“Here you go.” Mr Lee handed me a cup of black coffee as per my wish.
I gave him a grateful smile. Behind him, the morning sun was glaring into my eyes but it felt rather relieving to be basking in its rays.
“You look tired, Miss Harper.” Mr Lee said, “Rough night?”
Right then, Enzo placed his breakfast tray beside mine on the table and took a seat. My face reddened, and I meekly nodded.
“I guess I’m just tired. Can’t wait to go back home.”
“When is your flight?”
“In four hours.”
I anxiously waited in the living room of what was once my home.I could hear my mother and sister approaching then, and as I looked up they were taking a seat in front of me. I could sense a familiar resentment in Liza’s eyes.“What’s the matter?” I asked, “Why am I here, mom?”She smirked, “Your father is back in town, Cassie.” She said, “And looks like he wants to meet you.”I was taken with surprise. It had been ages since I last saw my father, and I was yearning for it more than anything.“Really?” I sighed out in disbelief, “Mom, that’s suc
“What the hell, Mom.” I said, “You cannot give me an ultimatum like that.”“Well, call it what you want, dear. I don’t care.” She said, “All I know is that you need to make a choice. Are you going to choose Enzo or are you going to choose your father?”Suddenly, angry tears brimmed in my eyes. I could not help but hate my mother for saying those words. For forcing me to choose between two people I cared immensely about.“You’re a cruel woman.” I said, “No mother would do this to her child.”“That’s true.” She said, “That’s why I’m doing this to you. After all, you are not my child
“I said I love you. I always have.”Was I hearing him right? Did he just say that he… loved me? It was futile to hold back my tears now. They were streaming past my cheek in anger.Why was this happening now? Just when I thought I could be happy again, everything was being taken away from me!“No, you don’t.” I said, turning away from him. “Don’t say that.”“I can’t lie about my feelings, Cassie.”“Don’t make this any harder than it is.” A sob coming out of my mouth.I could feel my he
Two months laterI ran my eyes over my studio, a relieved smile playing over my lips. After weeks of hard work, my art studio was launched and slowly picking up. For now, there were just two people running it, me and my friend, Kelly. But I was sure that we would slowly expand. “Hey, Kelly.” I said, “Any appointments for me?” She quickly folded the newspapers that she was reading and hid it under the desk. Giving me a smile, she said, “No. You’re free today.” “Wow, first time in ages right?” I said, “Why don’t you see the guests who have just arrived? I’ll sit at the reception.” “Sure. You got it. Shall I get you some coffee to kick start the day?” “No, thanks. I just had it.”As soon as Kelly was out of my sight, I carefully pulled the newspaper. The headlines on the front page caught my attention. ‘The city’s most eligible bachelor spotted with his girlfriend. Are things heating up?’ It wasn't the text but the picture below it that made my heart skip a beat. I closely watched
Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at me. She was trapped now. “Hello, mom.” I said with bitterness, “I hope you’ve been well.” “What are you doing here?” She asked, her tone stern. “Why, I’m just here to talk to you regarding our arrangement. You’ve been ignoring me for the past few weeks, conveniently forgetting to fulfill your end of the bargain.”She rolled her eyes at me, “That was for a reason.” “Oh, yes? What reason could you have for keeping me from meeting dad?” I said, “I did everything you told me. I broke Enzo’s heart and left him. I even left my job and started a new life. I have done everything you asked me to do.” “You’re finally doing something good,” She said, “Now don’t expect any rewards for that.” My mouth fell open in surprise. “Wow, you have some nerve saying that.” I said, “I only did what I had to do because I wanted to see dad, not because it was the right thing. So you better be grateful for that and let me know when you will let me see dad. You
Enzo’s POV“Mr De Luca, Miss Liza is asking for an appointment with you. Shall I schedule it for tomorrow evening?”I groaned as I heard my assistant’s words on the intercom. Fucking Liza. Ever since Cassie moved out my house, Liza would not let me take a breather. She was around me the entire time, begging me to take her back. She was so persistent that even the paps have noticed it and are writing long columns in the news that we might be together.“No, tell her I’m not free.”“Mr Deluca, she will not listen to me. She is already very angry with me.”I frowned, “Why
