Cassandra’s POV“I’m sorry,” Dillon said, misunderstanding my silence for a refusal to tell him. “I was pressing and I shouldn’t have. It’s your past. It’s none of my business.”Just then, I saw a shooting star. It seemed like some sort of sign. Dillon was a good person, and even though the incident from my past was difficult to talk about, if there was anyone I could share it with, it was Dillon. I always sort of feared people would look at me differently if they knew what had happened to me. But I knew Dillon wouldn’t. He wouldn’t judge me.He wasn’t like that. Which is why I knew I could trust him. I shook my head and told him it was fine. “I just don’t talk about it very often,” I sighed. “But it’s okay. I’d like you to know.”He took my hand and squeezed it. Then he sat and waited patiently while I collected my thoughts. I didn’t even know where to start. It had been such a traumatic ordeal.“I was kidnapped,” I said, my voice low.“What?” His eyes grew wide as saucers. “Are yo
Cassandra’s POVI was deeply moved by Dillon’s words of support. I wasn’t used to feeling so supported and cared for. My marriage to Jordyn had done a real number on me, and when I found out he had cheated on me, it broke my heart. For weeks after our marriage ended, I felt inadequate. I asked myself the same questions over and over again. Why hadn’t he loved me? Why wasn’t I good enough? Why didn’t he want to be with me? I felt like such a colossal failure.But when the dust settled and it was all over, I looked back on the marriage. I’d spent pretty much our entire marriage feeling neglected. How often had I lied awake at night, waiting for Jordyn to come home, eager to see him? But then, when he had, he’d completely ignored me, choosing to take a shower and watch Netflix instead of cuddling with me. He hardly ever invited me out to his business events. Whenever I asked to go, I felt like I was annoying him. It was an awful feeling, trying to vie for someone’s attention. He was supp
Cassandra’s POVRealizing it was Jordyn, I stepped even further away from Dillon. I wondered what Jordyn could possibly want. It was a little late, after all. But then I realized it was probably a call about work.“I’m so sorry about the elevator, Cassandra,” Jordyn said quickly into the phone. “The elevator manager knew something was wrong with the elevator. He was supposed to post notices on each floor but I guess he skipped our floor. There was a malfunction with the electric pad. It had been misfiring. That’s why the elevator stopped.”I glanced over at Dillon. He was still sitting on the swing but his eyes were locked on me. It was almost like he could sense it was Jordyn. I knew that was impossible. Dillon was a good guy but he wasn’t a superhero with supernatural powers or anything. I was being silly.Besides, even if Dillon did know it was Jordyn on the phone, so what? I was in a business deal with Jordyn. I’d have to talk to him from time to time. Dillon and I were just frien
Cassandra’s POVJordyn’s voice had daggers in it. I took a moment to collect myself. Why was he being like this? He had no right to interrogate as to my whereabouts!Cameron and Dillon were talking. I really wanted to join them. It was time to cut this phone call short.“I’m with my family and friends,” I told him. “We’re just having a nice family evening.”“Is that so,” he replied sardonically.“Not that it’s any of your concern,” I added. “You’re about to marry Ellie. So why should you care about what I do?”Jordyn fell silent. I could hear him breathing but he didn’t say anything. This was ridiculous. Why was I still on the phone with him defending my actions? I could spend my time with whomever I wanted. I didn’t have to justify it to him. Maybe he should spend more time asking Ellie who SHE was with, I thought to myself snidely.I heard him inhale, then…click. He abruptly disconnected the call.I stared at my phone for a moment. He just…he hung up on me? Well fine then. Whatever.
