<b>Chapter </b><b>186 </b>
-MIA’S POV- <ol start="13"><li>13. </li></ol>
The restaurant gossiped about money and exclusivity. It had white linen tables, soft golden lighting, and a pianist’s notes drifting faintly through the air.
I had chosen my dress carefully–sleek ck silk that kissed my figure in all the right ces.
Perfect. Because Mia ckwood was nothing if not perfect.
Eleanor arrived twenty minuteste, draped in her signature pearls and carrying the air of a queen still clinging to
her throne.
The waiter bowed as if he had rehearsed it just for her. I rose gracefully, hiding the nerves dancing in my stomach,
and leaned in to kiss the older woman’s cheek.
“Eleanor, darling. I came as soon as I heard.” My tone was soaked in pity, every word carefully gauged.
“The news… the conference… Hunter is cutting ties with you. I still refuse to believe he would do such a thing. To
his own mother.”
I reached across the table and brushed my fingers against her hand, a sign offort that felt almost realistic.
The waiter approached, and Eleanor ordered wine without looking at the menu. Something expensive, no doubt.
Inside, I was screaming.
I didn’t give a damn about Eleanor’s loss of power. If the woman became a liability, I would cut her off without
hesitation.
Thest thing I needed was Hunter assuming I was working with his mother to remove Celine from his life.
Still, for now… appearances mattered.
Eleanor’s lips curved into a bitter smile. “My son has been blinded. That girl has poisoned his mind, made him forget his blood, his duty. All for what? Some little <b>maid </b>who wormed her way into his bed.”
The words should haveforted me, but instead they burned.
Because beneath Eleanor’s venom, the truth remained like a knife between my ribs. Celine wasn’t just a fling. Hunter had stood in that conference room and dered her his future wife.
The memory of it made my throat tighten until I thought I might choke. Would he really propose to her? Would he tie himself forever to someone so… low?
No. No, no, no<b>. </b>
14:19
Thu, 21 Aug
The thought coiled like barbed wire around my heart. Hunter Reid was supposed to be mine. Mia ckwood.
Perfect. Admired. Beautiful. His rightful wife.
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I forced a serene smile. “You’ve always known what’s best for him. Perhaps… perhaps it’s time you reminded him.
of that.”
Eleanor’s eyes narrowed, glittering like cut ss. She leaned forward, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial
whisper.
“That girl needs to be put in her ce. She’ll regret ever setting foot into my family.” Eleanor’s fingers tightened
around her wine ss.
“But I’ll need your help, Mia. It’s time you stepped up your game if you truly want Hunter’s heart.”
My pulse skipped.
The words were a dare. An invitation.
And oh, how delicious it felt to hear Eleanor finally acknowledge what I had known all along–that I belonged at
Hunter’s side.
But I had to be careful. One wrong move, and Hunter would see me as just another threat to his precious Celine.
“What exactly are you suggesting?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Eleanor smiled, and it was harsh enough <i>to </i>mow ss.
“First, we remind Hunter of what he’s throwing away. You, my dear, are everything that girl is not. Educated, purified, from the right family. You understand his world.”
“And second?” <ol start="13"><li>13. </li></ol>
“We make sure Celine understands exactly where she belongs. Yesterday’s little gathering was just the beginning.”
I thought of the video that had gone viral. Celine, pale and shaking, surrounded by society’s elite. The envelope full of money Eleanor had ced before her like a judgment. <fn1356> Readplete version only at F?ndNovel</fn1356>
Hunter’s rage when he’d stormed in had been terrifying to witness. The way he’d defended her, imed her, protected her…
When was thest time a man had looked at me like that? Like I was his entire world?
Never. Because men saw Mia ckwood as a trophy to be won, not a woman to be cherished.
“You’re thinking about something,” Eleanor observed, studying my face. “What is it?”
I couldn’t tell her the truth. Couldn’t admit that watching Hunter defend Celine had awakened something dark and desperate in my chest.
14:19 Thu, 21 Aug J
Couldn’t confess that I would rather have his hatred than his disregard.
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<b>23 </b>
“I’m thinking about timing,” I lied smoothly. “If we move too fast, too obviously, Hunter will see right through us.”
Eleanor nodded approvingly. “Exactly. Which is why you need to be subtle. Be a friend. Be the shoulder to cry on when things get difficult.”
“And things will get difficult?”
Eleanor’s smile was pure meanness. “Oh, my dear girl. You have no idea what’sing.”
The waiter refilled our wine sses, and I used the interruption to study Eleanor’s face. There was something
there, hidden beneath the surface.
A n she wasn’t sharing.
“What aren’t you telling me?” I asked.
