One Night Stand, Eight Surprises: Pampered by My CEO Husband --- - Chapter 24: Chapter 24

The headline hit the front page by dawn:
DAMIEN KINGSTON’S SECRET FAMILY—EIGHT CHILDREN AND THE WOMAN WHO DISAPPEARED.
The world erupted.
Within hours, camera crews flooded the estate’s gates. Drones hovered in the morning sky. A fleet of tinted-window SUVs blocked the street. The Kingston name had weathered scandal before—but this was personal.
Too personal.
And from the penthouse of a sleek Manhattan high-rise, Celeste Harrow watched the footage loop across the screen. Her manicured finger tapped the rim of her champagne glass. Her smile was thin.
“Damien,” she murmured, “what the hell are you doing?”
Arielle stared at the news from the kitchen television, hands frozen on the countertop.
The photo was clear—Damien, arms around three of the children, another tugging at his suit, her own face slightly turned but unmistakably hers.
Arielle’s breath caught.
“They found us,” she whispered.
Damien turned from his phone, already buzzing with calls from PR firms and board members. “We’ll handle it.”
Her eyes locked onto his. “They know where our children sleep.”
And then the doorbell rang.
Not once.
But three sharp, perfectly timed chimes.
“Celeste,” Damien said, stone-faced as he opened the door.
She was as poised and venomous as ever. Sculpted blonde hair, tailored ivory suit, and lips curled in knowing amusement.
“Well, well,” she purred. “I leave the country for six months and come back to an entire soap opera.”
He didn’t move aside. “Why are you here?”
“Because we were engaged, Damien. Because this family circus is on every screen in New York. And because—” her gaze flicked behind him “—I’m not the kind of woman who likes to be replaced without notice.”
Arielle stood at the end of the hallway.
She hadn’t dressed for battle. Simple jeans. One of Damien’s old T-shirts. Hair still damp from the shower.
But she looked at Celeste like she’d faced storms greater than her.
And won.
Celeste's eyes narrowed. “So, you’re the reason he ghosted me after Paris?”
Arielle raised a brow. “I’m the reason he sleeps through the night now.”
Damien stepped between them. “Celeste, leave.”
“I want to speak to the mother of your eight illegitimate children.”
“They’re not illegitimate,” he said coldly. “They’re mine. And so is she.”
Celeste’s smile cracked.
Later, in the study, Arielle paced.
“You were engaged?”
He nodded once. “It ended long before you came back.”
“Because of me?”
He hesitated. “Because of who I became when I was with her. Cold. Calculating. Everything you said to me the other night? About the kids? You were right.”
She folded her arms. “So now she’s back and the whole world knows about us.”
He walked to her, hands brushing her arms. “Let them talk.”
“And the board?”
“They’ll fall in line. Or fall out.”
Arielle looked at him.
“You said I wasn’t alone anymore,” she said softly.
He pulled her close. “You’re not.”
But outside, Celeste wasn’t gone.
She sat in her sleek black car, phone to her ear.
“Dig into the woman. Everything. School, medical, financial. I want her exposed. She took my empire.”
And in her other hand, Celeste held a photograph.
Arielle, pregnant.
Alone.
Scared.
She smiled.
“Let’s see how perfect Kingston’s queen really is.”