Cassandra’s POVOn the weekend, I went to visit Stella and her mom, Julia. I stopped by the flower shop on the way to pick up some orchids, since I knew they were Julia’s favorite flower. I also put together a little gift basket with some bath bombs and scented lotions, as well as a lavender candle.“You shouldn’t have,” Julia said when I gave her the gift. “Really, Cassandra, that’s so thoughtful.”“Don’t mention it,” I waved my hand dismissively. Stella mouthed ‘thank you’ as she served us tea. I was happy to see that Julia looked well. A little pale and fragile, but she was clearly on the mend. I’d always been really fond of Julia. Stella’s parents divorced when she was very young and her dad took off, never to be heard from again. So Julia had been a single mother most of Stella’s life.We chatted well into the afternoon and ordered Chinese take-out for dinner. Shortly after dinner, Julia began to doze off, so Stella covered her in a blanket and Stella and I went upstairs to her be
Cassandra’s POVI woke up early, just as the sun was rising. Waking up early was something I did out of habit. During my marriage to Jordyn, I always got up before him. I’d carefully crawl out of bed so as not to disturb him, and creep into the kitchen to make him breakfast. I’d put on the coffee and cook him up something I knew he enjoyed: waffles with extra crispy bacon, omelets with extra cheese and mushrooms, oatmeal with raisins and chocolate chips. I did it out of love. He worked long days and I enjoyed having a nice, hot breakfast waiting for him when he woke up.Stella was fast asleep beside me, snoring and occasionally smacking her lips. I knew it was insanely early and I didn’t want to wake her, so I pulled back the covers and stretched my arms over my head. But as I crept out of bed, Stella rolled over and peeked at me with one open eye.“Are you nuts?” she mumbled. “It’s not even 6 am. What are you doing up this early?”I shrugged. She was right. What WAS I doing up that
Cassandra’s POV Stella and I pulled up to the office building and parked in the underground parking. Since it was Sunday, there were tons of open parking spaces so we parked close to the elevator. Stella frantically pressed the button, and for a brief moment, I was seized with panic. Memories of being trapped in the elevator at Jordyn’s office flashed through my mind. The confined space, the feeling of suffocating, the intense squeezing in my chest. But I took a long, calming breath. It had been an accident, being trapped that day. A one-off. ‘You’ve ridden the elevator thousands of times and HAVEN’T been stuck,’ I told myself. Besides, what was I going to do? Never ride in an elevator again? “Come on,” Stella urged the elevator, pressing the button like a mad woman. “That won’t make it come any faster,” I told her. “Yeah, well, it won’t make it come any slower, either,” she quipped back. We were both on edge. Seei
Cassandra’s POV I whipped out my phone. “Who are you calling?” Stella asked, as I searched my contacts. “Jordyn,” I replied. “What? Why?” Stella asked, concern in her eyes. I knew what she was thinking. She thought I had reverted to calling Jordyn because I was upset and seeking comfort. But that wasn’t the case at all. “We need to let him know that our designs have been stolen,” I told her. “This could impact our collaboration and the entire fashion competition. He has a right to know.” Stella frowned. “I suppose,” she said reluctantly, but I heard the hesitation in her voice. “Just remember, he still thinks you’re a personal assistant.” Right. For a brief moment, I’d almost forgotten that as far as Jordyn was concerned, I was just a low-level employee who was overseeing some of the project while our chief designer was away. “Okay,” I said as I hit the call button. “I’ll tell him you called me in
Cassandra’s POVI waited with breath held for Dr. Forter to tell me about Dillon. Cameron and Stella appeared behind him and came to join me.“He’s out of surgery,” the doctor said. “We were able to extract the bullet cleanly. Thankfully, it didn’t hit any major organs. He’s stable, for now. But he’s lost a lot of blood so we’re monitoring him closely.”His words were like heaven to my ears.“Stable?” I asked. “That’s good, right?”“It is,” the doctor smiled. “He’s not completely out of the woods yet, so to speak. But it looks very promising at the moment. It’s a good thing he got here when he did.”“Can I see him?” I asked. I felt an enormous weight lifting off my chest. I’d feared the worst, we all had. I’d been terrified that the doctor was going to come and tell us that Dillon hadn’t made it. But now that he was stable, my mind immediately turned to thoughts of seeing him.“You can, yes. But not quite yet. He’s still waking up from surgery.”“I want to see him too,” Cameron quipped
Cassandra’s POVWe did our best to pass the time but it felt like the clock was moving backwards. Jordyn went to get us some food, and when he came back, we couldn’t help but chuckle. He dumped an armload of vending machine crap onto the table.“What did you do?” Cameron asked, “Rob every vending machine in the hospital?”“I didn’t know what anyone wanted,” he told us, suddenly sheepish at the mass amounts of chips, chocolates, and candies he’d purchased.“Thank you,” I told him. I knew it was his way of helping. None of us knew what to do, really, as we waited there in that room. Jordyn was at least trying to feed us.Stella reached for some chips and tore open the bag.“Cassandra? What’s your poison?” Cameron asked me. I was sitting, my knees nervously bouncing up and down. “Chocolate? Gummies?”I shook my head. “I’m not hungry,” I told them. Food was the last thing on my mind. Dillon had been in surgery for over two hours now. Several other people waiting had been called away, one b
Cassandra’s POVBeep. Beep. Beep.The red line gave way to little peaks again.“We have a pulse,” one of the paramedics said.“You mean? It worked? He’s…okay?”I let out a massive sigh of relief. I watched his heart beating on the machine. His heart had stopped. He had…he had died. I stared at the machine, studying the tiny peaks, as though, at any moment, they might betray us and flatline again. “His pulse is still weak, but he’s stabilized. ETA to the hospital?” one of the paramedics asked the driver.“Three minutes,” the driver said, as the ambulance lurched to the left in a hard turn.It had worked. Dillon’s heart had stopped and they’d restarted it. If they hadn’t come when they had, if they had been even a little while longer…Dillon would have died in that room in the warehouse. Without their machine, we wouldn’t have been able to resuscitate him.“Thank you,” I whispered.“We’re just doing our jobs,” one of them smiled kindly at me. “You can hold his hand again.”I felt so muc