“Let’s just say that Celine’s past holds some very interesting secrets. Secrets that could be… problematic… for
Hunter’s reputation.”
My heart raced. “What kind of secrets?”
“The kind that could destroy her credibility as a mother. As a partner. As anything more than what she’s always
been—a gold–digging little nobody who got lucky.”
I leaned back in my chair, processing this information. If Eleanor had ammunition against Celine, real ammunition,
then maybe there was still hope.
“I want in,” I said quietly.
Eleanor’s smile widened. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
She reached into her purse and pulled out a thick man folder.
“Everything you need to know is in here. Phone numbers, schedules, weak points. But remember, Mia–this has to
look like it’sing from you, not from me. Hunter cannot suspect we’re working together.”
I took the folder, feeling its weight in my hands. “And if this doesn’t work? If Hunter still chooses her?”
For the first time since she’d arrived, Eleanor’s mask slipped. Her face hardened, and I saw something cold and harsh in her eyes.
“Then we make sure he doesn’t have a choice.”
The words sent a chill down my <b>spine</b>, but also a thrill. Eleanor wasn’t just talking about social pressure or family disapproval.
She was talking about something more permanent.
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Eleanor’s smile faltered slightly. “Don’t be ridiculous, Hunter. This is the quarterly review. Of course, I was invited.”
“You’re right. You usually would be.” I straightened my tie, my voice carrying to every corner of the room. “But that was before yesterday.”
“What happened yesterday has nothing to do with business…”
“Doesn’t it?” I pulled out my phone, the video already queued up. “Everyone here has seen this, I’m sure. My mother and her friends systematically humiliated the woman carrying my child. Recording it for entertainment. Offering her money to disappear from my life.”
Eleanor’s face flushed. “Hunter, this is neither the time nor the ce…”
“You’re wrong again, Mother. This is exactly the time and ce.” I looked around the room at the faces watching us. Some shocked, some fascinated, allpletely interested.
“Effective immediately, Eleanor Reid is being removed from all business operations. She will no longer have ess topany ounts, decision–making processes, or confidential information.”
The murmur that went through the room was electric. Vincent, standing by the wall, didn’t even try to hide his smirk.
Eleanor’s calm crackedpletely. “You can’t do this <i>to </i>me! I own as much of this business as you do!”
Haughed, but there was no humor in it.
“Do you? Are you talking about the business you stole from my father’s first wife? The woman whose entire legacy you erased so you could y queen of the corporate world?”
The room was so quiet I could hear people breathing.
“You’ve never truly owned anything, Mother. All you do is take. Take things that don’t belong to you. Take credit for other people’s work. Take whatever you want without caring who gets hurt in the process.<b>” </b>
Eleanor stepped closer, her voice rising. “I am your mother!”
“And I regret it.” The words came out t, emotionless. “As much as I hate being brought into this world by you, t will never let you control my life again.”
Something snapped in Eleanor’s eyes. Before I could react, her hand flew across my face in a sharp p that echoed through the silent room.
Security started moving forward, but I held up a hand to stop them.
I smiled, it wasn’t a pleasant expression.
“That,” I <b>said</b>, my voice soft and deadly, “was a mistake.”
14 20 Thu, 21 Aug
I leaned close to her ear, close enough that only she could hear my next words.
“This is thest time you will ever raise a hand to me. The next time you try, your <ol><li>me. Dead.” </li></ol>
I pulled back, my smile widening as I watched her face go pale.
?nsider yourself dead to
“Now,” I continued in my normal voice, loud enough for everyone to hear. “I suggest you live a quiet life. Gossip with your good–for–nothing friends. Stay away from me and my family.”
“I am your family!” Eleanor’s voice was shrill now, desperate.
“You were. But now I have something worth protecting.”
“This is all that wretched girl’s fault!” Eleanor’s mask slippedpletely. “She’s nted her thorns in you, turned you against your mother!”
Iughed, genuinely and delighted.
“Yes, I guess she has. And Mother? I don’t want her to ever take them out.”
I turned toward the door, then paused.
“I want you out of these premises before I return from lunch. If you’re not gone, security will escort you out.”
I started walking again, then stopped one more time.
“Oh, and stop barging into my house like you own the ce. Sally is getting annoyed with the interruptions. The mansion belongs to Celine now anyway. It’s in her name. Only she decides who gets to enter.”
The silence that followed was deafening.
I walked out of that conference room knowing that every phone in the vicinity was recording, that this moment
would be online within minutes.
Good.
Let the world see exactly where Hunter Reid’s loyalties lie.
Let them know that Celine wasn’t just my girlfriend or even my future baby mother.
She
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