Although it had not been that long since we last met, it felt like ages ago that the episode at his office unfolded. The man that I saw that day was different from the man that was standing before me now. He was confident yet receptive, angry but willing to listen, but today, he was none of those things. Today, he was cold. He had an invisible wall around himself beyond which nobody had any access.When I first walked into the room with Enzo, Calvin was already present there with his lawyer. I gave him a small nod of acknowledgement, but his face remained stoic. He revealed no feelings whatsoever, and that surprised me. I didn't understand what was in his head, but I decided to not pay much thought to it and just let the meeting begin. As both of our lawyers spoke to each other, I watched him closely and realized how well he was avoiding me. He wouldn’t once look into my eyes. It almost felt like he was punishing me for something, as though he had no remorse over
As I looked sideways, I realized that Enzo was equally astonished with what Calvin was saying. Safe to say, he didn’t see this coming either. “What do you mean?” He said, “You don't-“ “My client does not wish to speak about this any further.” Calvin’s lawyer spoke, “As he said, we will see you in court.” With that said, both the men walked out of the room, without Calvin as much as sparing a glance at me. Suddenly, everything went blank. My mind froze, and I couldn’t process anything. The room started spinning, and I felt dizzy. My heart pounded in my chest, then a high-pitched ringing took over.I felt Enzo tap my shoulder, but I couldn’t look at him. I was too disoriented to react. I realized I couldn’t breathe and started gasping for air.“Cassie!’ I heard Enzo’s alarmed voice. I tried to look at face, but the world before me quickly became dark. I felt myself losing balance, my feet turning to jelly. I expected to hit the ground, but something soft caught me. My waist and s
Cassie's POV "I'll get the car. Please wait here." Enzo said before leaving me in the parking lot. I was waiting for his car to arrive when I saw a black Audi come toward me. I recognized that car instantly. It belonged to Calvin! I decided to stop him. Suddenly, I stepped in front of it. Soon the car came to a halt. I walked to the driver's side as he brought the window down. "Cassie! What the hell are you doing? Get out of my path!" "Why are you doing this, Calvin? What is wrong with you?""I made a mistake when I married you, Cassie! You're so shameless and disgusting! I am correcting my mistake now. I should have never tied the knot with you!" "Wow, so you've directly sent me a divorce notice? And as if that wasn't enough, you're suing me for murder? Are you for real? You know I didn't kill her!" I screamed."You're insufferable! I don't know why I married you! How can you still lie about everything when the truth is out?" "What truth? You're being fed lies, Calvin! The tru
Enzo’s POVThe next morning, I didn’t catch sight of Cassie in the kitchen or the living room as I usually would.I cooked some breakfast for the both of us hoping that she would join me, but she remained inside her room. Realizing that she needed her time and space, I decided not to disturb her. Leaving her breakfast on the dining table, I left the house and headed to the office. I was going to have a tough and hectic day at work today, having to work with a short time frame to solve the case for Cassie. Her trial notice came out of the blue and I was rather unprepared. My prior commitments have demanded my attention at work. But ever since I reunited with Cassie, her matters have always been my top priority. As soon as I arrived at work, I called my associate Mark and asked him to come into my office. I’d already assigned him some work regarding the case yesterday night and asked him to take the help of a paralegal if he needed to for his research. Since Cassie couldn’t get any ev
Cassie’s POVI opened my email again. I realized that it was empty again. It was the fifth time that I was doing this today. And yet, I did not receive any email.I was waiting for an email from my dad. It had been weeks since I spoke to him. I had sent him countless emails in the meanwhile, expecting that he would reply to at least one, but he didn’t. He was busy with his treatment, but I couldn’t understand what could be so serious about his condition that he couldn’t even spare a second to talk to me.I was well aware that he was in touch with his legal team here as they ha
