As if summoned by my worry, Caesar came bounding out of his room, his tablet clutched in his small hands and his dark hair sticking up at odd angles.


    His blue eyes – so startlingly simr to Hunter’s – were bright with excitement.


    “Mama! Can I go downstairs and <i>see </i>Daddy? want to show him the new level I unlocked!”


    The word ‘Daddy‘ hit me like a physical blow.


    When did Caesar start calling Hunter that? And why did it make my heart doplicated things in my chest?


    I managed a smile for my son, reaching out to smooth down his unruly hair. “Of course, sweetheart. Go find him.”


    457<b>% </b>


    Caesar beamed and practically skipped toward the door, pausing only to wave goodbye to both ke and me before disappearing into the hallway.


    The moment he was gone, ke rounded on me with a predatory grin. “Okay, now spill, How was it?”


    “ke!” I gasped, heat flooding my cheeks all over again. <fnb533> Fresh chapters posted on findnovel</fnb533>


    “Come on, don’t leave me hanging here. You finally slept with the brooding billionaire, Was it everything you dreamed it would be? Did he live up to the hype?”


    I covered my face with my hands again, but I couldn’t stop the smile that tugged at my lips. “It was…” I peeked at her through my fingers.


    “Really, really good.”


    ke squealed like a teenager, pping her hands together. “I knew it! I could see the sexual tension between you two from space. The man has been undressing you with his eyes for months.”


    We both broke up into giggles, the sound echoing through our small kitchen and momentarily washing away my embarrassment.


    For a few precious minutes, it felt like we were just two friends gossiping about boys, not like I was a maid who had crossed an unforgivable line with her employer.


    I had just finished getting dressed in my crisp maid’s uniform – the starched fabric feeling like armor against whatever the day might bring – when a sharp knock interrupted our moment of levity.


    ke and I exchanged nces. It was barely eight in the morning, far too early for most of the household to be moving around.


    When I opened the door, Ana stood there like an avenging angel, her arms crossed over her chest and her expression colder than a winter morning.


    Her dark eyes swept over ke and me with undisguised disdain.


    “Well, well,” ke muttered under her breath. “Another member of the wicked witch fan club.”


    Ana’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “I beg your pardon?”


    “You heard me,” ke replied sweetly, rising from her chair with the fluid grace of a cat preparing to pounce.


    Ana turned her attention back to me, her gaze traveling up and down my uniform with obyious disgust. “I suppose you think you’re something special now, don’t you? Warming the master’s bed like somemon……”


    “What do you want, Ana?” I cut her off, my voice sharper than I intended. The morning had already been humiliating enough without adding Ana’s jealousy to the mix.


    She smirked, clearly enjoying herself. “You think this means something? You think because Hunter Reid spent <i>one </i>night slumming it with the help, he actually cares about you?”


    My chest tightened, but I kept my expression neutral.


    “Let me educate you about how this works,” Ana continued, her voice dripping with false sweetness.


    “Men like Hunter don’t marry girls like you. They use you for a bit of fun, and then they toss you aside when they’re done ying. His mother will never allow her son to marry some low–life slut of a maid.”


    ke shot to her feet so fast her chair nearly toppled over. “That’s it. I’m going to smack some sense into this bitter old <i>cow</i>.<i>” </i>


    13:07 Tue, 5 Aug


    “ke, don’t.” I said firmly, cing a restraining hand on her arm.


    201


    I turned back to Ana, meeting her hostile gaze directly. “Your words mean nothing to me. Now either state your business or get away from my


    door.”


    Ana’s mouth fell open slightly, clearly not expecting me to stand up to her. She recovered quickly, her smirk returning full force.


    “Mr. Reid has requested your presence downstairs,” she said with exaggerated formality. “Both of you. Though I can’t imagine why he would want that loud–mouthed friend of yours there too.”


    “Why?” I asked, though my heart was already starting to race.


    Ana shrugged with calcted indifference. “I’m not his messenger service. If you want answers, go downstairs and get them yourself.”


    She turned on her heel and stalked away, leaving ke and me staring after her.


    “The audacity of that woman,” ke muttered. “I should have pped her anyway.”


    But I was barely listening.


    Hunter wanted me downstairs. With his mother there.


    After what had happened this morning, after the way she’d looked at me, thest thing I wanted was to face Eleanor Reid across a breakfast


    table.


    But he had asked for me. Despite everything, despite his mother’s obvious disapproval, he had asked for me.


