NOT IN MY NEXT LIFE

CHAPTER 4:CELESTINE

Celestine MBau or cureently celestine Hart adjusted the diamond earring dangling from her ear, admiring her reflection in the mirror of her penthouse suite. The room shimmere with soft gold accemts and designer furniture, proof that she was no longer the girl from the dusty alleyways of Merrow's end. No longer the girl who sold knock off perfumes in underground markets just to afford bread and water for her mother. Now , she was someone,. She was seen.

All thanks to Darian Thornwell. or atleaset that's what everyone thought.

she smiled, lips painted in a shade of coral that perfectly complememnted her skin. The illusiion was flawless,pregnant,pampered and protected by the most powerful man in the city. The news of her condition had spread like wildfire, cementing her status in the Thornwell circle. The chid she carried, claimed to be Darians, was her crown.

But lies made for heavy jewelry.

She laced a gentle hand on her stomamch, not out of affections but calculaton.The baby wasnt Darian's. He was never meant to be. The father was a young french investor she had met at a Charity gala two moths ago, naive, easily seduced and quickly discarded.

The real catch had been Darian and now that Zaria was out of the picture , the throne was within reach.

She watched Zaria closely over the years, hididng in plain sight behind sweet smiles and strategic innonce. Zaria had always benn graceful , always silent.A shadow that refused to die, no mater how much Celestine turned up the lights.

But every woman breaks and Celestine had waited.

She had waited while darian ignored his wife's growing distance. waited while zaria buried her pain beneath designer gowns and charity events, waited until the cracks finaly split wide enougn for her t slide throgh and fill the void.

Celestine picked up her phone and strolled thrugh the morning headlines:

THORNWELL HEIR ON THE WAY?CELESTINE HART PREGNANT WITH DARING DARIAN"S CHILD!

The smile on her face grew. SHE had leaked the story herself, anonymously of course. A few whispers to the right paparazi , a strategically staged exit fro the OBGYN clinic and glowing post about "gratitude and beginnings"had done the trick.

She sat back , legs crossed elegantly and sipped her imported ginger tea.

Zaria would never come back from this.

she knew Darian was grieving,though he would never admit it loud.Celestine could see it in the way his texts had slowed, the way he avoided her calls more often than not, but she also knew something else, power seduces even the most broken men. And Darian? He was born into seduction.

Soooner or later he would return. He always did.

A soft knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.

"come in," she called.

Her assistant, Mia, stepped in cautiously , holding a thin envelope. "This came by private courier. It's from the THornwell estate."

Celestien raised a brow and gestured for it. The seal was unbroken,elegant black wax with the family crest embedded in it.

She slid a manicured finger beneath the flap and pulled out a single card.

A dinner invitation.

Lenora Thornwell was hosting a private gathering at the estate . This was it . Her moment . The official welcome.

She stood up, heart thudding. She had prepared for this for years. mastered the art of beig just scandalous enough to be interesting but refined enough to be terolated. Her entire life had been leading to this dinner. The moment the Thornwell accepted her, she wouldn't just be Darian's mistress.

She would be his wife and with Zaria gone , there was no one left to stop her. Except...

The thought of the child twisted in her mind for a moment. Not because she felt guilt but because they were whispers. Zaria may have left ,but she hadnt spoken. She had't files for divorce. She hadn't exposed the truth.

Yet.

Celestine knew ZAria's s silence was dangerous. if the woman ever decided to speak , if she ever revealed the truth about Darians role in her familys's ruin or the identity of the child's real father, it could all fall apart. A sudden knock startled her again. This time the door opened before she could respond.

Darian.

He looked tired.Not the polished exhausted of a busy billionare, but the soul heavy wearines of a man who had lost something he didn't understand until it was too late.

"you could have called,"Celestine siad with a sultry tilt of her head. "Or were you missing me too much?"

He didn't smile.

Instead, he walked past her, staright to the window toand stared out at the city skyline.

"You leaked the story," he said , voice flat.

Celestine froze , but only for a heartbeat. "What makes you think that?"

HE turned slowly."Because i know how the media works. My PR team traced the tip. YOu wanted Zaria to see it. YOU wanted her to leave.

She swallowed."And she did."

HIs eyes sharpened."YOu think this means you've won?"

Celestine stepped closer. "i think it means we both get what we want. You don't have to feel guilty about loving somene else anymore and i finally get to be with the man l..."

"Don't," h cut in." Don't pretend this is love."

Her smile faded.

"Do you ever know who the father is ?"he asked voice like a dagger.

Her pulse spiked. "Excuse me?"

He stared at her , cold and unreadable. "bec ause i have done the math, Celestine and unless my body has learned how to teleport without my onsent , i wasn't with youduring the week of conception."

She opened her mouth to lie , to say somthing clever, to twist the truth, but Darian's next words killed the urge.

"You were sloppy. There are photos ,hotel logs and witnesses. I have had you follwed for weeks."

Silence clung to the walls.

"i thought i was protecting myself from Zaria," he said bitterly ."Turns out i was protecting myself from you."

Celstine felt the heat rise in her throat, her carefully constructed world beginning to collapse.

"i still carry your name in that baby,"she said softly, clutching her stomach.

"No," Darian said ,"you carry leverage and now that i have lost Zaria , i see exactly what you are."

He walked towrds the door.

"You wil still attend the dinner," he added, his voice distant. " The family wnats to meet the woman who brought down Zaria Thornwell, but dont mistake their curiosity for welcome."

He paused." And don't mistake my silence for love."

Then he was gone.

Celestine tood still , the ache in her feet riisng all the way to her throat. For th first time in years, she felt samll. Exposed,but she wouldn't give up. She had come this far, sacrificed too much.

Zaria might have his heart but Celstine would have his name, HIs child, or not, would carry his legagcy and is she had to lie, seduce and manipulate or destroy to make that happen, then so be it.

Because in the game of power, it wasn't about truth, it was about who hled the throne when the dust finally settles and celestine had no intention of ever being poor, or powerless, again.