<i>No </i><b><i>Ads </i></b>
<b>Chapter </b><b>124 </b>
-HUNTER’S POV-
I woke up mixed up, my body heavy with exhaustion and the lingering effects of fever. The afternoon sun streamed through my bedroom windows, casting long shadows across the floor,
A nce at my bedside clock made me blink in disbelief…. noon. I couldn’t remember thest time I had slept past sunrise, let alone into the
afternoon.
Sitting up slowly, I ran a hand through my disheveled hair, wincing as the movement sent a dull ache through my skull.
The events of the past few days crashed back with brutal rity….Caroline’s devastating confession, Celine’s tears, and the way I had pushed away the only woman I had ever truly loved when she needed me most,
My gaze drifted to the nightstand where an empty soup bowl sat alongside a small bottle of fever medication.
Celine had brought them to me yesterday, despite everything. Despite my cruelty, my coldness, my cowardice…she’d still cared enough to ensure I ate and took my medicine.
“God, what kind of monster had be?”
I forced myself to stand and <b>walk </b>to the window, pulling back the heavy curtains. The sudden flood of light made me squint, but I weed
the difort.
I deserved it.
I deserved every ache, every moment of misery for how I’d treated her.
Turning back to survey my room, I was confronted with the aftermath of my breakdown. Broken ss littered the floor near the dresser where I had hurled a crystal decanter.
Booksy scattered, their pages torn and crumpled. Picture <b>frames</b>…most containing photos of Celine and Caesary face–down, their ss cracked beyond repair.
With a heavy sigh, I began picking up therger pieces, cing them carefully in the wastebasket.
Each piece seemed to mock me, reflecting my fractured soul at me in jagged pieces. This destruction was nothingpared to what I’d done to my rtionship with Celine and Caesar.
As I worked, my mind reyed ourst encounter with sickening rity. The way Celine had looked at me…her beautiful brown eyes filled with pain and disbelief.
The way her voice had broken when she’d screamed that she hated me. The sound of her <b>tears </b>as she’d fled my room.
“Thate <b>v </b>
you.”
you for making me believe in fairy tales,” she’d said. “I hate you for making me think someone like me could n
someone he
But that was the cruelest irony of all, she was everything that mattered to me. She and Caesar were the only light in my dark, suffocating world.
Yet when faced with the truth about Caroline’s maniption, I’d retreated into the cold, emotionless shell that had protected me for so long.
I’d acted exactly like the monster everyone expected a field to be
The truth about that night four years ago had shattered me in ways I couldn’t fully exin. Not because Caroline had orchestrated out meeting…deep down, I was grateful she had.
No, what destroyed me was realizing how much pain Celine had endured because of my family’s dysfunction
Her dreams crushed, her future detailed, her life turned upside down–all because my cousin thought she could y God with <b>our </b>hearts.
I’d stood outside Celine’s door after Caroline’s confession, listening to her break down, hearing the anguish in her voice as she’d realized how herlile had been used.
The knowledge that I was partly responsible for her suffering had nearly brought me to my knees
Caroline’s voicemails had piled up–fifteen increasingly desperate messages begging for forgiveness, exining her intentions, pleading with me to understand.
But how could I be angry with her?
Caroline had been like a sister to me, the only family member who’d ever truly understood my struggles. She’d acted out of love, misguided
though it was.
I’d kept my fertility issues from her precisely because I knew how she’d react. Caroline was a fixer, always trying to solve everyone’s
problems.
When she’d learned about my low sperm count diagnosis, her <b>brilliant </b>mind had immediately started scheming
The bitter irony <b>was </b>that I’d never particrly cared about having biological children. The Reid name was a curse, not a blessing.
Nothing good ever came from being <b>a </b>Reid–we destroyed everything we touched, ruined everything pure and beautiful in our wake.
Just as I’d <b>ruined </b>Celine.
“She must hate me,” I thought, sinking onto the edge of my bed. ‘Of course, she hates me. I’ve been nothing but a source of pain and disappointment.”
But even as the thought tormented me, I knew I couldn’t leave things as they were. I had to make amends–to both Celine and Caesar
I had to spend whatever time I had left proving that I was worthy of their love,
e, even if it took the rest of my <b>life</b><b>. </b>
After a quick shower and shave, I dressed in fresh clothes and made my way downstairs.
The staff looked shocked to see me….
… My self–imposed istion <b>had </b>been the <b>subject </b>of considerable gossip.
Sally, the head maid, immediately bustled over, <b>her </b>weathered face creased with concern and relief,
“Mr. Reid! Thank goodness,” she eximed, reaching up to touch my cheek with motherly affection. “You gave us all such a fright. Look at you–you’re nothing but skin and bones!”
Despite everything, her genuine care brought the first smile to my lips in days. “I’m sorry for worrying you, Sally.”
“Well, you should be,” she scolded, though her eyes were kind. “I’m going to make it my mission to put some meat <b>back </b>on those bones, young man. Can’t have you wasting <b>away </b>on my watch.”
I squeezed her <b>hand </b>gratefully, “I’d appreciate that. But first, I need to….”
My words died <b>as </b>I scanned the main Hallway, suddenly realizing what was missing.
10:18 Wed 6 Aug
Or rather, who was missing?
Usually by this time of day, Caesar would be racing through these halls, hisughter echoing off the marble walls, Cefine would be nearby watching him with that soft smile that never failed to take my breath away
But the mansion felt eerily quiet.
