<b>Chapter </b><b>137 </b>


    -HUNTER POV-


    I pushed through the ss doors of the lobby, my footsteps echoing against the marble floor.


    Henry, the valet, stood waiting with his endless smile the kind that never wavered, no matter howte I arrived or how dark my mood.


    “Your keys, sir,” he said, extending them with that cheerful behavior I had grown used to over the years.


    The Golden Lock had been my sanctuary once–a ce I had purchased to escape my mother’s suffocating expectations and the weight of – the Reid name.


    How ironic that it had be a prison for the woman I loved.


    But she had left me no choice.


    The anger still burned in my chest, hot and consuming.


    I wanted to hurt her the way she had hurt me, to make her understand the wreckage she had caused.


    But earlier, trapped in that elevator with her, all I had wanted was to pull her into my arms, to let her whisper sweet lies while I buried my face in her hair and pretended she hadn’t tried to steal my son and disappear from my life forever.


    Vincent had insisted they had their reasons.


    I was waiting to hear Celine’s. Perhaps I had be too much for her to bear. Perhaps my love wasn’t enough–had never been enough. <fn322b> Newest update provided by find[f]ovel</fn322b>


    “Thank you, Henry.” I took the keys and slid into the Ferrari, the leather seats cold against my back.


    The engine roared to life, and I peeled out of the parking lot, Manhattan’s neon–lit streets blurring past my windows.


    My knuckles were white against the steering wheel as her words yed on repeat in my mind.


    “I hate you.”


    The words cut deeper each time I remembered them. How could she say that to my face? Everything I did, everything I nned–it was all for


    her.


    Because I loved her with a desperation that was slowly killing me. The realization that she had never loved me the same way was a knife twisting in my chest.


    ‘Fuck you, Celine.’


    Yes, I was a monster.-


    I would dly wear that title if it meant keeping her close. Even if it meant locking her in that penthouse until she learned to ept me, to ept my love.


    I pulled over at the corner of Fifth Avenue, my hands shaking as I rested my head against the seat.


    Tiredness took hold of me like a physical thing.


    I hadn’t slept properly since the night had discovered they were gone. Days of phone calls, bribes, and threats–anything to track them


    down.


    16 Thu Aldo <b>o </b>


    Charter 137


    At least they were sale now. Safe and within my reach.


    Trubbed my temples, trying to ease the tension that had taken up permanent residence there. Maybe a good night’s sleep would help me think clearly.


    Maybe then I could figure out how to fix the mess I had made.


    The mansion was quiet when I arrived, the staff having retired hours ago. I had specifically told them not to wait up, but as I approached the staircase, I noticed a familiar figure standing in the shadows.


    Sally, the head maid, stood wrapped in her shawl, her silver hair caught in the dim light.


    “Sally,” I called out, genuine concern in my voice.


    “Oh, Young Master Reid,” she said, her voice carrying that motherly warmth that hadforted me since childhood.


    “You’re home.”


    “I told you not to wait up. You should be in bed.”


    She approached me slowly, her weathered hands reaching up to cup my face. The gesture was so gentle, so full of unconditional care, found myself leaning into her touch.


    “You look exhausted, child,” she whispered. “You’re going to worry this old woman to death.”


    I managed a weak smile. This was what my mother had never understood–the power of simplepassion.


    While she demanded perfection and forbade weakness, Sally offeredfort without conditions.


    that!


    “That’ll never happen,” I told her, gently removing her hands from my face. “You’ve got at least a thousand years left in you. Now please, go to


    bed.”


    I moved toward the stairs, but her voice stopped me.


    “Are you sure you’re alright?” she asked without turning around.


    She knew. Of course, she knew. Sally had always been the sharpest person in this house, the only one who truly saw beneath the surface.


    “Yes, Sally.”


    “Good,” she sighed. “Don’t mess this up, young master. I can see you’re both hurting, but don’t let the Reid way of loving destroy everything good.”


    Her words followed me up the stairs as she disappeared down the hallway toward the servants‘ quarters.


    I stood on thending longer than I should have, her warning echoing in my mind. The Reid way of loving–possessive, controlling, destructive.


    Was that what I had be?


    My feet carried me toward the east wing, toward the rooms where Celine and Caesar had lived.


    I paused at the door, foolishly hoping she might appear, might smile at me the way she used to. But the hallway remained empty.


    I unlocked the <i>door </i>and stepped inside, immediately overwhelmed by memories. Celine folding Caesar’s tiny clothes on the couch.


    <b>50 </b>


    Celine in the kitchen, flour dusting her check as she baked his favorite cookies.


