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Chapter Four Hundred and Forty-Eight

Author: Anney GW
last update Last Updated: 2025-12-31 18:29:25
Celeste’s POV

I woke to cold sheets and the unmistakable absence of Ryan.

For one panicked second, my chest tightened, but then I heard the faint hum of voices from down the hall. His home office. I sat up, rubbing my eyes, the events of the past few days crashing back into me like a wave that never receded.

I got up and followed the sound.

Ryan was standing by his desk, jacket already on, phone in his hand. He turned the moment he saw me, his expression smoothing into something calm and familiar, but I knew him too well now.

There was tension in his shoulders that hadn’t been there last night. Something unresolved, sitting heavy.

“Hey,” I said softly.

“Morning,” he replied, smiling easily. Too easy.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

The answer came too fast.

I studied him for a second longer than necessary. His jaw was tight, eyes alert in that way they only got when he was thinking five moves ahead and none of them were good. Whatever was going on, he wasn’t ready to share it.

And I didn’t push
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  • No Way to Win Me Back   Chapter Four Hundred and Fifty-Five

    Celeste’s POVI was halfway through signing off on a supplier invoice when Jenny walked into my office without knocking.That alone told me something was wrong.She never skipped the knock unless she had information that refused to wait politely outside the door.Her tablet was tucked under her arm, her mouth set in that tight line she got when she was excited and uneasy at the same time. Like she’d just opened a door she wasn’t sure we were ready to walk through.“Do you have five minutes?” she asked.I glanced at the clock. Past seven. The atelier was quiet except for the hum of the security system and the distant clink of Rachel’s tools as she finished up for the night.“Sure, what is it?” I said.She stepped in and closed the door behind her, leaning back against it like she needed the support.“I dug deeper into Avalon Club,” she said. “Like you asked.”My stomach tightened.“And?” I prompted.Jenny exhaled. “Leander Voss isn’t just protecting a venue. He’s protecting a legacy.”I

  • No Way to Win Me Back   Chapter Four Hundred and Fifty-Four

    Celeste’s POVNicholas’ words were still echoing through me until it was bed time.Ryan was busy again tonight and I missed him. After the day, I just wanted to hide myself in his arms.I knew sleep would be hard to come, but then Jenny sent me a file and any concept of sleep fled my body.The file contained information about the Avalon Club.It wasn’t just a place, it was a mechanism. A carefully engineered ecosystem built on anonymity, favors, silence. No paper trail. No public faces. Word of mouth only. Membership by invitation. Discretion enforced not by contracts, but by consequences.Andre Cox wasn’t an anomaly in that world. He was a byproduct.I stared at my laptop long after midnight, the glow painting my hands an unhealthy blue.Jenny’s message sat open, highlighted sections blinking like warnings. Any criminal case tied publicly to Andre wouldn’t just expose him, it would unravel Avalon entirely. Clients. Employees. Decades of carefully cultivated secrecy collapsing under on

  • No Way to Win Me Back   Chapter Four Hundred and Fifty-Three

    Celeste’s POVI was in the middle of approving a gemstone order when the email came in.Nicholas Grant.Just seeing his name sitting there in my inbox made my shoulders tense and my jaw lock.As if my body reacted before my mind could catch up, like muscle memory from a wound that never healed properly. I stared at it for a long moment, cursor blinking, daring me to open it.I shouldn’t. I knew that.But curiosity is a dangerous thing, especially when it wears the face of unfinished business.Celeste, I know you don’t owe me your time. I’m not asking for forgiveness or absolution. I only want to speak to you once to let you know of a decision I’ve made, so it doesn’t reach you through the press first. If you’re willing, I’ll meet wherever you feel safest.I read it twice. Three times.The word safest stuck with me. The irony of it, coming from him. And yet, despite everything, there was something restrained about the message. No guilt-laden paragraphs. No justification. No attempt to r

  • No Way to Win Me Back   Chapter Four Hundred and Fifty-Two

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  • No Way to Win Me Back   Chapter Four Hundred and Fifty-One

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  • No Way to Win Me Back   Chapter Four Hundred and Fifty

    Celeste’s POVI buried myself in work to make sure I remained distracted from everything else.I was letting Jenny handle the media online for now. The new strategy was to let the hype die down before addressing the situation calmly and in front of only select media representatives that wouldn’t be unprofessional.If I kept my mind occupied with emails, sketches, production timelines.The headlines blurred into background static. The whispers in the hallways of Rosemary Atelier dulled into something manageable. I had already survived worse than public opinion. I told myself that over and over like a mantra.Still, the day had a way of refusing to let me hide.Grace knocked lightly on my office door just after noon, her expression hesitant. “You have a visitor.”I didn’t look up. “If it’s press, tell them—”“It’s not,” she said. “He says you’ve met once.”That made me pause.“Who?”She stepped aside.Leander Voss walked in like he owned the space.Tall. Immaculate. Dark suit cut to perf

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