《No Way to Win Me Back》全部章節：第 281 章 - 第 290 章

Celeste’s POVI should’ve been with Celeste.Every bone in my body told me to stay, to sit outside her office door if that’s what it took, to be there when the weight finally crushed her and she needed someone to lean on.But Aurora didn’t care about timing. Aurora didn’t care that Jenny had just handed Celeste her resignation with shaking hands and tear-stained cheeks. Aurora didn’t care that Celeste had collapsed into her chair like someone had torn the ground out from under her.Aurora needed me. And Aurora couldn’t wait.So I found myself in my own office space that I had bought anonymously so that no one could trace me here.My sleeves were rolled up, phone on speaker, laptop open to encrypted files Steven had forwarded at dawn.His voice crackled through the line, quiet and tense. “We can’t afford delays, Ryan. We signed a three-week exclusivity contract with the Antwerp workshop. If we don’t send the US distribution roadmap, we lose them.”“I know,” I muttered, rubbing my eyes.

Vanessa’s POVThe moment I stepped out of the executive elevator and into the marble corridor of Crown Luxe, I felt like the building itself bowed to me.My heels clicked with slow, purposeful rhythm, queenly, even if my ankles protested under the weight of my pregnancy.A few weeks left until delivery, and yet no one dared suggest I rest. Why would they? Queens don’t take sick leave.Melissa hurried behind me, carrying the embossed folder pressed to her chest like sacred scripture.“Stop fussing,” I murmured without looking back.“Y-yes, Ms. Abrams.”She always squeaks when she’s nervous. Pathetic. But useful.Outside Maximilian’s office, I smoothed my hair, adjusted the soft fall of my maternity dress, and allowed the smallest, sweetest smile to curve my lips. This part mattered. The performance.Maximilian Edwards valued power, but he valued obedience even more.I knocked precisely once then entered.Maximilian was behind his desk, skimming through reports with that predatory calm h

Celeste’s POVI didn’t plan to leave the house on Saturday.Honestly, I barely planned to leave my bed.I felt guilty for neglecting Molly the past couple of days, so I’d asked Ryan to stay and spend time with Molly on Friday evening. He crashed in the guest bedroom because Molly said she wanted to spend more time with him.We’d kept our distance of course, because Molly was here.Come to think of it, we hadn’t done anything more than make out in the few, short moments we got to ourselves.Well, that would have to change because I could feel the distance between us.We weren’t growing apart, no, but every moment I spent with him, not pressed into his side, the more that invisible string between us tightened, making me want to give it all up just to spend some time in Ryan’s arms.God, I was turning into a hopeless romantic.Around ten in the morning, there was a knock on my bedroom door.Not the sharp, impatient kind Molly does when she wants breakfast, even though she’s perfectly capa

Celeste’s POVThe weekend was spent so well that I almost didn’t want to go to work the next morning.I didn’t even realize when I had started considering Rosemary as work and not art that I created.This was worse than I thought.Still, I got up early in the morning, already missing Ryan loitering around my apartment.I dropped Molly off at her art studio, but before she went inside, I knelt down beside her.“Do you think we should go visit the school next week?” I asked her.We’d talked about it but I just needed one last conversation.When Molly nodded and skipped inside, the first thing I did was calling Vivian.“I cannot believe this, Celeste,” Vivian whispered. I could see tears in her eyes through the screen. “I miss her so much but when I hear how happy she is with you, I know I made the right decision.”I smiled at her warmly, “She misses you too, Viv. Just yesterday she drew a picture of you and Steven. I’ll send it to you as a keepsake.”“I’d appreciate that. Things have bee

Vanessa’s POVMrs. Collins’s penthouse was exactly what I expected, marble floors so white they almost glowed.Only the elite of the jewelry world, the critics who mattered, the judges who would shape the next decade of design acclaim.And, of course, me.Eight months pregnant and still, effortlessly, the most put-together woman in the room.I stepped inside with Melissa right behind me, more for show than necessity. But people soften around a pregnant woman, and I wasn’t above using that softness if it meant winning.“Vanessa, darling,” Mrs. Collins greeted, her smile warm but her eyes sharp, calculating. “I’m so glad you made it.”I returned the smile sweetly. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world. Thank you so much for inviting me.”Manipulation wasn’t just about words, it was tone, posture, the exact tilt of one’s head. Mine was perfect.The room quieted as I entered, just briefly. Enough to let the whisper pass through the crowd:Crown Luxe’s rising star.The pregnant genius designer.M