“Where are Celine and Caesar? Lasked, trying to keep the growing unease from my voice. <fn3d3a> ???? ????s? ???????s ?? FιndＮovel</fn3d3a>
Sally’s expression shifted, bing worried. “They haven’te out of their quarters all morning, Mr. Reid. Not even for breakfast, which is
unusual for little Caesar
From across the hallway, Ana’s voice cut through the air with its typical venom
“Probably toozy to get out of bed. Some people think just because they spread their legs for the boss, they don’t have to work anymore”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees as both <b>Sally </b>a and I turned to stare at Ana
The young maid’s face went pale as she realized she’d crossed a line, but the damage was done.
“Get back to work,” said quietly, my voice carrying enough ice to freeze hellfire.
“Now”
Ana scurried away like the rat she was, but her words had nted a seed of dread in my chest.
It wasn’t like Celine to avoid her duties, and Caesar was naturally an early riser who preferred the outdoors to being cooped up inside.
“I’ll go check on them,” I told Sally, who nodded with obvious reliel.
The walk to their quarters felt endless, each step weighted with growing suspicion, Something was wrong–I could feel it in my bones.
As I approached their door, I hesitated, my hand hovering over the wood. Thest time I’d seen Celine, I’d been cruel and cold, pushing her away when <b>she’d </b>tried to care for me.
What if
What if she refused to see me? <b>What </b>if Caesar had finally given up hope that his “Daddy Hunter” woulde back to him?
Taking a deep breath, I knocked softly. “Celine? Caesar? It’s me.”
Silence
I knocked again, harder this time. “Celine, I know <b>you’re </b>upset with me<b>, </b>and you have every right to be. But <b>we </b>need to talk. Please.”
Still nothing
Achill ran down my spine as I reached for the door handle. It turned easily…<b>unlocked</b>. That was strange. Celine was always careful about security, especially with Caesar<b>. </b>
I stepped inside, immediately struck by the unnatural quiet.
“Celine? Caesar?”
My voice echoed in the space, answered only by silence. I moved through the small living area, noting that everything appeared normal at first nce.
But as I looked closer<b>, </b>details began to register–drawers left slightly open, a few <b>toys </b>scattered haphazardly, as if someone had been packing
<b>3/5 </b>
quickly.
My heart began to race as thurried to Caesar’s ro
Empty.
Groom. His bed was made, but when I opened his wardrobe, my vorst feard were confirmed.
Every tiny shirt, every pair of little jeans, every beloved stuffed animal–gone.
“No, no, no,” I whispered, stumbling toward Celine’s room.
Her wardrobe told the same devastating story. Empty hangers swayed gently, mocking me with their bareness.
The dresser drawers hung open, cleaned out. Even her art supplies, the few precious items she’d managed to keep from her old life were
gone.
Ifrantically searched every corner of the quarters, looking for some sign, some clue that this wasn’t what it appeared to be. But the evidence
was undeniable.
With shaking hands, I pulled out my phone and dialed Celine’s number.
The automated message that greeted me felt like a dagger to the heart: “The number you <b>have </b>dialed is no longer in service
I tried again, desperate hope making me believe I’d misdialed. Same message.
Again. And again.
“Fuck!” I roared, hurling the phone against the wall with all my strength.
it exploded into pieces, the sound of its destruction echoing my own shattered heart.
How could she leave? How could she take Caesar and just disappear? After everything we’d been through, after all the promises, after the love we’d shared… how could she abandon what we had?
But even as the questions tormented me, a small, honest voice in the back of my mind whispered the truth i didn’t want to face: “You drove her away. You became exactly what she expected you to be..cold, cruel, impossible to love.”
I stumbled out of their empty quarters, my vision blurred with unshed tears and rage. The staff scattered as I stormed through the hallways, probably sensing the dangerous energy radiating from me.
Sally called my name, but I ignored her, heading straight for my study<b>. </b>
I needed help. I needed someone who could find them, bring them back, fix what i’d broken with my stupidity and pride.
mming the study door behind me, I grabbed thendline and dialed a number I knew by heart. Vincent answered on the string
“Hunter<b>? </b>
? What’s wrong? You sound…”
“Find her,” interrupted<b>, </b>my <b>voice </b>raw with desperation “Find Celine Brown. Find <b>my </b>son, Find them and bring them home.”
The silence on the other end stretched for several heartbeats before Vincent spoke again, his tone suddenly all business.
“How long <b>have </b>they been gone?”
“I don’t know. Hours? Days? I’ve been…” I swallowed hard, shame washing over me. “I’ve been an idiot<b>, </b>Vincent. I pushed her away, and now
U18 WeD<b>, </b>D ANY
Chapter <b>124 </b>
she’s taken Caesar and disappeared.”
“I’m on my way,” he said without hesitation.
“And I’m calling Derek right now….he’ll start tracking them immediately. Don’t do anything stupid until I get there. We’ll find them, Hunter |
promise.”
The line went dead, leaving me alone with the crushing weight of my failures. I sank into my leather chair, staring at the phone as if it might ring with news of Celine and <b>Caesar’s </b>return.
But deep down, I knew it wouldn’t be that simple.
I’d lost them through my cowardice and cruelty. Getting them back….if that was even possible…would require me to be the man they deserved.
The m
man I should have been all along
“Please, I prayed to whatever gods might be listening
*Please let me have another chance. I’ll do anything…give up everything….just let me make this right!
But the only answer was the ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner, counting down the seconds since the two most important people in my world had walked out of my life.
Possibly forever.