Chapter 2

Cassie woke up with a banging headache. Her eyes fluttered open and she blinked repeatedly to get used to the light from the sunlight that was streaming steadily into the room. She looked around with total confusion until she felt someone breathing next to her. She turned around and was shocked to see a man sleeping next to her. She was frozen in the spot until distorted images from the previous night appeared in her head. She remembered haphazardly going to meet a stranger last night in his private booth and asking him to hook up with her. She looked at her clothes that were strewn around the room.

Shit!, she cursed in her head.

The man stirred in his sleep and Cassie froze, her heart beating rapidly, silently praying that he wouldn't wake up now. She would much prefer not to do the whole awkward morning talk that followed a hook-up. Thankfully, his breathing evened out as he continued to sleep. She breathed a sigh of relief and slowly got out of bed, careful not to wake him. She picked up her clothes and hurried into the bathroom to put them on. When she was done wearing her clothes, she peeped out of the bathroom and was relieved to see that he was still asleep. She tiptoed back into the room, picked up her purse and shoes, and slowly tiptoed out of the room. Once she locked the door behind her, she heaved a huge sigh of relief. She brought out her glasses and put them on then she began her walk of shame out of the hotel.

Forty Five minutes later.

Cassie turned off the engine of her car and got out. As she walked towards the entrance of her family's house, her head banging intensely, she mentally scolded herself for drinking too much the previous night.

What the hell was she thinking? Not only did she have a bad hangover now, she couldn't believe she had hooked up with a random stranger in a bar. She should be more careful than that, smarter than that. What if he ended up blackmailing her? she wondered. But he didn't seem like that kind of person, she thought as she distortedly remembered the stranger in a suit. How would you know? Is it written on the forehead? A small voice asked in her head and Cassie groaned in frustration.

It didn't matter anyway. She had left before he woke up. Her car was still at the bar which meant they had driven to the hotel in his car. And she checked her purse thoroughly on her way home, nothing was missing. Hopefully, that was the end of it and this would just be one crazy experience shelved away. One crazy good experience, she didn't have all her memories from the previous night but from what she could remember he was good, really good. Cassie blushed at the thought.

She walked into the living room to find Elizabeth and Carter sitting there as well as her mother. Elizabeth immediately stood up when she noticed her coming in. Cassie's mood changed entirely. She had been so focused on her one-night stand problem that she had forgotten about the main problem, the reason she had gone to the bar last night, her cheating fiance, Carter, and her backstabbing sister, Elizabeth.

"Cassie, where were you? We were so worried", Elizabeth said with a concerned expression except Cassie was ninety percent sure it was fake. Her gaze moved from Elizabeth to Carter and then to her mother who was watching quietly from the couch. She wanted so badly to give them a piece of her mind but she decided not to. Her hangover was killing her plus she had already said a lot yesterday when she caught them, she would just have to make do with ignoring them. She began to walk towards the stairs to go to her room when,

"Your father wants to speak to you", her mother said and Cassie froze.

It was never a good thing when her father wanted to speak to her. Despite her hangover and her intense headache, Cassie changed direction and headed for her father's study instead. When she got there, she knocked softly on the door.

"Come in", her father said from inside.

Cassie took in a deep breath and walked in.

She closed the door carefully behind her and stood in the room, hands folded behind her back.

"You wanted to see me, Father", Cassie said.

"Hm", her father grunted as he read through the file in his hand while Cassie stood waiting for him.

After a few minutes, he put down the file and looked up at Cassie

"Elizabeth and Carter are getting married", her and Cassie's eyes widened in surprise.

She stared at her father.

"And just like that? You are going to let them?", she asked.

"Is there a valid reason why I shouldn't", he asked her and Cassie scoffed in disbelief.

"Up until yesterday he was my fiance", she told him.

"He has been cheating on me for God knows how long with Elizabeth, my sister. Does that not repulse you?", she asked him.

"That is between the three of you, it is none of my business", her father said simply and Cassie scoffed.

"Of course, it isn't", she said sarcastically.

"And it is certainly not why I called you here", he added.

"Then why did you call me here?", she asked in a defeated tone, she was tired, and her headache was getting worse by the second, she just wanted to return to her room and sleep it off

"The Iveas project", he began as he looked intensely at her and Cassie's heart skipped a beat.

"I'm giving it to Elizabeth", he said finally.

Cassie's heart stopped beating for a second, there was a high-pitched ringing sound in her ears.

"What?", she muttered.

Her father didn't say anything.

"But that is my project!", she protested.

"It was yours while you were still engaged to Carter. The Rivera family is the key to the Iveas project, it only makes sense that it should be handled by who is engaged to one of their own, no?", he said coolly.

"You can't do that! That is my project, I worked so hard to build it to where it is right now and Elizabeth can't handle it, you and I both know she's not that capable", she snapped.

Her father shrugged.

"If you wanted to keep the project that badly, I would have thought that you would have worked hard to keep your relationship", he said coolly.

"Talk about capability", he added as he picked up another file and began to flip through it.

Cassie bit her lips. Her father's words hurt but she knew the kind of games her father liked to play.

"What do I need to do?", she asked.

Her father looked up at her.

"If I want to keep the Iveas project. What do I need to do to prove to you that I can handle it?", she asked.

He dropped the file and stared intensely at her, Cassie stared back at him, not backing. After a few minutes, he nodded as if satisfied.

He pulled out a file from the drawer and gave it to her. She took it from him and opened it.

"What is this?", she asked as she flipped through the pages.

"That is a multi-million deal going in auction", he answered.

Cassie looked at the head title of the file and she looked at her father.

"You want me to cinch the SCB deal?", she asked, her eyes widened in surprise.

"This is a huge deal, a lot of big companies will be vying for it", she told him.

"Indeed they will be. But you need not worry much about them, the only company you need to worry about is Turner Enterprises", her father told her.

"Because make no mistake, alongside working to get the deal, Damon Turner will be working overtime to make sure we don't get it like us", he said.

Cassie looked at him. Turner Enterprises was their company's biggest competitor and her father considered the owner, Turner, his biggest rival.

"But-", she protested.

"You want to prove that you can handle the Iveas project without the support of the Rivera family? Cinch this deal for us and I'll know you can", he interrupted her.

Cassie stared at the file, contemplating.

"And whatever you do don't forget, this deal is not to fall to in the hands of Damon Turner, ever”