    Maybe it meant something after all.


    If I had thought facing Eleanor Reid in Hunter’s bedroom was humiliating, it was nothingpared to sitting across from her at the formal


    dining table.


    Every piece of silver seemed to gleam with judgment, every crystal ss reflected her disapproving stare.


    Hunter had positioned himself at the head of the table like a king holding court, but I could see the tension in his shoulders, the careful way


    he held himself.


    Caesar sat beside me, happily munching on pancakes andpletely oblivious to the undercurrents swirling around him.


    Eleanor’s attention had initially focused on ke, her questions sharp as surgical instruments.


    “And what exactly do <i>you </i>do, Miss?” Eleanor asked, her tone suggesting she already knew she wouldn’t approve of the answer.


    “I work at The Aurelia,” ke replied smoothly, though I could see her knuckles were white where she gripped her coffee cup.


    “How… convenient. And how did you meet Celine? Through work, I assume?”


    The meaning was clear – Eleanor was fishing for something sordid, some proof that ke and I were cut from the same supposedly inferior


    cloth.


    “We worked together at Sir Reid hotel,” I said quietly, not wanting ke to have to guide Eleanor’s verbalndmines alone.


    “Ah.” Eleanor’s smile was razor–thin. “So you’re both in the… service industry. How fitting that you encourage each other in your various pursuits. Tell me, Miss ke, do you also make a habit of encouraging your friends to sleep with their employers?”


    <b>96</b>%


    The question hit the table like a bomb.


    Several staff members who’d been moving quietly around the room froze in ce. Hunter’s jaw clenched so tightly I was afraid he might crack a tooth.


    “Mother.. “he began, but Eleanor wasn’t finished.


    “It’s a simple question. Surely there’s nothing wrong with honest work between consenting adults? Unless, of course, someone is using their position to take advantage of……”


    “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” ke interjected, her voice deadly calm.


    Eleanor’s eyes glittered with malicious satisfaction. “Don’t I? It’s quite obvious what sort of woman would……”


    “What’s a slut?”


    Caesar’s innocent voice cut through the tension like a knife through silk.


    Every person in the room froze, all eyes turning to my three–year–old son, who was looking up from his pancakes with genuine curiosity.


    My blood turned to ice.


    Eleanor’s face had gone pale, Hunter looked like he was about tomit murder, and I could feel every staff member’s eyes boring into me, waiting to see how I would handle this moment.


    “A slut,” I said carefully, my voice steady despite the way my hands were shaking, “is a mean word that some people use when they’re angry. It’s not a nice word, and you shouldn’t say it, okay?”


    Caesar nodded solemnly. “Like when Tommy at the park called me a bad name?”


    “Exactly like that,” I managed, my heart breaking for my innocent boy who was trying so hard to understand the adult world’s cruelties.


    The silence that followed was deafening.


    I could feel pity radiating from some of the staff, but Ana’s face held nothing but cold satisfaction, and Eleanor looked like she was savoring every moment of my humiliation.


    That’s when Hunter exploded.


    “Get out.” His voice was so low and dangerous that it seemed to vibrate through the floorboards.


    Eleanor blinked. “Excuse me?”


    “You heard me.” Hunter stood slowly, his movements controlled but radiating barely contained fury. “Get out of my house. Now.”


    “Hunter, I am your mother…..”


    “You are nothing to me,” he said, each word falling like a hammer blow. “Celine has been more of a mother to Caesar in three months than


    you ever were to me in twenty–six years.”


    The silence that followed was absolute.


    Even Caesar had stopped eating, his wide blue eyes darting between the adults as he sensed the shift in the room’s atmosphere.


    I wanted to disappear.


    This was all my fault. Hunter was destroying his rtionship with his mother because of me, and I couldn’t bear it.


    “Hunter,” I whispered, but he held up a hand.


    “Breakfast is over,” he announced, his voice carrying the authority of a man ustomed to being obeyed, “Celine, please take Caesar


    upstairs.”


    Thesitated, torn between wanting to escape and not wanting to leave Hunter to face his mother’s wrath alone.


    “Celine,” his voice brooked no argument, though when his eyes met mine, they softened slightly. “Please.”


    ke touched my arm gently. “Come on,” she murmured. “Let them work this out.”


    As I gathered Caesar and his tablet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d just witnessed something irreversible.


    Hunter had chosen me over his mother, and I wasn’t sure either of us was prepared for the consequences of that choice.