I widened my eyes. His interpretation took me aback. “That’s not true. You are my friend, and you have a place in my life. In fact, you have a very special place. But you can’t do everything for me.”“Why? We spoke about this so many times!" he said, "You’re the reason I’m alive. I am always indebted to you."“That’s not fair. You shouldn’t have to feel the obligation-” “But you are my friend, Cassie, and you mean a lot to me. I will help you if you’re in trouble. Just like you helped me in the past.”When he put it like that, I couldn't say anything. “Please let me do my job, Cassie. I won’t let anything happen to you. In fact, I come bearing good news.” Frowning, I wiped my tears away. Clearing my throat, I turned in my seat to face him properly. “What are you talking about?” “Our case.” He said, “We’ve found some great leads and we’ve spent the entire day following it, and we’ve managed to build a great case for tomorrow. Safe to say, you need not worry about anything. We’ve go
Calvin’s POVUpon Becky’s idea, I decided to come to this stupid pub. I was not even in the mood for it, but she forced me. She even invited my friends to come to the party so that I could have fun. But ever since I arrived, nothing has changed. I was still upset with everything that was happening around. Somehow, I couldn't keep my mind off the case tomorrow. I was anxious about it. “Calvin, come on!” My friend Jonathan said, “Why do you look like that? You’re finally going to get rid of your dumb wife. Aren’t you glad? You should be celebrating.” He was right. I should be celebrating, but I wasn’t. I was too sullen. Thank god, Becky wasn’t around, or else, she would have felt bad seeing me like this. She really wanted me to have fun today. “I don’t know, man. I can’t seem to have fun anymore.” “Well, look over there. There’s a hot chick right there. Maybe she can cheer you up?” Following his eyes, I looked toward the dance floor. I spotted the woman he was referring to but her
Cassie's POVThe atmosphere inside the court was cold and quiet. Despite the chilly weather, I could feel myself getting clammy in my palms, having to constantly wipe them clean against my pants. For the past half hour, Enzo and his associate Mark have been counselling me as to how to answer the attorney’s questions, and no matter what, I should not lie to make up for any slip of the tongue. “We have everything we need, and if we can keep the tide in our favour, there is no way we’re losing this case.” Enzo said, “Be confident, Cassie. You have done nothing wrong, so let the judge see that.” I kept repeating his words in my head until my thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the judge. As soon as my eyes recognized him, my breath hitched in my throat. Enzo didn’t miss my reaction to him, so he quickly turned toward me and asked, “What’s wrong?” “That man..” I said, “He’s George Halsted, right?” “Yes.” Enzo replied, “That’s the judge. What’s wrong?” “He.. he’s our biggest r
Cassie’s POV “The studio is fine,” Kelly said over the phone. “I just finished all the work and I’ll be heading home now. You sure you don’t want me to come over?” “I’m sure, Kelly. I can manage. I’m alright now.” I said, glancing at Enzo behind the wheel. “Listen, I’m almost home. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” “This is where you live?” He asked as he pulled up in front of my building. “Yeah, second floor.” I said, grabbing my back, “Thanks for the ride. I’ll see you-” “I’m coming up.” He said, eyeing my neighbours who just went inside. There lived three grad students in my building. They might seem problematic at first glance, but they were pretty harmless. Sure, they brought girls home and sometimes had parties till late in the night, but it was tolerable.“Enzo, those kids are nice.” “They look like they’re drunk.” He said. “Where do they live?” “On the first floor. They never bothered me.” “I’m still coming up.” Rolling my eyes, I said, “Fine.” As we went up, I could s
Cassie’s POVI watched as Enzo spoke to Kelly outside, looking quite furious. He was pacing about, occasionally stealing a glance at me. Kelly was made up to date with what happened when she arrived, but she was yet to talk to me. I knew that she wouldn’t have anything nice to say to me either. A knock came on the door. As it opened, a nurse came in with a form. “Hello Mrs Anderson.” She said, surprising me. “Here’s your form.” I frowned her, “I’m not Mrs. Anderson anymore.” “I’m sorry, that’s what it said on the insurance papers.” She said, looking at the form in her hand. “My bad, I’ll correct it right away.” “Where do I have to sign?” “Right here.” “Cassie!” Kelly walked in right then. “You won’t believe who I just saw.” “Excuse me.” The nurse said and walked out. “Who?” I asked, looking at Kelly. “Becky!” She said, “She came for her antenatal check up. I could see a little bulge there, Cassie!”“Wow, so she wasn’t lying about her pregnancy.” I said, snickering. “Good t
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’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
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
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
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
“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
“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