Cassandra POV:Now why would Franco Fontana be here? This was just awkward. Did Ricky ask him to meet me too? What was wrong with that guy's brain?"Looks like we meet again," Franco greeted me casually and just went forward to take a seat on the stool beside my bed. My eyes just followed his movement as he came closer. He had a wide smile on his face that just sent creep to my heart instead of warmth. I was never close to this man, but once had a deep talk with him regarding Ricky before."I guess my assumption was right then. The marriage was fake after all. That's why instead of getting rid of you and finding his wife, he put you here instead and commanded the whole Mafia members to hunt down his wife. Ricky is pretty mad in love with you," Franco said while staring at me boldly."That's... pretty blatant for you to say that..." I replied, staring back at him with a hint of annoyance."I sense something different... This aura... Something that you didn't carry back then when we met
Cassandra POV: As if it would matter now if I still love him or not. My brain just had no more capacity to think about love now. I just wanted peace and that could only be done if Carina was found and got her punishment. Until then, I just thought that following the flow would be my best option. The atmosphere slowly turned dull as we both ran out of topics to chat. Fortunately, another person showed up and came into my wardroom without giving a knock on the door. "Sorry I'm late... just had something to do with work," it was Bella Fontana. It seemed that Ricky had invited these two to come to see me, not just Franco. Slowly I realized maybe Ricky wasn't as mindless as I thought. Yet still, it was just weird because I was never really close with the Fontana's sibling. Bella approached me immediately and gave me a casual hug like how you would greet someone that was your acquaintance. "Don't worry, I already settled the matter," Franco remarked and Bella just gave him the side eyes
Cassandra POV:I didn't know what to say. I wished I could just decide everything now for the sake of the people who care about me. It had been a month for them, but it only felt like it was just yesterday that I experienced the factory incident. The sedation that made me sleep for a month really made it seem like I was only asleep for a day. It was confusing and my brain was still trying to process everything. So, I said nothing in return and just let Verona let out her sadness and waited until she was okay again.After a while, she was back to her normal self and started helping me ate the food. I beckoned her to eat together since I wouldn't be able to eat much anyway. She just agreed right away and that just made me wonder. Did she not eat well while I was gone? Why was she so worried about me anyway? It was not like I'm the one who paid her salary. Yet somehow, her empathy for me just made me feel like I was indeed loved. There were people out there who cared about me. Maybe Fran
Riccardo POV:I didn't know what else I should do to make Cassie stop hating me. I had decided to stop asking for forgiveness as well since there was no sign of her wanting to give me one. Right now, I'm just going to accept everything. Her hatred, her insults, her resentment, her words blaming me for everything, all those bitter things from her, I'm going to accept them without complaining.My eyes stared at the waiting bench near Cassie's wardroom door. The one that was placed against the wall. I guessed that was where I would be sleeping tonight. It was fine. I slept there previously at noon, just a quick nap and it was good enough for me. As long as Cassie was in my eyesight, I could tolerate any discomfort. I'm not going home unless she goes home with me.The next morning, Dome woke me up early. He seemed to understand that I might need to use the bathroom in Cassie's wardroom before she woke up. I went in there after making sure Cassie was still in deep sleep, took a shower fast
Riccardo POV:After about an hour, Sergio finally left the hospital to go to the company. Soon after he left, Dr Claus approached me.He informed me how Cassie had let me be the one to decide when her plastic surgery could be performed. If it was up to me, then I would rather have it done the earliest. So, I told the doctor to do it as soon as the plastic surgeon was available."In two days? Or is it too early?" Dr Claus suggested."No. That would be fine. The sooner the better," I said.So the next two days, Cassie underwent the surgery which took about two hours to be done. Once it was done, she was sent to her wardroom again and Dr Kevin, the plastic surgeon advised her to stay in the hospital for a week or two to see if there are any side effects after the surgery.Fortunately, a week later, her face didn't give out any bruises or signs of infection from the surgery. So Dr Kevin gave Cassie a choice if she wanted to go home or stayed at the hospital until they open the wrap around
Cassandra POV:Had I gone too far punishing Ricky? Tonight, he suddenly just allowed Verona to stay with me. She slept on the sofa where Ricky used to sleep. Verona was so happy, and so did I because it was really boring to stay here without anyone to talk to. Although I did have a one-hour therapy session with Dr Mala almost every day, those just weren't enough. I was still feeling pretty much lonely. Lydia texted me a lot too and she apologized for making me had a panic attack the other day. She couldn't come to visit me often because this hospital was really far, inside the De Luca region and she lived in the Xavier region.I had been delaying coming back to Ricky's mansion and I think he knew it. He snapped at me this evening, probably accumulated all his irritation and maybe he just accidentally burst them out today. Ricky rarely got mad at me after the factory incident, so when he was this evening, I was just a bit surprised by it. It made me think that maybe I had gone too far
Riccardo POV:My heart was still pounding hard. When I didn't see her on the bed, that just sent an instant surge of panic to my brain. I immediately just thought she had left and gone missing again. With such anxiety, turning my body around certainly won't be my first action. Now that I realized she was just behind me, I couldn't help but felt flustered at the situation. It was kind of embarrassing to act that nervous in front of Cassie.She stared at me with mellow eyes and I could feel that she probably felt sorry for me. Did I really look that pathetic in her eyes? I hadn't combed my hair yet so I may look a bit messy right now. But then again, it was not like Cassie never saw me this way. Why did I feel like the way she looked at me right now was different? It seemed like she was being sympathetic to me."Why don't you just..." she said hesitantly and slowly moved her gaze to see the two-seater sofa against the wall."Sleep here tonight... I mean... If you're going to stay here l
Riccardo POV:At noon, Dr Claus came to Cassie's wardroom while she was having lunch. At this point, I signalled Verona and Lydia to head home. They bid their goodbye to Cassie and just left. I could see Cassie's face fell a bit when her close buddies were leaving but then she tried to act fine when Dr Clause approached her.The doctor handed her the hospital release form and she signed it promptly. Then Dr Claus took it again and headed out with me. We went to the front counter of the hospital so I could settle the medical bill for Cassie's release.A few hundred of thousand dollars gone and it was fine. I rathered see her alive and healthy then kept that money. It was not like I couldn't produce more money later. My business was still thriving at the moment.After everything was settled, I went back to Cassie's wardroom. She had finished her meal and Dome was helping her clean up the dishes. She turned her gaze on me when I opened the door. From her expression, it was clear that her