    Celineughing as Caesar demonstrated a new dance he had learned at the yground.


    Her world had always revolved around Caesar.


    She would have done anything for him, and my mother had exploited that love, used it as a weapon.


    I copsed onto the couch, staring at the ceiling.


    How could I have called her a gold digger when I knew–knew–that if she had taken the money, it was for Caesar’s sake? I was a mess, undeserving of her love.


    Running my hands through my hair, I tried to find afortable position on the couch. I had already ruined everything. Celine hated me, and she would probably never love me again.


    But I didn’t care anymore. She was here, in my world, close enough to touch. That had to be enough.


    She would learn to love me again. I would make sure of it. The hate she imed to feel would transform back into love–it had to.


    We would be a family again. I would keep her safe from my mother, from the Reid legacy that ruined everything it touched.


    I would destroy anyone who tried toe between us.


    Celine Brown had been mine from the moment she walked into my life, from the first second Iid eyes on her.


    And I would remind her of that, no matter what it cost.


    Tloved her.


    And perhaps that was my greatest sin of all.


    The couch in what used to be Celine and Caesar’s room felt like lying on broken ss.


    Every breath I took was filled with her scent–that soft vani and jasmine that had haunted my dreams for weeks.


    The throw pillow still held the impression of her head, and I pressed my face into it like a man drowning.


    I must have dozed off, because the sound of footsteps in the hallway jolted me awake.


    My heart hammered against my ribs as I sat up, disoriented and aching from sleeping in such an awkward position.


    “Young master?” Sally’s voice was soft but concerned. “What are you doing in here?”


    I ran a hand through my disheveled hair, trying topose myself. “I couldn’t sleep in my room.”


    Sally stepped into the doorway, her weathered face creased with worry. In the dim light filtering through the curtains, she looked older than her years–and sadder.


    “This isn’t healthy, child,” she said gently. “Sleeping in here, torturing yourself with memories. It won’t bring her back.”


    “She is back,” I said, my voice rough with sleep and emotion. “I brought her back.”


    Sally’s face shifted, and I saw something that looked like fear flicker across her features. “What do you mean?”


    “Tound them. Celine and Caesar. They’re… they’re safe now.”


    “Safe?” Sally’s voice rose slightly. “Or trapped?”


    The question hit me like a physical blow. “She tried to leave me, Sally. She took my son and ran away in the middle of the night. What was ! supposed to do, just let them go?”


    Sally moved closer, her footsteps soft on the carpet. “And now? Where are they now?”


    I couldn’t meet her eyes. “Somewhere secure. Where can take care of them?”


    “Listen to yourself,” Sally said, her voice carrying the weight of decades of watching the Reid family destroy everything they touched.


    “You sound just like your father did, talking about your mother before she…” She stopped herself, but the meaning hung in the air like poison.


    “I’m not my father,” I said through gritted teeth.


    “No?” Sally’s eyebrows rose. “Then tell me, Hunter Reid–does she have a choice? Can she leave if she wants to?”


    The silence stretched between us, heavy with truth I didn’t want to acknowledge.


    “She made her choice when she took my mother’s money and ran,” I finally said. “She chose to betray me.”


    Sally moved to the window, pulling back the curtain to look out at the dawning light.


    “That girl loved you more than life itself. I saw it in her eyes every time she looked at you, every time she spoke your name. If she ran, it was because she was afraid–not of you, but for you.”


    “What’s that supposed to mean?”


    Sally turned back to me, and I was startled to see tears in her eyes. “Your mother didn’t just offer her money, did she? She threatened her. Threatened what would happen to you, to Caesar, if she stayed.”


    The blood drained from my face. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”


    “I’ve been in this house for forty years, young master. I’ve seen what Eleanor Reid does to women who get too close to her son. I saw what she did to your father’s first wife, to the woman he loved before your mother trapped him with pregnancy and maniption.”


    “That’s not…..”


    “Your father’s first wife disappeared one night, just like Celine tried to do. Found floating in the Hudson River three dayster. They said it


    was suicide, but I knew better. Just like I know what your mother threatened that poor girl with.”


    My hands were shaking. “You’re lying.”


    “Am J? Then why haven’t you taken them home? Why are you hiding them away like a dirty secret?”


    The truth crashed over me like a wave. Even in/my rage, even in my need for revenge, some part of me had known.


    Some part of me had understood that bringing Celine back to this house would be signing her death warrant.


    “Oh God,” I whispered, the full magnitude of what I’d done hitting me.


    “What have I done?”