Submitting to my Ex Uncle-Chapter 174

Celeste was a bit tipsy by the time she returned home. Rodger had sent another trusted car to take Amara home, while he brought her straight home.

The night air clung faintly to her dress,and the scent of wine was still lingering on her lips as she climbed the stairs, with her heels clicking lightly against the polished wood.

Her head swam faintly. It was not too much, but it was enough for the world to tilt whenever she turned too fast.

She smiled anyway, a loose, floating sort of smile that slipped onto her lips without reason, perhaps left behind from Amara’s laughter, or perhaps from the quiet spark of the diamond still circling her finger.

She walked into her room, dropped her bag onto the lamp stand, and sank down onto the edge of the bed. Her fingers itched for her phone, and when she finally pulled it out, she paused.

Eight missed calls.

Her smile disappeared instantly. Her chest tightened, and her breath caught, clumsy and uneven. The glow of the screen blurred for a moment, and she blinked hard, as if her lashes could erase the sight in front of her.

Eight.

Her stomach lurched with panic.

Dominic.

Before she could even think, the phone vibrated in her hand again. His name lit across the screen, and her heart stumbled so hard it felt like she’d been shoved. She pressed the answer icon immediately. Her throat went dry, and her palms slick.

"You scared me." His voice came through the other end, low, careful, and edged with relief, and a feeling more firmer beneath it.

Celeste pressed her free hand to her head, her nails digging into her scalp. "I’m sorry," she breathed, her voice breaking a little under the weight of guilt and wine. "I had no idea you’d been calling. I went out for a few glasses of wine with Amara."

"I know. Rodger told me."

She could hear the shift on his end. He was moving. It sounded like he couldn’t stay still, and she pictured him in some distant room, his suit jacket discarded, his tie loosened, and his presence filling the air even across oceans.

"You could have at least waited a day before stepping out." His voice remained even, with control, threaded with care. "I’m glad you had fun, but you made me so worried when you didn’t pick up."

Celeste’s chest squeezed. She curled tighter on the bed, her knees pulling up slightly. Her bare feet brushed the marble floor. "You asked me to stay close to Rodger. I did."

Silence fell between them.

"I did," she repeated, her voice smaller this time, defensive.

When he finally spoke, his voice was quieter than before. "Celeste." He called just her name. Drawn out, and deliberate. The way he said it made her throat tighten instantly.

She swallowed, her hand curling into the blanket. "What?"

"I don’t ask you to do things because I like to hear my own voice," he said softly. His tone didn’t sharpen, it pressed, steady and immovable, wrapping around her with gentleness that somehow felt heavier than anger. "I ask because I need to know you’re safe. I need to know I can breathe even when I’m not standing right in front of you."

Her eyes stung, her chest swelling until it hurt. "Dominic, I was safe. I was with Amara. Rodger was outside." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"You weren’t answering your phone."

She shut her eyes, her lashes immediately got wet. "I didn’t hear it. I was laughing, and there was music, and I didn’t hear it."

"Eight times, Celeste."

The number cut into her. She opened her mouth, then shut it again, her breath faltering.

On the other end, Dominic exhaled, not sharply, not with anger, but with restraint. When he spoke again, his voice was lower, like it belonged only to her, as though he was standing right there beside the bed.

"I don’t care if you go out with Amara. I do care if you laugh so hard you can’t breathe. I do care if you drink wine until your cheeks glow and you stumble up the stairs. I care about everything you do. Not because I want to control you, but because I need to keep you safe." His words were calm, slow, and carefully laid one after the other. "But answer me."

Celeste pressed her hand to her lips. The wine was taking effect of her, and she found herself more emotional than usual. "You’re asking for something I can’t always promise."

"Yes, you can." His voice softened further, but his certainty didn’t waver. "You can. Because I’m not asking you to be perfect. I’m asking you to let me be the one who worries so you don’t have to. I’m asking you to understand that when I call, it isn’t just a call. It’s me reaching for you. It’s me making sure you’re still here."

Her tears spilled before she could stop them. "You make it sound like I’m fragile."

"You’re not fragile," he said instantly, but still with that same gentleness. "You’re the strongest person I know. But even the strongest things in the world have people who want to protect them. And I’ll always want to protect you. That doesn’t make you weak. It makes you mine."

Celeste’s chest twisted. She bit her lip so hard she tasted salt. "I don’t want to feel like I’m chained to my phone, waiting for you to breathe for me."

"You’re not chained." His reply was smooth, and unhurried. "You’re free. But freedom doesn’t mean you walk blind into the dark. It means you walk with someone who will hold the light ahead of you. That’s all I’m asking you to let me do. Let me hold the light."

Her breath caught. Something in her cracked wide, spilling fear and love all at once. "You don’t trust me," she whispered.

"I trust you more than anyone," he answered without pause. "It’s the world I don’t trust. It’s the things I can’t control when I’m not standing beside you I don’t trust. It’s the shadows I can’t predict, and the dangers I can’t see. Do you understand? It isn’t you. It’s never you."

"Dominic," she whispered, her voice breaking.

"Yes."

Her silence stretched, fragile, and trembling on the edge of shattering.

And then, before she could stop herself, and before the sobs choking her could spill into the line, she pressed the button and ended the call.

The silence that followed was deafening.

The phone slipped from her hand, falling onto the bedspread with a muted thud. Her chest heaved, her breath ragged, and her tears left her eyes hot and relentless.

She curled into herself on the bed, clutching the blanket to her chest. Her phone vibrated again. Once, twice, and even, eight more times.

She didn’t answer.