Much to my disappointment, Davis didn't try to stop me. I was a long way away from the room before I discovered I had nowhere to spend the night. Ugh. That was probably why he didn't even bother. I stopped halfway, wondering if it would be better to swallow my pride and return to the room or just keep going until I found somewhere else. Surely, this huge house would have some spare room that was manageable. Gah, he was more than annoying. And what was it with his stupid mood swings? Just because he owned this house he thought he could treat me however he pleased. I made up my mind. I wasn't going back. While I pondered on what to do, Natalie found me pacing on the staircase. Although she curtsied when I noticed her, she had a look on her face that seemed to say she knew exactly what had happened and was mocking me for it. "Shouldn't you be in bed now, ma'am?" she asked. "Is there a problem? Do you need my help?" Even if she was the last person available, I would never need her
I practically burst through the door into Kayden's room with the pictures in my hand. His mother was there. She shot a look that was in between disgust, shock, and fury as I stood at the door, panting and trying to catch my breath."Hi, Cass," he waved at me. "Is there any problem?" his mother asked me. "Not really. I'll come in later. When you're done with him." She laughed drily. "He's my son so I can even spend the whole day with him if I wanted." "Mom," Kayden appealed, tapping her shoulder and turning to me. "I think whatever Cass has to tell me must be truly important. She's never burst into my ward like this. Just give us a few minutes, please?" She looked like she'd just swallowed a lemon. However, she got up soon after and stormed out of the room. Before she passed me, she whispered, "You've done it again." Walking to Kayden's side, I wondered what it was about me and my significant other's moms. Davis' mom hated my guts even more. "How are you?" I asked him, lettin
"What's wrong?" Kayden asked, noting the look on my face. "Who is he? How do you know him? Is he a bad person? I didn't really get that vibe from him." "He's my…" I began before shutting my mouth immediately. I couldn't tell him the truth about my marriage to Davis. He knew I was married, but somehow we'd gone this long without talking about it. I didn't want him to know I was married to the person who had come to visit him at this hospital. "He's just someone your father told me about. He gave me the pictures," I said instead. "Why do you have so many of them then? You never had to bring this many before. This man has to be important." Oh jeez. I'd forgotten how smart and intuitive Kayden was. I'd never been able to outsmart him in the past and even now when he didn't have any concrete memories to fall back to, he could still see right through my lie. "I just... He was apparently a businessman as well. You once tried your hand in photography but it didn't work. You took many pic
"Over here," an unfamiliar woman led me toward the office I already knew too well. A wave of guilt passed through me when I realized the previous receptionist had lost her job because of me. I didn't protest, following her like sheep. This woman was different in every way. She was a brunette and much shorter than the other one. She was not smiling and she had an air around her that made me uncomfortable. I didn't also speak because I didn't want anything that would make Davis fire any other person on my account again. "Go to the last room down this hall and knock," she said, pointing down the hallway to Davis' office. "He has company at the moment, but he specifically requested you be brought to his office immediately, so just…" Before she could round off the list of her instructions, we heard the loud angry voice of Davis thunder all the way from his office. She froze beside me, fear instantly washing over her. Inasmuch as she was different from the previous receptionist, they bo
I hated the smug look on his face. I hated the fact that he had all the power and could do whatever he pleased. I hated the fact that there was nothing I could do but acquiesce to his demands. "Your training will kickstart officially from tomorrow, so get prepared," he said, going back to his computer and dismissing me. I didn't know what to do with my hands. I couldn't complain. He knew I needed this job and that was why he was doing this. He said I was impatient. I'd show him how wrong he was. With a smile on my face I hoped looked natural, and I nodded. "Sure. I can't wait." He simply waved me away before speaking into the intercom. "Bring in my next guest." How rude! "Should I leave or…?" I asked, hating this feeling. There was a knock on the door, interrupting me. Davis shut the laptop down, relaxed lower into his seat, and adjusted his tie. "Come in," he said, his eyes beaming. A beautiful woman who looked specifically handcrafted by god himself strutted into the r
Davis was just back, but he had already made it his duty to push me to my limit. I wouldn't let him do that. Pushing my unfinished plate of food to the side, I stood up to leave, but a steady hand on my shoulder pushed me back down. "You're not going anywhere. I said you will eat and eat, you will," he said with a sharp tone that left no room for objection. Turning to Gloria he said, "Take this plate and get her dessert." He sat down beside me when Natalie and Gloria both left to do as he asked. I felt uncomfortable but didn't say anything. When the food came, I tried my best not to even look at it even though it smelt so divine. It was going to be difficult to act like I didn't want to eat it. "You may leave. Both of you," he said to them. "And don't come back unless I specifically ask you to." They were more than eager to leave and a part of me wished I could go with them. Being alone with Davis wasn't on my list of things I looked forward to doing that evening. I looked stra
