~CELINE'S POV~
The cleaning rag shook in my hands as I stood frozen in the marble hallway, my mind a tempest of Hunter's promises from the night before.
His voice echoed in my memory….raw, desperate, certain…as he'd spoken of marriage, of forever, of making me his wife despite a world chosen to tear us apart.
"I'm going to marry you, Celine Brown, and no one…not my mother, not society, not God himself…is going to stop me."
I wanted to believe him with every fiber of my being.
Wanted to trust that the man who'd held me like I was precious, who'd whispered declarations of love against my skin, would fight for us.
But Eleanor's words slithered through my thoughts like poison: ‘Men like Hunter don't choose women like you for keeps.’
The sound of Caesar's laughter drifted from the gar
