HUNTER POV-


    The words exhord in my mind like a death sentence and a miracle rated into one


    The


    i stared at Celine’s pale face, watching the fear tinge in her brown eyes, and left something cold and calcting settle over me like armest <fn98fd> For original chapters go to Find_Novel(.</fn98fd>


    Two weeks.


    The timeline made perfect sense.


    The night at the mansion when I had been fool enough to think we were healing, when I had held her like she was something precious instead of the lying, maniptive woman who had stolen my son and run away in the middle of the night.


    Dr. Martinez cleared her throat. “Mr. Reid, I will need to schedule regr prenatal appointments. Given Mrs. Brown’s stress levels and the circumstances, careful monitoring will be necessary.”


    “Of course,” I said, my voice steady despite the chaos in my chest. “Whatever she needs.”


    Celine flinched at my tone. Good. She should be afraid.


    “I will also need to discuss nutrition, prenatal vitamins, and….”


    “Dr. Martinez,” I interrupted, “send me aplete list of requirements. I will ensure she has everything necessary.”


    “Everything necessary. As if she were a prize mare I was breeding.


    The thought should have disgusted me. Instead, it sent a dark satisfaction through my veins. She had tried to leave me, tried to take my son


    and disappear forever.


    Now she was carrying another of my children, another tie that would bind her to me permanently.


    “Mr. Reid,” Dr. Martinez said carefully, “I should mention that given your previous medical concerns, this pregnancy is quite significant.”


    Celine’s head snapped up. “What medical concerns?”


    I shot Dr. Martinez a warning look, but she continued. “Mr. Reid was diagnosed with oligospermia….low sperm count. The chances of natural conception were considered quite low.”


    The silence that followed was deafening. I watched Celine’s face as understanding dawned, and saw the moment she realized what this


    meant.


    “How low?” she whispered.


    “Less than a fifteen percent chance of natural conception,” Dr. Martinez replied. “Which makes both Caesar and this new baby rather


    miraculous.”


    ‘Miraculous.


    The word tasted bitter in my mouth.


    There was nothing miraculous about the way this woman had wormed her way into my life, made me believe in something real, then


    <b>69</b>%


    betrayed me in the cruelest way possible.


    <b>“</b>I see,” Celine said softly, her hand moving instinctively to her stomach.


    “Indeed,” I said, my voice cutting through the moment like a de. “It seems I’ve been blessed with exceptional luck when ites to you, hasn’t it, Celine?”


    She flinched again, and I felt that familiar satisfaction.


    The same satisfaction I had felt when I had found her in that pathetic little Motel,ughing at another man’s jokes and pretending she could escape me.


    “Dr. Martinez,” I continued, “I trust you’ll provide me with regr updates on both mother and baby’s health. Weekly reports will suffice.”


    “Mr. Reid, patient confidentiality….”


    “Is irrelevant when I’m the one paying for the care.” I pulled out my phone. “I will have my assistant send you the necessary legal documents. Mrs. Brown will sign them, won’t you, Celine?”


    It wasn’t a request.


    Celine’s jaw tightened. “And if I refuse?”


    I smiled, the expression cold enough to freeze blood. “Then I’ll have mywyers petition for custody of both children based on your demonstrated flight risk and unstable mental state. The hospitalization records will be very helpful in that regard.”


    The color drained from her facepletely. “You wouldn’t.”


    “Try me.”


    Dr. Martinez looked between us, clearly ufortable with the tension. “Perhaps I should go. I’ll callter to schedule the first appointment.”


    “That won’t be necessary,” I said, walking to the door. “I’ll have my assistant coordinate everything. Thank you for your services.”


    I held the door open, making it clear her presence was no longer required. After she left, I turned back to Celine, who was still standing frozen


    in the middle of the room.


    “Sit down,” Imanded.


    “I’m fine standing.”


    “Sit. Down.”


    The authority in my voice was absolute, and after a moment of defiance, she sank onto the couch. Her hands were shaking.


    “Let me make something very clear,” I said, moving to stand in front of her. “You are carrying my child. My heir. That makes you infinitely more valuable to me than you were before, and infinitely more dangerous to yourself.”


    “Hunter…..”


    “You ran away from me once. Took my son, my money, and disappeared like a thief in the night. Did you really think I would just let you go?


    Did you think I wouldn’t find you?”


    Her eyes filled with tears, but I felt no sympathy. Not anymore.


    Chanter 140


    “I spent days searching for you. Days wondering if my son was safe, if he was happy, if he even remembered me. Do you have any idea what that did to me?”


    “You don’t understand…


    “I understand perfectly. You’re a coward who ran instead of fighting for what we had. You’re a liar who let me believe Caesar wasn’t mine for three years. And now you’re a fool if you think this changes anything between us.”


    I leaned down, bracing my hands on either side of her, trapping her against the couch.


    “But here’s what you need to understand, Celine. That baby growing inside you? It’s mine. Caesar? He’s mine. And you? You’ve always been mine, whether you want to admit it or not.”


    Her breath hitched. “Hunter, please…..”


    “Please what? Please let you go? Please pretend this never happened. Please forget that you destroyed me?” I straightened, putting distance between us again.


    “Those days are over.”


    From the bedroom came the sound of Caesar’s voice, calling for his mother. The sound of my son—our son–who had spent a day thinking! had abandoned him.


    “Here’s what’s going to happen,” I said, my voice deadly calm.


    “You’re going to take care of yourself and my baby. You’re going to follow every medical instruction to the letter. And you’re going to learn to be grateful for the life I’m giving you.”


    “And if I don’t?”


    I smiled again, the expression holding no warmth whatsoever. “Then you’ll discover just how ruthless I can be when someone threatens what


    belongs to me.”


    I walked to the door, then paused. “Oh, and Celine? Wee to your new life. I do hope you’ll find it more… permanent than yourst


    attempt at freedom.”


    The door clicked shut behind me, leaving her alone with the weight of her choices and the child that would ensure she never escaped me


    again.


    ‘Two children now.‘


    The thought should have filled me with joy. Instead, it filled me with a cold, calcted satisfaction.


    She was mine. Completely, irrevocably mine.


    And