The effrontery. How dare he order me like that? But why couldn't I stop thinking about him? "Earth to Cassie," Kayden said, waving a hand at me. "Sorry," I sighed, sitting closer to him. "I've been preoccupied with a lot of things." "Like what," he asked, resting a hand on my thigh. "You can tell me. I don't have anything better to do here. I like hearing you talk." He liked hearing me talk. But how could I tell him I was thinking about my husband? "I'm just bothered with work," I said instead, lifting his hand and resting my chin on it. This felt right. He didn't say anything for a few moments but stared at me with that look of his that made me feel immediately secure. "The doctor told me I'll soon be discharged." "Oh my god. That's great news!" I exclaimed, hugging him. I was happy he would be free to leave, but one fact nagged at us both. His memory. "We'll figure it out," he said, reading my thoughts. "I already feel so close to you even without it." "We were meant
I kept to myself through most of the journey which was much longer than our drive to Davis' office usually was. I probably shouldn't have asked the nurse to tell Kayden I'd be back in twenty minutes. I didn't want him to wait for too long. My mind was preoccupied with him. Who had given him an offer? What was the offer even about and why had he been chosen even with his memory problems? Everything seemed sketchy to me but I was probably not on board simply because he would be taken away from me. I was going to tell him exactly what I thought. He was my responsibility and I wouldn't sit idly and watch someone take advantage of my man. I refused to speak to Solomon, not even asking questions when he took suspicious-looking turns and kept going deeper into unfamiliar paths. Davis had asked to see me privately, but this wasn't what I had imagined. When we kept going for over forty-five minutes with no signs of stopping, I had to speak up. "Where exactly are we going to?" I asked, look
Five years later: Cassie’s POV:I stared into the glittering eyes of my baby girl as she struggled to make them stay open while I read her a bedtime story. She was just as stubborn as her father, fighting sleep even though that was what she needed. “And they lived happily ever after, the end,” I said. By the time I was done with the bedtime story, sleep had won. Although my daughter was asleep, I couldn’t stop watching her I rubbed her head and stared into her face, smiling when I saw the close resemblance she shared with her father. “You’re lucky I married a handsome man,” I whispered, still not ready to leave my baby girl’s side. “I love you,” I said and kissed her on her forehead, before turning to leave the room. “Jeez!” I gasped when I saw Davis standing by the door with his hands in his both pockets, smiling down at me. I turned back immediately to see if I had woken Ivory up, but luckily she was such a deep sleeper. “You scared me,” I whispered. “Come,” he said, stretchi
Davis’s POV:Do what’s right. I knew what that meant, and I didn’t like it. But she asked me to do it for her. How could I possibly say no to her? There was nothing I couldn’t do for her. I realized that now. The fact both warmed and scared me. Never had anyone had this much power over my choices but I had to admit it did feel strangely good. Here I was, driving down to meet Kayden, but this time with a different intention from what I would have liked to do. I was quite surprised to still see him there, sitting on the same swing bench he had been sitting on several hours ago when I found my wife next to him. This was going to be extremely difficult. I took a deep breath. I had to be really careful not to flip out and ruin the whole plan. “This is for you, baby,” I whispered to myself before leaving the car. Kayden flinched a little when he saw me approach, but when he saw there was nowhere to run, he remained where he was sitting and pretended to look unbothered by my presence
Davis’s POV: I don’t know how long I was passed out for, but when I woke up, I found myself alone in a big bland room that had no windows. It didn’t take long for everything to click into place. Even though my head was pounding like it was about to explode, I could still put the pieces together. I had been kidnapped. It was a bit embarrassing though. I was supposed to be experienced and intelligent. How could I have let myself be tricked so easily? I remained on the floor where I was and hoped my head would stop hurting so bad. What happened to using chloroform to make me unconscious? Why did my attacker have to go old school and knock me out with a blunt object? It felt personal, like whoever had done it, purposely wanted me to feel pain. I should have never underestimated him. Of course the timelines clicked in place. Why did I let Lisa come with me? He had cleverly used her to get to me. Now I was here, I wondered what he planned to do with me. He had almost taken my life the
