V?nernie praganer in the penthauer fait like welding fuel to a fire that was treaty hurning out of contrat


    He was polite, vien charming with Caesar, but I could see the strain in hit thisutders, the way his eyes constantly scanned the windows.


    “What & Hunter to afraid of?” I asked after Caesar had gone to bed.


    we’s just being careful, Vincent replied, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes.


    “Careful about what? Vincent, please. I’m going insane not knowing what’s happening”


    He was quiet for a long moment, clearly debating how much to tell me. “There have been some… inquiries. About you. About Cansar


    My blood turned to ice. “What kind of inquiries<b>?</b><b>” </b>


    “People asking questions. Trying to find out where you live, what your routines are.”


    “Oh God.” I sank onto the couch, my hands automatically moving to my stomach. “Do you think it’s Eleanor? Hunter’s mother?”


    “I honestly don’t know. But Hunter’s not taking any chances.”


    “So he’s going to keep me locked up forever?” <fn30a8> This content belongs to F?ndNovel</fn30a8>


    Vincent sat across from me, his face serious. “Celine, I need you to understand something. Hunter isn’t just being controlling. He’s terrified.


    I’ve never seen him like this.”


    <b>“</b>Terrified of what?”


    “Of losing you. Of losing that baby. Of losing Caesar.” Vincent leaned forward. “I know his methods are… intense. <b>But </b>the man is barely


    holding it together.”


    Iughed bitterly. “Barely holding it together? He’s running my life like a military operation.”


    “Because that’s the only way he knows how to cope.” Vincent’s voice softened. “He lost a child before, Celine. Did you know that?”


    I shook my head, something cold settling in my chest.


    “A long time ago. Different circumstances, but… it nearly destroyed him. And now, with you, with Caesar, with this new baby–he’s reliving all


    of that trauma.”


    “That doesn’t give him the right to imprison me.”


    “No, it doesn’t. But it exins why he’s so desperate to control everything.” We sat in silence for a moment, the effect of Vincent’s words


    settling over me like a heavy nket.


    “I can’t live like this,” I whispered finally. “I can’t be his beautiful bird in a cage, no matter how coated with gold leaf it is.”


    “Then you need to fight back.”


    I looked up at him, surprised.


    “Not by running,” Vincent exined quickly. “By making him see that keeping you prisoner isn’t protecting you–it’s destroying you. And


    eventually, it will destroy him toy.”


    “How<b>?</b><b>” </b>


    “I don’t know. But figure it out fast, because I don’t think either of you can survive this standoff much longer”


    The next morning, Vincent left early, reced by two security guards who stationed themselves in the hallway. I didn’t even pretend to be okay with it anymore.


    When Hunter arrived that afternoon, I was ready for war.


    “I want them gone,” I said the moment he walked through the door.


    “The guards? They’re for your protection.”


    “They’re for your peace of mind. I want them gone, Hunter.”


    “That’s not happening.”


    “Then I want to leave.”


    “Also not happening.”


    Caesar looked up from his coloring book, sensing the tension. “Mama, are you and Papa fighting again?”


    “No, sweetheart,” I said, forcing a smile. “We’re just discussing something important.”


    “Can I go to my room? I don’t like it when you discuss things.”


    “Of course, baby.”


    Once Caesar was gone, I turned back to Hunter. “This has to stop.”


    “What has to stop?”


    “This!” I gestured wildly around the penthouse. “The guards, the nurses, the constant surveince. I feel like I’m suffocating.”


    “You’re being dramatic.”


    “I’m being human!” The words tore out of me with raw emotion. “I’m a person, Hunter. Not a possession. Not an incubator. Not a problem to be managed.”


    “I never said…..”


    “You don’t have to say it. Your actions speak loud enough.”


    Hunter’s face went dangerously still. “My actions are keeping you safe.”


    “Your actions are slowly killing me inside.”


    Something shed in his eyes–uncertainty, maybe even regret. But it was gone so quickly I might have imagined it.


    “I can’t lose you again,” he said quietly.


    “So instead you’re going to love me to death?”


    <b>“</b><b>If </b>that’s what it takes<b>.” </b>


    The words hung between us like a death sentence. I stared at him, this man I had once loved with everything in me, and saw only a beautiful stranger wearing his face.


    “<b>I </b>hate you, and I am saying it again for you to hear,” I whispered.


    <b>“</b><b>I </b>know.”


    “I hate that you’re doing this to us. To our family.


    “I know.”


    “I hate that you think this is love.”


    “I know<b>.</b><b>” </b>


    “Then why won’t you stop?”


    Hunter stepped closer, his blue eyes intense and desperate. “Because the option is watching you disappear. And I would rather have you hate me and be alive than love me and be gone.”


    “You’re wrong,” I said, my voice breaking. “The option is trusting me. Trusting us. Trusting that what we have is strong enough to survive without chains.”


    “I tried trust once. It didn’t work.”


    “When?”


    “When I was in London. With someone who promised to love me forever and then chose death over staying with me.”


    The pain in his voice was raw, unfiltered. I felt my anger waver, reced by something dangerously close to understanding.


    <b>“</b>Hunter…..”


    “I won’t make that mistake again.”


    “I’m not her.”


    “No,” he agreed. “You’re not. You’re stronger. Which is why I know you’ll fight me every step of the way. And I’m prepared for that.”


    “What if I promised not to run?”


    “You already did that once. Right before you disappeared in the middle of the night.”


    The usation hit like a physical blow. “That was different. I was trying to protect Caesar.”


    “And what’s to stop you from deciding you need to protect him again?”


    I opened my mouth to argue, then stopped. Because he was right. If I thought staying with him was hurting Caesar, I would run. In a heartbeat.


    “You see?” Hunter’s voice was soft, almost gentle. “You can’t promise not to run because you’re a mother first. Just like I can’t promise not to hold too tight because I’m a father now,”


    “So what are we supposed to do?”


    <b>3/4 </b>


    “We’re suprised to figure out together.


    “Together means trusting each other


    “Together means beeping our children safe”


    We stared at each other across the impossible gulf between us, both right, both wrong, both desperately trying to protect what we loved


    <b>most </b>


    The sound of the front door exploding inward shattered the moment.


    “Caesar!” I screamed, running toward the bedroom as armed figures poured into the penthouse.


    Hunter was already moving, his hand reaching for something inside his jacket, his body positioning itself between me and the threat.


    “Get down!” he shouted, and thest thing I saw before the world erupted into chaos was the look of pure terror on his face.


    AD


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