Enzo’s POVHospitals.I hated them.I hated the smell of it. The people in it. Most of all, I hated the waiting room.I got here twenty minutes ago, but there was still no update about Cassie. The suspense was killing me. I knew she was not in danger, but why was she rushed here? What could have gone wrong?Just as I was about to lose my patience, a female doctor walked into the room. She ran her eyes over the crowd, and as I got up, she realized that she was looking for me.“Mr De Luca?” She said as she approached me. The doctor seemed to be in her forties
Cassie’s POVI did not expect that I would be seeing Enzo so soon.In fact, I was barely making peace with the fact that he was out of my life forever. So seeing him in a hospital right now ought to feel better, but it wasn’t. He looked pale, as though life was sucked out of him.I was sleeping on the bed when he walked into the room. He was the same man who loved me, but so much changed in the past few weeks that I felt like I no longer knew him.I wondered if he even wanted to be here.“Hi, Enzo.” I said, my voice broken. “Come on, in.”He closed the door
Enzo watched me as I got ready for work.It was my first day back at the office and I couldn’t be more relieved. To say the past few days have been difficult would be an understatement. I needed a distraction from everything, and what was better than going to the office? With Enzo unemployed, I had to make sure that I could put some bread on the table. Although my grandparents have been continuously calling me, offering me help, or in their words - letting me have what was mine, I simply could not let them. That would be the last straw for Enzo. He was already beating himself up as he saw me working day and night to make ends meet. “Did you speak to that friend of yours you were talking about?” I said, “The lawyer. He was offering you a job, wasn’t he?” “I lost my license to practice, Cassie.” He said, “I can’t practice law anywhere else.” I turned around, puzzled. “But Raymond told me that he offered you a position of a legal advisor. You can’t be an member of the bar, but surel
On Monday, all our boxes were packed and shifted to transport. I cast one last glance at our house. I remember the time I first moved in when Enzo gave me the freedom to redo the entire apartment. I was so overjoyed and spent an entire day working on it. And now, as I watched them tear down and remove everything we had in there, I could feel my heart break. I could only imagine what Enzo must be going through. Enzo refused to stay for the final take over of the house. He left downstairs with Emmy while I waited upstairs to finish all the formalities and paperwork. Once I was done, I went down to join them. “It’s done.” Enzo nodded, “What’s the plan now?” He asked, “We could… go to a hotel.” “No.” I said, holding his hand, “Come with me.” We loaded our luggage into a cab and got in. Once I gave him the address, Enzo frowned at me, “Where are we going?” “I got us a house last week.” I said, “We’ll be staying there from now on.” “A house?” He asked. “Where?” “In Brooklyn.” “How
I anxiously waited outside the conference room. Enzo was in there talking to all of his clients in an attempt to explain to them that this was not his doing. Raymond was out here with me, pacing around the room. For the past few days, Raymond has been a tremendous help to us. Since Enzo was not in the right position to take care of everything, he stepped in to do all the negotiations. Today was the day that would decide our fate. Although I knew what was coming for us, I couldn’t help but hope that something miraculous would happen today and turn the odds in our favor. And then finally, Enzo came out. And his expression revealed that the meeting didn’t go well. “They’re taking everything.” He said, “Every single penny I own.” My heart sank. “Is there no other way?” “The clients think I betrayed their trust, so they’re seeking a higher compensation.” He said, “And since they’re doing me a favor by not pursuing this criminally, my lawyer thinks I should settle.” Criminally? Oh, G
“Who did it?” I asked, treading him carefully. In all these years of knowing him, I never saw him like this. This broken. This helpless. Enzo built that firm with his own blood and sweat. It was everything to him, and to have it all be taken away - it was a nightmare for me. Suddenly, I was enraged. The mere thought of Trent Dalton was making me shake with anger. But I knew that this was not entirely his doing. To pull off something like this, he needed someone on the inside, a mole, to give away such sensitive information. If the transactions are portrayed to be made by Enzo, then it must be an insider that had access to such sensitive information. “I don’t know.” Enzo said, “Whoever it was, they altered the firm’s accounting software to move client funds, trust funds, into my personal account. I had no idea of this, and nor did I receive any messages from the banks regarding giant transactions. Trent must have paid them to be silent as well.” “If they could get into accounting
