bChapter /b4

-HUNTER-

Three years away, and now I was back home. Back to the very ce I had sworn never to return.

38

It’s strange how, despite everything that happened between my father and me, he never failed to remind me why I bwas /bable to enjoy the life I was living.

“Everything bI /bown is yours,” he had once said.

Well, now I nned to leave my mark everywhere until my father’s name became nothing but a memory.

A knock at the door pulled me from my thoughts. I didn’t bother turning away from the floor–tob–/bceiling window in front of me, my gaze fixed on the New York skyline.

The sun bwas /bsetting, its orange hues flooding the room in a warm glow. It was beautiful, almost peaceful.

“Come in,” I said, my voice sharp but low.

The door creaked open, and Mr. Tace, the manager of this hotel branch, stepped in cautiously.

“Yesb?/bb” /bI asked coldly, not moving from my spot.

He stammered, clearly nervous. “I… I’ve carried out your instructions, sir. Miss Brown has been fired.”

At the mention of the name, I arched a brow. “Miss Brown?” bI /basked, finally turning to face him. I walked to my chair and sat down, my eyes never leaving the trembling man before me.

“The young woman with a child,” he exined, his voice faltering. “The one you asked me to bget /brid of.”

Ah, yes. Her. How could I forget? Those eyes of hersb–/btired, hopeless, and scared–were carved into my memory. But it wasn’t her that stayed in my mind the most. It was the boy.

His face was a mirror of my own as ba /bchild, and I hated it.

Hated being reminded of the broken boy I used to be.

I should have been furious bat /bthe hotel bstaff /bfor hiring her in the first bce/bb–/ba young mother with a child in tow. “The Aurelia” and its staff were supposed to symbolize perfection.

I had worked too hard to secure our spot among the top ten globally for them to hire just anyone.

“Who authorized her employment?” I asked, my tone icy. “A mother and her child in my hotel? Imagine what the guests would say if they found out. Some might even call it abuseb./bb” /b

Mr. Tace visibly flinched under my gaze, his knees buckling as he fell to the floor. His head bowed low, his voice trembling.

“I’m so sorry, bsir/bb. /bIt was a mistake on my part. I didn’t know she would bring her child to work,” he stammered.

“So, you’re saying she outsmarted youb?/b” I asked, scoffing in disbelief.

The girl I’d seen earlier bwas /bbweak/bb, /bfragile, and terrified. Those were traits I hated, but watching her scramble in fear had bgiven /bme a perverse sense of satisfaction.

9:06 bpm /bbBB /bbBB /b

It wasn’t enough.

I wanted to see her break even more.

I hadn’t felt anything since I arrived back here–not anger, not pain, not even joy. Just a hollow, numbing void.

+38

1

Dr. Logan, my therapist, had once told me it was due to my unresolved childhood traumas. He had advised me to open up to people, try dating, find hobbies, or at least stop burying myself in work.

But I wasn’t the type to listen.

“That weak thing outsmarted you?” I repeated, the corner of my mouth twitching into a cold smirk. “It seems I need to start cleaning the house. Ipetent workers have no ce here. You’re fired.”

“What?” Mr. Tace gasped, his voice filled with disbelief. “But… but, sir, I did nothing wrong!”

“Nothing wrong?” I echoed, standing as I moved back to the window. “You allowed a liability into my hotel. That, in itself, is wrong. See yourself out, Mr. Tace, or I’ll call security to drag you out.”

Silence hung in the air for a moment before the sound bof /bscrambling footsteps filled the room. Mr. Tace had no choice but to leave, the soft click of the door signaling his exit.

Once again, I was alone.

The sun had almost disappeared now, the room growing darker as the skyline sparkled with city lights.

hed my fistsb, /bstaring into the ss until my reflection blurred.

that boy. The one who had stared back at me through the child’s innocent eyes.

nated them both.

And I wouldn’t stop until everything in this bce/b–everything my father once held dear–was mine to destroy.

-CELINE-

A week had passed since I was fired from “Aurelia.” Seven days of dragging Caesar from one hotel to another, filling out applications, and hoping for even the smallest chance of employment.

The answer bwas /balways the same: “We’ll get back to you.”

Some of them did. Only to tell me I didn’t get the job.

I sat in a small café bnear /bCaroline’s workceb, /bfingers bwrapped /btightly around a lukewarm cup bof /bcoffee. It wasn’t much, but bit /bbwas /ball I could afford. The bst /bthing I needed was for Caesar to notice how bclose /bbwe /bwere to being out of money.

At least Caroline was thriving. Her family’s wealth and connections had bpaved /bthe bway /bfor her to live her dream life. She’d called me earlier to meet her for lunch. Not like I had anything else to do.

“What can I get for you and this little prince charming?b” /b

bA /bcheerful voice broke through my thoughts. I looked up to see a brte waitress smiling warmly at me, her notepad suspended in her hand.

“Oh, hello,” I said softly, managing ba /bfaint smile in return. I picked up the menu, but the words blurred together. Nothing on bit /bseemed affordable.

b2/4 /b

INTERROS

b3/4 /b

b9:06 /bpm bG /bbBGB /b

b“/bYour son is adorable,” the waitress said, her voice tinged with genuine admiration. fn67eb ???? ????s? ???????s ?? findnovel/fn67eb

+39

I lowered the menu slightly, ncing at Caesar. He was happily engrossed in his toy truck, humming a little tune to himself. For a moment, my heart eased.

“Thank you,” I said, my voice quieter now.

“He has such striking featuresb,/b” the waitress added, ncing toward something behind me. “He reminds me of him. Is he the father?b” /b

Her words froze me mid–breath. Slowly, I lowered the menupletely and turned to follow her gaze.

Itnded on a billboard across the street.

Hunter Reid.

His face dominated above the city,rger than life, as though he owned every corner of it. My chest tightened, anger bubbling beneath the surface. That smug, arrogant face haunted me even when I wasn’t looking for it.

He was the reason I’d been fired. The reason I was here now, sitting in this café with no job and decreasing hope.

I scoffed internally. Caesar didn’t look like him, not even closeb. /bAnd even if he did, the thought of Hunter being his father made my stomach churn.

“I don’t know him,” I said bluntly, my voice sharper than intended.

The waitress blinked, clearly caught off guard. “Oh… I just thought, with the resemnce-”

“He is not the father,” I cut her off, my tone rising before I could stop myself. My voice carried across the café, drawing curious stares from nearby tablesb. /b

“A man like him could never be a father,” I added, bitterness dripping from every word.

The waitress shifted ufortably, her earlier smile faltering. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, taking a small step back bas /bthough sensing she’d overstepped.

I clenched my jaw, heat rising to my face as I realized how loud I’d been. My fingers trembled bas /bthey gripped the edge of the table. This was his fault.

Even when he wasn’t here, Hunter Reid still had the power to ruin my day.

I looked bat /bbCaesar/bb, /bwho bwas /bying with his truck. He seemed happy and didn’t notice the tension around us. Taking ba /bbdeep /bbreath, I forced myself to calm down.

“It’s fine,b” /bI said quietly, though my voice bwas /btired.

The waitress nodded quickly and hurried baway/bb, /bleaving me alone with my thoughts.

I stared down bat /bbmy /bbcoffee/bb, /bthe lukewarm liquid mirroring the pit in my stomach. No matter how much I tried to move forward, his shadow loomed over bevery /bstep I took.

Hunter Reid.

The man who had destroyed my life with a singleb, /bcareless decisionb–/band walked away smiling.