Davis’s POV:Surprisingly, my relationship with Cassie changed for the better after my few hours stay in the hospital. She felt terrible for what she had done, but the action made her see how dangerous it was to believe one side alone. It was just as I suspected. Her father had gone ahead to change the contract entirely. It had nothing to do with money because I had given him more than enough money to start something for himself. He was not unreasonably wicked either, so it had to be something else. When I read the fake contract and found how Kayden’s greatest qualities were mentioned over and over, I knew who was responsible. Simply knowing with no proof though, was not enough. I had to teach that scoundrel a lesson or he would just disappear for a while and return again to be a thorn in our flesh. Fortunately, Cassie had been easy to convince. I think it because she felt terrible after sending me to a hospital, even after I assured her continually that it wasn’t her fault. I di
If I said I knew what I was doing, I would be lying. I was in the car with Rufus, who was taking me to only God knows where, and I had no idea where Davis was or how he was doing. After everything that had happened these past few days, I had disassociated a little from reality and this was proof of that fact. There was nothing I could do except sit and watch after all. Look where trying to act on my own had got me. “I just got off from a call with the boss,” Rufus said, swerving to the right. “He says I should take you to meet him at Palm Greens.” I turned away, distracting myself with the view of the palm trees and other cars we passed. I didn’t know where Palm Greens was. Maybe it was the place where he had captured Davis and the others. I didn’t want to think about it. I couldn’t bear to see my husband in that position again, or worse, Lisa. A feeling of dread washed over me as I began to realize just how serious this was. Kayden did not believe he had done anything wrong. I w
I waited until Rufus was completely out of the house before speaking. I didn’t have a plan yet, but I wasn’t dumb enough to follow him to meet Kayden. Who knew what that psychopath would do with me? “Leave, now,” I told my father as I untied Gloria from the chair. My father stood still as if he hadn’t heard me. I really didn’t have the time for this. “Why are you still standing there?” I asked him. “Hurry up so you both can leave while you still can.” “It can’t be that easy, Cass,” he said. “He’ll find us soon enough or Kayden will send someone else after us.” I groaned in frustration. “So what do you expect me to do? Follow him?”“I’m not saying that, but…”“You want to die!” I screamed, running my hand through my hair, a habit I had learned from Davis. “Isn’t it better to try than to just stand around and wait to be killed? I don’t know what you expect me to do, but I’m not following anyone anywhere. We’re all escaping one way or another and it’s fine if you don’t want to follo
As this was not the first time I had walked away from my father in anger, it neither felt good nor painful. I was just tired of the whole thing. I had no idea what was going on inside or what he was trying to hide, but at this point, I no longer wanted to find out. He was old enough to deal with his issues on his own and I was done being on the receiving end of his selfishness. He didn’t try to stop me and that was a clue that if he left the house, something bad would probably happen to him. Come to think of it, ever since I returned to California, I didn’t think he had ever left the house. I was tired of overthinking and watching my every step. I was tired of second-guessing my place in everybody’s life and wondering who was secretly a traitor and who wasn’t. I just wanted to live my life normally and peacefully, but my ex-boyfriend had made it his mission to make me keep looking over my shoulder. I wished Kayden could just disappear somehow. I didn’t care how, I just wished he an
Before I could say anything in response, my phone began to ring. I saw it was a call from Kayden and I froze. I let it ring and go to voicemail, because even though I was mad at him, I could still remember what he had done to me and I wasn’t sure I wasn't ready to face him yet. “Who was that?” my father asked, craning his head to look into my phone. “No one,” I said quickly, reducing the volume of my phone and placing it in my bag. “You asked how we can know for sure whether Kayden was the reason I lost my baby or not?” I asked him, giving him a chance to take back his words. He looked away. “It may not have been him. The baby may have already been weak…i don't know how these things work but…” “I just told you he kicked me repeatedly on the stomach and I started to bleed. You're telling me I should believe the kicking had nothing to do with me losing my baby?” I asked, now more disappointed than ever. Even if he was being forced to do this, what could be at stake for him to say su
“Cassie dear. I'm so happy you're here,” my father said, looking from side to side after I showed up at his door unexpectedly. “Come on in.” I took my steps in carefully, sucking in a breath to remind myself I needed to remain as calm as possible. “Sit down,” he said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. “What would you like to drink?” “Nothing. Don't worry yourself.” He nodded and sat down facing me. I glanced around the room to ease some of the discomfort I was beginning to feel. “I see you cleaned this place up.” “Yeah, my…yes I did,” he said. “I'm sorry for your loss.” We sat in awkward silence for more moments as I tried to gather my thoughts. It had been three days since Davis was discharged from the hospital and the press had been on our necks ever since. I didn't know what they were talking about because I had blocked every single news outlet from my phone. That wasn't a lasting solution, but it was working for now. On the other hand, my father had probably been swall