THE DIVORCE GAMBIT From Dumped Wife to CEO's Forever novel Chapter 527

Celia was left utterly stunned by Caitlin’s answer.

A chill prickled at the back of her neck.

She’d expected Caitlin to seize the opportunity to showcase her own magnanimity, to speak grandly of her capacity for forgiveness—how she could save someone who had once hurt her, without a second thought.

But Caitlin didn’t do any of that.

She didn’t dress up her actions, didn’t try to make herself look noble.

She just answered the question plainly, honestly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

In that moment, a tangle of emotions welled up inside Celia. For the first time, she realized how foolish she had been—she’d never truly understood this remarkable woman from the East. Her own perspective, her sense of the world, was nowhere near Caitlin’s.

“Miss Celia, is there anything else you need?” Caitlin asked, her tone brisk.

She clearly had other things to do.

“Actually—yes.” Celia hesitated, then nodded.

“What is it?” Caitlin replied, her voice even as she looked over at Celia.

Celia drew a shaky breath, trying to steady herself, though her eyes still burned red. She met Caitlin’s gaze. “Why does everyone else call me Miss Palmer, but you always call me Miss Celia?”

Maybe Celia hadn’t even noticed the change herself, but her own address to Caitlin had shifted—from a casual “you” to a more formal, respectful “ma’am.”

Caitlin smiled gently. “It’s simple, really. In the Palmer family, there are plenty of Miss Palmers. But there’s only one Celia.”

To her, Celia was just Celia—no other label necessary.

Celia’s eyes widened.

She was the first.

Caitlin was the first person to call her that—the first not to see her as just another member of the Palmer family.

“Thank you.” Celia stepped back. “Miss Gonzales, I’m not an ungrateful person. From now on, I consider you my benefactor.”

She’d heard that kneeling in gratitude was the highest form of respect in Eldermere.

With that thought, Celia dropped to her knees right there, bowing her head with utter sincerity. Her hands traced the sign of the cross as she declared, “I, Celia, swear before God: from this day forward, I will be Miss Gonzales’s most loyal follower.”

If kneeling was Eldermere’s highest gesture of gratitude, then swearing before God was the highest in Valerium.

In that instant, no one could ever replace Caitlin in Celia’s heart.

“Get up, please.” Caitlin was startled—she hadn’t expected Celia to actually kneel. It was so out of character. She quickly stepped over and helped Celia to her feet. “I don’t need followers. Let’s just agree to stay out of each other’s way—you don’t owe me anything.”

She meant what she said. Caitlin hadn’t saved Celia to earn her gratitude.

She simply couldn’t stand to see an innocent mother collapse in the middle of a banquet hall, surrounded by onlookers, whispered about for her suffering.

Caitlin didn’t know why Celia had become a single mother.

But she did know this—every mother in this world was extraordinary.

If Celia had the courage to give birth to her child and raise them, to fulfill her responsibilities as a mother, then she was, without a doubt, a good mother.

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