Chapter b17 /b

-CELINE’S POV-

The kitchen bwas /bchaosb. /b

Pots nged. Footsteps pounded against the tile. Orders were barked across the room, sharp and urgent. The air bwas /bthick with heat and stress, and everyone scrambling to prepare for Hunter’s guests.

+38

I moved quickly, arms full of fresh linens, weaving through the frenzy. My back ached. My legs burned. But stopping wasn’t an option.

Hunter had made it clear–tonight had to be perfectb. /b

I dropped the linens onto the counter and wiped the sweat from my forehead, barely catching my breath before-

b“/bCeline!”

I knew that voiceb. /b

I closed my eyes for a second before turning.

Bianca stood with her arms crossed, a smug tilt to her lips. Two other maids hovered behind her, hanging onto her every word like she was the queen of this damn castle.

“The dining room floor still looks dirty,” she said, inspecting her nails like the floor was my problem and not hersb. /bb“/bGo clean it again.”

I gritted my teeth. “I already cleaned it.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Well, clearly not good enough. Unless you’d rather exin to the bhead /bmaid why you can’t do a simple job?”

I knew exactly what this bwas/bb. /b

Bianca loved making me jump through hoops.

She made bsure /bI had twice the workload of everyone else, always piling on extra tasks while she barely lifted a finger. She bwas /btesting me, waiting for me to bcrack/b.

I wouldn’t give her the bsatisfaction/b.

I grabbed a cloth and nodded. “I’ll take bcare /bof it.”

Her smirk deepened like she had won some imaginary battle before bshe /bturned back to her gossiping.

I clenched my bjaw /band walked baway/bb. /b

By the time I made it to the dining room, bI /bwanted to bscream/b. The floor bwas /bbalready /bspotless, but bI /bscrubbed at it banyway/b, my fingers aching from hours of work.

This wasn’t about cleaning. It was about control.

A quiet giggle pulled me from my thoughts.

I turned, finding bCaesar /bin the corner of the kitchen, rolling his toy bcar /bover the bsurface /bbof /bthe table.

b1/4 /b

+38

9:09 pm

He was behaving, just like I had asked. But still–he shouldn’t have to be here.

I had to get through this shift as quickly as possible. Finish the work. Take him home. Get out. fne114 ???? ????s? ???????s ?? Find1Novel/fne114

But Bianca wasn’t done with me yet.

“The silverware needs polishing,” she called from behind me, her nails tapping against the counter. “Make sure you do it properly.”

I swallowed the irritation crawling up my throat. I had spent all day biting my tongue. What was one more task?

I reached for the silverware, but before I could start, Bianca sighed dramatically.

“Actually,” she said, tilting her head, “Mr. Hunter requested a specific bottle of wine for tonight. Go down to the cer and bring it up.”

Something about the way she said it made my stomach twist.

I hesitated. “Which bottle?”

She smiled. Too sweet. Too fake. “You’ll find it. I’m sure Mr. Hunter would be very upset if you brought the wrong one.”

I wiped my hands on my apron, ncing at Caesar. “Stay here, okay?” He frowned, his small fingers curling around my sleeve.

“Can Ie with you?”

ated. The wine cer. Bianca’s smirk. The way my gut told me don’t go.

ad, nodding. “Fine. But stay close.”

noved down the narrow hallway, the air growing colder with each step. The scent of aged wood and expensive wine ung to the walls, wrapping around me like a warning.

The wine cer was massive. Rows of shelves stretched from floor to ceiling, each bottle lined up like it belonged to some kind of sacred collection.

I scanned thebels, my pulse steady–until I spotted it.

The bottle Bianca had sent me.

Top shelf.

Of courseb. /b

I clenched my jaw, my fingers curling into bfists/b. She had known. She had known.

I nced around, spotting a wooden stool tucked near the corner. Dragging it over, I positioned it beneath the shelf and stepped up, bncing carefully as I stretched my bfingers /btoward the bottle.

Even on my toes, it was barely within breach/b.

“Caesar, stand back,” I warned, shifting slightly, trying to get just a little closer.

The tips of my fingers brushed against the ss. Almost. I stretched further- The stool wobbled beneath me.

9:09 pm bGGGG/b.

And suddenly, everything happened too fast. A sharp gasp tore from my throat as I lost my bnce. The bottle slipped. Then another.

And another.

The sound of shattering ss filled the cer, sharp and violent. Wine sttered across the floor, dark red spreading like blood.

For a second, everything was silent. Then—

“Mommy!” Caesar’s wail ripped through the quiet.

My breath came out in shudders as I stared at the mess. The wine had soaked into my dress, my hands trembling as I lifted them, careful not to touch the jagged ss around me.

I swallowed hard. I was so screwed. Hurried footsteps echoed down the hallway. A shadow appeared in the doorway.

The head maid.

Her sharp eyesnded on the disaster in front of her, her expression morphing into pure horror. Then–her voice, like a de slicing through my panic.

“What have you done?”

I opened my mouth, ready to exin—ready to beg if I had to. But before I could get a single word out, Bianca let out a dramatic gasp, her hand flying to her chest like she’d just witnessed a murder.

“Oh no,” she breathed, shaking her head with pure, practiced disappointment. “That was thest bottle of Mr. Hunter’s favorite wine.”

My stomach dropped.

38 ollimeb. /b/li/ol

nter.

anged looks, their whispers hissing through the space, quiet but sharp. They all knew what this meant.

meant. Then–footsteps. Heavy. Measured. A presence filled the doorway, thick and suffocating.

ive /ito look up. I already knew.

His energy wrapped around the room like a bvice/bb, /bsqueezing the oxygen straight from my lungs.

Every tiny hair on my body stood on end bas /bI felt his gazend on me–on the wine staining my dressb, /bon the ss scattered around me, on Caesar still hupping in the doorway.

The silence was unbearable.

my

head.

Then–his voice. Low. Controlled. Lethal. “What the hell is going on hereb?/bb” /bI forced myself to lift

Hunter’s expression was unreadable, his piercing blue eyes locked onto mine like a loaded weapon.

bI /bopened my mouth-

“She broke it,” Bianca said quickly, turning to him with a perfectly rehearsed frown. “Thest bottle.”

b3/4 /b

9:09 pm bGGG /bbG /b

My hands curled into fists.

Hunter didn’t blink. He took a step forward. One slow, deliberate step that sent my pulse into a tailspin.

“You have five seconds,” he said, voice smooth butced with a quiet, simmering fury, “to exin yourself before I decide what to do with you.”

I inhaled sharply, my hands trembling. “I–I was trying to reach the bottle. It was too high, and I slipped-”

His expression didn’t change.

38

“That doesn’t exin why Caesar is down here.” His eyes flicked toward my son, who bwas /bstill sniffling, clutching his toy car to his chest. “Why was he even near the cer?”

I hesitated, scrambling for words, but Bianca got there first.

“She brought him with her,” she said, her voice dripping with false concern. “Even when she knew how important this was. And now look at this mess.”

The way she said it–like I had done this on purpose like I had wanted to fail–made something inside me snap.

“I told him to stay back!” My voice shook, but I didn’t care. “I didn’t n for this to happen, I-”

“Enough.”

Hunter’s voice cut through mine like a de. Silence mmed back into the room. His stare was heavier now. Colder. More dangerous.

And as I sat thereb, /bcovered in spilled wine and humiliation, I realized one terrifying truth.

I had no idea what he was going to do next.