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CHAPTER 20
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Mine to Lose CHAPTER 21
Athena's POVHarold is already waiting for us at the curb. Cassian and I slip into the back seat of the car, and I instruct Harold to take us home.Cassian greets Harold with a polite nod and a “Hello,” before settling next to me. As the car pulls away from the event, a heavy silence fills the space between us. We exchange fleeting, intimate glances, our eyes speaking volumes in the silence.The drive feels like the perfect nature of tranquility amid the chaos of the evening. We sit side by side, our hands brushing occasionally, each touch a silent reassurance. Though we don’t say much, the connection between us is palpable, filling the silence with its own kind of intensity.By the time reached the front of my building I felt so anxious it was hard to breathe, I did my best to climb out of the car without falling on my ass. It was simple enough, though with the compounding factors of the uneven gravel and the starlit darkness—plus the painful clench of my inner muscles—I held on to t
Mine to Lose CHAPTER 22
Athena's POVI wake up to the sound of the home assistant coming in, I had fallen asleep last night after bing watching schitts creek on the couch. “Sorry Miss Castellanos I didn’t see you there,” she apologizes. “Its fine, can you make me a cup of coffee please.” I say getting up.I pull my phone off the coffee table, scrolling through my contacts until I find Hailee’s name. I dial her number, my mind still reeling from the yesterday’s events. After a few rings, she picks up.“Hey, Athena! How’s it going? Did everything go alright at the auction?” Her voice is bright and upbeat.I take a deep breath, trying to steady my voice. “Hailee, you won’t believe what happened tonight.”“What happened?” She asks, her tone immediately shifting to concern.I launch into a detailed account of the evening, starting with my initial distress, the confrontation with my father, and then the surprising twist of Cassian's unexpected appearance. “I just— I lost it. I told him that Cassian and I are engag
Mine to Lose CHAPTER 23
Athena's POVWhen I arrive at Cassian's loft, Hailee looks surprised to see me. “He’s upstairs in his studio,” she says. I head up the stairs and find the door to his studio open, so I don’t need to knock. Cassian doesn’t hear me come in; he’s engrossed in painting with his AirPods on. I could watch him all day—he looks so perfect, so absorbed in his work.I stand there for a few more minutes until he glances up and his face lights up with a deep, genuine smile. The happiness in his eyes makes my heart flutter.“Hey, sorry, I didn’t hear you come in,” he says, setting down his paintbrush and removing his AirPods.“You looked so engrossed, I didn’t want to interrupt,” I reply, pointing at his painting. “What are you working on?”“You’ll see it when I’m done,” he says, his smile widening.Just then, a woman with a thick French accent walks out of the bathroom in a towel that barely covers her. I remember her, she was with him at the auction. My stomach drops and I feel a wave of nausea.
Mine to Lose CHAPTER 24
Athena's POVWhen we arrive at my parents' house, my anxiety peaks to the point where I feel like I might throw up.“Hey, hey, you’re okay. Everything is fine. I’m here, and I’m not leaving you alone,” Cassian says reassuringly until my breathing steadies.As we get out of the car, I notice Cassian holding a bouquet of white roses—my mother’s favorite—and a bottle of bourbon—my father’s favorite. I can’t help but smile as I watch him. “I told you not to bring anything,” I say, but he just smiles back.“I can’t show up to my in-laws empty-handed,” he replies, just as Melinda, the housekeeper, opens the door with a bright smile.“Miss Castellanos,” she greets me warmly, then looks up at Cassian, standing beside me. “Hello,” she says, and Cassian returns her greeting with a friendly smile.“Where are they?” I ask as we enter the house.“In the living room,” Melinda responds. “I thought it was just you,” she adds. “Let me add a place at the table,” she says with a smile.Just then, my mot
Mine to Lose CHAPTER 25
Athena's POVOnce we had driven away, I glanced over at Cassian, who sat beside me, watching me intently. I wanted to apologize for kissing him—we had agreed to be platonic friends, in fact, I had suggested it myself—but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.“So, do you know why the Covingtons and the Castellanos hate each other?” Cassian broke the silence.“I thought you would know,” I replied. “I tried asking my parents, but they wouldn’t tell me anything.”“I don’t know either,” Cassian said. “It goes back to our great-grandparents, though.”“Yeah, I think so,” I agreed with a nod.“Do you want to find out?” Cassian asked.“Are you kidding? Of course,” I said.“Okay, good. I know where we should look,” Cassian said. He then instructed the driver to take us somewhere.A few minutes later, we were in the Upper East Side, parked at the curb of a grand building. Cassian grabbed the food takeaway bags while the driver opened the door for us.“We can eat as we look,” Cassian said as w
Mine to Lose CHAPTER 26
Athena's POVI arrived at work early, eager to get the meeting I had asked Pamela, my P.A., to move up so I could get it out of the way. The plan was simple: handle business, then move on with my day. But as I walked into my office, I stopped in my tracks.My father was sitting there, waiting for me.“Daddy, good morning,” I said, forcing a smile, pretending everything was fine, as if we hadn’t had a huge argument last night.“So, you're talking to me now?” he asked, his voice calm but sharp as he handed me a cup of coffee.“If you're here to tell me to break up with Cassian, it's not happening,” I said firmly, my fingers instinctively brushing the engagement ring on my finger. The ring that Cassian had given me.His eyes followed the motion, a frown creeping across his face before he forced a smile. "Actually, I'm here to say that if you want to be with the Covington boy, I won't stop you."“What?” I asked, confused by the sudden shift.“Yeah.” He smiled again, but it didn’t reach hi
Mine to Lose CHAPTER 1
Athena's POVI have to be constantly obsessed with something, whether it's a person, a tv show, music or a book otherwise I feel no drive to live. Honestly it keeps me going.Today is one of those days, I feel no drive to live not that I want to die. I just don't feel any motivation to be alive.I turned 18 today. It's something to be excited about. I woke up excited. But my mood just went from a 100 to a 5 in a space of 5 minutes.I spent the first part of my day with my friends celebrating, and now here I am outside Nicky's beach house alone and cold wondering how everything went downhill.I might sound insane saying this but I have in love with Nicholas since first grade when he asked me for my KitKat during recess.I wasn't allowed to date during high school my dad being the overprotective dad that he is but that didn't stop me from having a secret relationship with Nicky.Oh and by the way our famlies hate each other, so definately a secret relationship.He has been my best frien
Mine to Lose CHAPTER 2
5 YEARS LATER....Athena's POVAlot of 23 year olds like me don't know what to do with their lives and I think that's okay, 23 is still very young. My parents though, seem to judge me on it which is why immediately after I graduated from college and after my masters over a year ago I ran away to Europe. On the pretense working with my aunt on various charitable and NGOs she works with, I did work a little but also spent most of my time traveling. My Aunt Iris is my Father's step sister. But now I'm back. On the request of my father. "Athena," he said my name sternly when I received his call almost 2 months ago. "When are you coming back home? Haven't you spent enough time gallivanting around Europe and spending my money." It's his money when I'm doing something he doesn't approve but if it's something he approves it's our money, 'my legacy' he calls it. Also I got a huge sizable trust from grandfather which i won't be able to access till I turn 25 which I can't wait to access so I
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