The Billionaire’s Secret Heirs (Celine and Hunter) novel Chapter 22

Chapter 22

29 JUI GM

Chapter 22

CELINE’S POV-

CELINE DAY OFF:

The morning started with the news I wasn’t expecting. Hunter gave everyone the day off.

No warning. No explanation. Just a casual message passed down through the staff like we were all supposed to accept it without question.

And we did. Because that’s what people do when they work for someone like Hunter Reid.

But the second I heard the words day off, I stopped thinking about him. Because all I could think about was Caesar.

For days, he’d been asking to go to the park. And every time, I’d said soon. Soon was today.

I made him breakfast, tying his little shoelaces tighter than they probably needed to be because my hands were shaking. Not with nerves.

With excitement.

Because’l don’t get to give him things like this very often-things that feel normal. Easy. Things other moms give their kids without thinking twice.

“Are we going, Mommy?” he asked, his little fingers clutching mine like he was waiting for the punchline to a joke.

I leaned in and kissed his nose.

“Yes, baby. We’re going.”

Blake showed up twenty minutes later, sunglasses on, coffee in hand like she hadn’t spent the last week texting me park soon. Every night.

When she saw Caesar, practically vibrating with happiness, she grinned. “Wow. He’s more excited than you are.” I laughed.

“He’s been counting down the minutes.” She linked her arm through mine, tugging me toward the front door. “Let’s go, Mother of the Year.”

The park was everything I didn’t know I needed.

Sunlight warming my skin. The wind pulled at Caesar’s curls as he ran toward the playground. The sound of his laughter carried across the grass like it was the only sound that mattered.

I let him go. I let him be. And for the first time in what felt like years, I sat on a bench with Blake and breathed.

She handed me a cold drink, clinking hers against it. “You’re allowed to be a person, you know.” I rolled my eyes, taking a sip.

“I am a person. I’m here, aren’t I?” She gave me a look. “No, I mean… a person who does things that don’t involve juice boxes or bedtime stories.”

I sighed. “What does that even look like?”

Blake grinned. “It looks like going out. Meeting people. Having fun. Maybe even dating.” I barked out a laugh.

“Okay, now I know you’re delusional.” She nudged my shoulder with hers. “I’m serious. When’s the last time you did someth hat was just for you?”

I didn’t answer right away because I couldn’t think of one.

Blake leaned back, her sunglasses sliding down her nose a little. “You’re an incredible mom, Celine. But you’re also… you.” Her words hit me somewhere

I didn’t know was raw.

I watched Caesar as he climbed to the top of the jungle gym, holding my breath the way I always did when he got a little too high.

1/3

11:01 Tue, 29 Jul≫ GM

Chapter 22

“I don’t have time for things like that,” I said quietly.

Blake shrugged. “You say that. Until you don’t.” And maybe she was right. But I wasn’t ready to admit it.

Before I could argue, Caesar came running back to me, his cheeks pink from playing. “Mommy! Ice cream?” I smiled and smoothed his sweaty hat back

“Of course, baby.” Blake shook her head, laughing under her breath. “Case in point.” I shrugged. “And I don’t regret it.”

We spent hours there. Caesar fell asleep in the car on the way home, his head on my lap, his little hand holding mine in his sleep.

Blake glanced back at him, then looked at me. “You’re doing a good job,” she said, I blinked back the sting in my eyes.

“Thanks.”

When we pulled into the estate, Blake’s jaw dropped. “Holy crap.” I already knew what she was about to say, but I let her have her moment.

“Celine. This is Hunter Reid’s house?”

I sighed. “Yes.”

She smacked my arm. “And you’re just telling me this now? Do you know how many women would kill to be you right now?”

I gave her a look. “Trust me. It’s not as glamorous as you think.”

She snorted. “If I worked here, I’d be living like a queen.”

I laughed. “The paycheck’s great. Everything else? Not so much.” Blake leaned in close, lowering her voice even though no one was around.

“What about him?”

I frowned. “What about him?”

Her eyebrows did a little dance. “Hunter. What’s he like?” I sighed, rubbing my temples. “He’s… complicated.” Blake grinned.

“Complicated’s just another word for hot and broody.”

I laughed again, but it was softer this time. More tired. “If you knew half of what I’ve dealt with since working here, you wouldn’t be calling it that.”

Before she could ask me what I meant, a sleek black car turned onto the drive. I knew that car. And the man behind the wheel.

Hunter Reid was home.

And suddenly, I wasn’t sure if my day off was over. Or if it had just begun.

HUNTER’S POV~

The day had been long. Too long. I’d spent most of it pretending to give a damn about numbers and meetings, when the truth was, my mind wasn’t in any of it.

It was with her.

Celine.

I hadn’t planned to give the staff the day off. That wasn’t something I did.

I wasn’t… generous like that. But I’d woken up with this weight in my chest I couldn’t explain. And space-quiet-had felt like the only thing that might keep me sane.

Funny how space didn’t do a damn thing to clear my head.

2/3

11:01 Tue, 29 Jul GM

Chapter 22

If anything, it made everything worse. By the time I pulled back through the gates, I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or dreading being hocke

The house was too quiet when I walked inside.

Too still. Until I heard them. Voices. Hers. And another woman I didn’t recognize.

I didn’t plan to listen. I didn’t plan a lot of things. But her voice pulled me in like it always did. Soft. Honest. Like she didn’t think anyone was Esterang

“I have no idea who Caesar’s father is. It was a reckless one-night stand.”

The words hit me harder than I was ready for. I stopped walking. Stopped breathing for a second, too. Because reckless felt like a hell of a word to describe the night that gave her a son like Caesar.

And no idea? That felt even worse. Like something sharp

The other woman laughed. “Well, at least he gave you a

under my skin. Something I couldn’t get out.

Celine laughed with her. Soft. Easy. This wasn’t the kind of conversation that could break a person. “If I could turn back time,” she said, “I’d do things differently.”

I don’t know why that made my jaw clench.

But it did. Tight enough to hurt. And suddenly, I wasn’t standing there anymore. I was moving. Quiet at first. Until I wasn’t.

“Come on,” her friend pushed. “You never even thought about looking for him?”

Celine’s voice came slower this time. Like maybe it wasn’t something she wanted to admit.

“What would be the point? I don’t know anything about him. Not his name, not where he’s from… nothing. I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

Her friend snorted. “That’s wild. Imagine if he’s some big-shot millionaire.”

And then Celine laughed again. That soft laugh I was starting to hate, because of how much I noticed it. “Yeah, right,” she said.

I didn’t notice I was holding my keys tight in my hand until they bit into my palm. Didn’t notice the heat crawling under my skin until it was already burning.

I stepped into the room without thinking. Her friend noticed me first. But it was her eyes I was looking for.

Celine’s. Big. Wide. Like she wasn’t sure if I’d heard. But I had.

Every damn word.

“Is that so?” My voice didn’t sound like mine. It sounded like something sharper. Something that might cut if I wasn’t careful.

She froze. And I swore, at that moment, the entire house did too.

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