“How old is your baby?” The nurse asked as she handed a crying Emmy back to me. “Four months now.” I sighed, patting her. “Oh, Emmy. Calm down. It’s over, isn’t it?”She just received her vaccine shot and came out of the doctor’s office bawling her eyes out. “She’s so adorable.” She mused, handing me my file. “I would agree but she’s throwing too many tantrums lately.” I said, “She could be a handful when she wants to.” “I wish I could say it gets better but it truly doesn’t.” She laughed, “But that’s what we signed up for, right?” “Yes.” I said, kissing my daughter’s tear stained cheek. “Let’s go home, shall we? Daddy’s waiting for us in the car.” Emmy just replied with another sob, burying her face in my neck. As we went out, I spotted Enzo’s car in the parking lot and headed toward it. I quickly got in. “These vaccination visits are so difficult.” I said, as I closed the car door. “I just can’t see Emmy crying so much. I just walked out of the doctor’s office today, can you
After the party, Enzo, Emmy, Sara and I headed back home. Sara was shook from the entire episode that played out and remained silent the entire journey home. As we went in, I looked at her. “Take the guest room. You can rest there.” She didn’t move an inch until Enzo looked at her. And then, she said, “I can’t live here.” She sighed, “I… I can’t… I don’t want to be a burden on anyone.” “Sara, you’re not a burden.” I protested, patting a sleeping Emmy on my chest. “I will be if we continue this arrangement.” She said, “I don’t want-” “How about this?” Enzo intervened, “I’ll give you a house. It’s right by your workplace. That way you won’t have to live with us, nor with your scum of a dad.” “A house?” She said, “I’m sure I can’t afford the rent.” “You can live there for free.” He said, “I just… I don’t ever want you to go back to that house.” Sara stared at him for a long while, as though she was trying to figure him out. “Why are you doing this?” “What?” “You didn’t even wa
Enzo looked at me and then back at the crowd, and then finally, a grin broke out on his face. “Wow.” he said, running his eyes over everyone. “That’s… my friends from college and my… how did you get them all together?” I shrugged, “After a month of thorough planning.” “I can’t believe you did this.” He said, “This is brilliant. Thank you so much, Cassie.” “You’re welcome.” I smiled. ”Now, let’s go.”One by one, Enzo’f friends and colleagues came up to him to meet him, but my eyes were looking for Sara. I found her at the far end by the bar, enjoying a drink with Mark, but her eyes were set on Enzo. She deserved to be here with us. “Oh, Emmy.” I heard Kelly’s voice coming from my side, distracting. I grinned as Emmy effortlessly slipped from my arms into hers. “Look at her, she looks like a darling.” She then looked toward, impressed, “Cassie, I must say. You completely transformed this place. Well done.” “Sara was of tremendous help, really.” I said, “I could not have done thi
Enzo’s POV I felt a small nudge on my stomach as I woke up. Assuming it to be Cassie’s limb, I ignored it. However, the nudge soon tickled it and then I felt something wet. My eyes opened to look at Emmy crawling on my chest, trying to bite my skin. A smile tugged at my lips upon the sight of her adorable face. Picking her up to my face, I placed a kiss on her cheek. “How did you come here, darling?” I mumbled as I shifted to my side. And right then, I saw it. A small cupcake was resting on the bed with a note that read: Happy Birthday Daddy. I widened my eyes in surprise and grabbed my phone to check the date. Damn. I really lost track of time. “Happy birthday, baby.” Cassie grinned, leaning down to kiss me on the lips. “First birthday with our daughter, aren’t you thrilled?” “Absolutely,” I said as I watched Emmy. She was making weird, excited noises now, eyeing the cupcake. Her hands were reaching out toward it, and I scraped off the frosting on top to place it on her lips.
As I went back home, I wondered what all of that was about. The man seemed weird, but should I tell Enzo? I was worried that he was already so stressed with everything at work. I was sure he would be overthinking with this even more. The last thing I wanted was to burden him, so I guess I would have to keep this one to myself. What Kent Rover said could’ve been a result of a massive ego hurt and nothing at all. In that case, there was no reason to alert Enzo. If he approached me again, then I would talk to Enzo about it. As I went home, I found Sara and Emmy playing in the living room as usual. However, what was strange was that Mark, Enzo’s associate, was added to the mix. And from the way Sara was laughing at whatever he had to say, I could tell that they were having a rather good time. “Hello.” I said as I walked in, “Didn’t expect you here, Mark.” He gave me a casual smile as he looked at me. “I’m sorry. I’m running errands for your fiance, please don’t mind.” “Not at all.”