Cassandra’s POVThe ambulance tore off down the streets, sirens blaring. I sat on my seat beside Dillon’s stretcher. I felt like I was in the way. The paramedics went to work, trying to stabilize Dillon, they told me. He had an oxygen mask clamped over his face. His face was white as a ghost. They put a tiny thing on his finger to monitor his heartbeat.“Can I…can I hold his hand?” I asked, my face wet with tears. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and hold him. I wanted to stroke his hair. But I didn’t want to get in the way of whatever they were doing. “Of course,” one of them smiled kindly at me. I took Dillon’s limp hand in mine and squeezed it. His hand was so cold it made my stomach drop. “Will he…will he be okay?” I asked.One of the paramedics looked me in the eyes.“We’re doing everything we can,” he said.I didn’t like that answer. I wanted to hear, ‘yes, of course, he’ll be just fine.’ The vague response only made me feel even more uneasy.How had we come to this? I wonde
Cassandra’s POVEverything happened so fast. It was like a blur.The paramedics rushed at us, asking me to step aside. They removed Dillon from my lap and tore open his shirt. Blood squirted from the hole in his stomach. I felt weak in my knees. I gasped and covered my mouth.They started firing questions at us.“When was he shot? How long ago? Does he have any pre-existing conditions? Any allergies? How long has he been unconscious?”Stella and I tried to answer their questions as best we could, but I was so panicked I could barely speak.“He was shot about three minutes ago?” Stella said. “He just passed out, moments before you got here. We’ve been applying pressure to the wound. He doesn’t have any allergies. He’s healthy.”“What’s his name?” one of the paramedics said.“Dillon,” Stella said.“Dillon? Can you hear me? I’m a first responder. Dillon?” the paramedic asked. Then he glanced up at the other paramedic.“Pulse is 124. He’s gone into shock. He’s lost a lot of blood. We need
Cassandra’s POV“Dillon!” The scream escaped my lips before I could stop it. Dillon hunched over, his face contorted in pain. He clutched his stomach.I couldn’t believe it! Ellie had shot him. She’d actually shot Dillon!“What have you done?” Stella hollered at Ellie. I glanced at Ellie. She was holding the gun in her shaky hand, looking as shocked as we all were.“I…oh my god…I,” Ellie stammered. I rushed to Dillon just as Jordyn charged at Ellie. Jordyn grabbed her wrist and she gave up the gun.Just then, we were sirens wailing in the distance. Finally, the police were coming. And just in time.“Call an ambulance,” Stella cried out, also rushing towards Dillon. Blood was gushing out of his stomach. His hands were covered in his own blood. He looked at me, his face growing paler by the moment. I no longer cared about Ellie. The room swam in my vision. The only thing I cared about in that moment was Dillon.“Dillon?” I asked. He stumbled and I knew he was going to collapse so I tried
Dillon’s POVThe moment we pulled up to the abandoned warehouse, a surge of adrenaline rushed through me. Ellie’s sweater was still lying in a heap on the ground where she’d carelessly tossed it aside. We glanced around, but there was nothing in sight. No other people, no other cars.“They must be inside,” Jordyn said, heading to a door. I motioned for everyone to be quiet with the tip of my finger. If Ellie was inside with the girls, I wanted us to be stealth, so as not to tip her off with our arrival. I didn’t want to give her a chance to escape.The door creaked open and we found ourselves inside a dark corridor. There were several other doors, all leading to other rooms. We walked quietly down the hall, peaking into the rooms, but there was nothing.Then, suddenly, I heard the sound of a voice. “We won’t let you do this!”“Stella,” Cameron said, recognizing the voice. We all tore off down the hall towards the voice. I was in the lead and soon enough, we came t
Cassandra’s POV“I don’t understand,” I said, shaking my head. “If you planned it all out, then how did I end up in the right car?”“That’s what I’ve always wondered,” Ellie said, her jaw tight.I searched my mind, trying to remember that night, and slowly, the memories came back to me.Yes, I had been at the bar that night. I remembered because when I woke up the next morning to watch the news, Ellie’s car accident was the top story. Woman runs a red light. I could still see the headlines.I remembered it now because I’d thought, at the time: ‘I drove right down the same street as her accident, only ten minutes before her.’Ellie had blown right through a red light, t-boning an on-coming car and smashing into a cement wall. It was because her brakes had failed, I realized now.But as I’d sat there, watching the news story, my heart had hurt for her. Car accidents had always scared me and I hated hearing about them. The people that she’d t-boned had been okay. Ellie was not though, tha
Cassandra’s POV “Dillon!” I cried out. His face scanned the room, his eyes wild. Jordyn and Cameron both appeared behind him. “Cassandra,” he said, taking a step. But I stopped him. “Watch out. She has a gun,” I hollered. I had no idea how the men had found us. Cameron had tried to tail the black car, but it had lost him. I’d never been so relieved to see any one in my whole life though. However, my relief was short-lived. It quickly gave way to fear. “No,” I said, shaking my hand. “Get out of here. All of you!” I didn’t want them here. Ellie had a gun and she had completely lost her mind. I was terrified that seeing Jordyn, Cameron, and Dillon would set her off and she’d start firing at us. The men all whipped their heads towards Ellie. She was in the corner of the room, a shocked look on her face. “What the fuck?” she said. “How did you find us?” “That picture you sent of Stella bound t