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Chapter 194

Author: Hewrite
last update Last Updated: 2025-09-27 08:52:14

~CELINE'S POV~

The champagne glass felt like ice against my fingers, but not as cold as Hunter's words echoing in my mind.

"Mia Blackwood. She's exactly the kind of woman I was raised to be with. Beautiful, connected, from the right family. No complications, no baggage, no questions about whether she belongs in my world."

I stood at Caroline's bar, my back to the circle of people who'd just witnessed my public humiliation, focusing on the mechanical act of breathing.

In, out. In, out. Don't let them see you break.

"Celine," Caroline's voice was soft beside me, filled with gentle concern that made tears threaten. "Honey, he didn't mean….."

"Yes, he did." My voice came out steadier than I felt. "He meant every word."

I could feel their eyes on me.

The entire party had gone quiet, the playful atmosphere destroyed by the brutal honesty Hunter and I had just exchanged.

Part of me wanted to run, to grab Caesar from the hotel's childcare and disappear back to New York. Back to being just
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