Chapter 7: Things Fall Apart

Maxian was furious, especially when his business partners contacted him and questioned him about the new engagement invitations they had received. But worry dominated his feelings. Maxian knew that Casandra loved Alaric despite his wild behavior. And surely Casandra wasn't doing well, and he wasn't around when his younger sister needed someone.

“I'm not concerned about Alaric and Cassandra's broken engagement. But why would he send out new engagement invitations to all my business associates and friends who have absolutely nothing to do with Alaric?” Maxian looked at the scene outside with an overwhelming feeling of anger mixed with shame, because Alaric's behavior seemed to emphasize that he wanted to humiliate his family.

Maxian glanced at his secretary as he entered his office and then said, “Mr. Director, the meeting will begin in thirty minutes.”

“I'll be there soon. I don't want to miss any important points at this meeting. All meeting summaries must be in my e-mail before eight in the evening,” Maxian said, receiving a nod from his secretary. Just as the secretary turned around, Maxian interrupted him. “Clear my schedule tomorrow because I have to attend the divorce hearing.” He only hoped that Cassandra would be able to control her emotions until after the meeting and not make any reckless moves.

The secretary nodded stiffly, even though he wanted to scream in annoyance. After that, he had to be prepared to work overtime to change Maxian's schedule and to be scolded by the investors who had previously promised to make a project price deal with Maxian.

***

As usual, Selene would never shut up when it came to Cassandra. She was quite satisfied that she had succeeded in getting the common people to vilify Cassandra and accuse her of just hitching a ride on the big name of the Alaric family.

“Looks like you weren't satisfied enough to pay people to write bad articles about me. And now you shamelessly barge into my boutique in the middle of the day. What else are you looking for, Selene?” asked Cassandra, watching her ex-friend's casual behavior as if she had committed no crime.

“Don't you know I don't have enough money to live a glamorous life? Where am I going to pay people to write bad articles about you? You are not the center of the universe, Cassandra.” Selene put on a pathetic expression, but it seemed so phony to Cassandra.

“The usual victim act. Very classless.” Cassandra gave a small smile as she shook her head slightly.

Her instincts told her that it was definitely Selene's doing, because she was the one person who had always loved to meddle in her personal life. After all, her business rival in the fashion world couldn't possibly create a cheap story about her romantic relationships with men.

Selene could not stand Cassandra's superior attitude. Her thin, red lipstick-polished lips smiled, and she took something out of her bag. “I have something for you.”

Her blood boiled when she saw the name engraved on the gold paper. Cassandra tried to normalize her expression and took the invitation Selene had given her.

Her light-brown eyes glazed over as she read the lines on Selene and Alaric's engagement announcement. Her hands clenched into tight fists, as if to vent her growing anger.

Cassandra knew that her engagement to Alaric would be cancelled. However, she had no idea that her ex-boyfriend would hold his event in the same place, on the same day, and using her design.

A wicked smile spread across Selene's face as she saw the look of sadness on Cassandra's face. To bring Cassandra down mentally and destroy her happiness was Selene's main goal: to take everything that was hers. 

In the past, Cassandra had often talked about how much she loved Alaric and hoped that the relationship would last. So it was useless for Cassandra to hide her sadness behind a flat expression, because Selene was sure that she knew everything about her.

“I'm here to give you an invitation to my engagement. It doesn't matter if you can't make it, we'll have the ceremony anyway.” Selene sipped the hot tea slowly, her eyes fixed on Cassandra.

“Who says I'm not coming to your happy day with Alaric? Don't worry, I'll be there with that expensive gift you've been dreaming about.” Cassandra smiled slightly and threw the invitation on the table.

Selene's chest felt heavy as a pile of emotions rushed through her. She thought she'd see a scene of Cassandra crying over Alaric's engagement news today, but what she got was the opposite. “You don't have to force yourself to come to our engagement if you can't.”

Cassandra's laughter erupted at Selene's words, which sounded funny to her ears. Meanwhile, Selene was about to explode, but she held back for the sake of her good public image. Cassandra's boutique was well known among socialites, so there was no way she was going to scream in anger in a place that was like a cage for high-class lions.

“Are you drunk, Selene? You think I'm going to go after Alaric when he cheated on me and lied to me? Sorry, there are so many great guys who want me,” Cassandra said as she wiped tears from her eyes from laughing too hard. The sound of her laughter slowly faded as she controlled her emotions.

Selene chuckled rudely; once again, the blonde in front of her was playing the part. But it wouldn't be Selene if she couldn't turn a situation around with her masterful manipulation techniques.

“Your mouth may lie, but not your heart. In fact, you're still stuck in the same cycle. You still love Alaric, which is why you went to his daddy to get access to his life. It's like every disgusting thing in the world looks good compared to you, Cassandra!” Selene shouted in a high voice as she rose from her seat. 

Before she left, she took the time to look at Cassandra's blank stare. She felt victorious, she felt great, and she felt that luck was on her side this time.

Cassandra tried to stop her tears, but Selene's words hit her. On the other hand, Cassandra didn't know how to explain to Maxian about her broken engagement.

She became more and more angry because her smart brain didn't work properly at such a time, and instead she acted cowardly by ignoring Maxian's phone call.

The only good friend she had betrayed her, and then the man she loved hurt her deeply. Cassandra only had Maxian in this world. It felt like a sin to add another burden to her brother's life.

“Maybe he's the only one who can help me,” Cassandra muttered, panic filling her. 

She pressed the call button with a trembling hand to reach out to someone she had been close to recently. It didn't take long for the line to connect and the heavy voice on the other end managed to calm her down a bit.

“Send me your location now,” Caspian said before Cassandra.

Cassandra swallowed hard as she heard the angry tone of his voice. She was sure that Caspian already knew the topic of the day.

“You remember the location of my boutique, right? I was trapped and couldn't get out freely because many reporters arrived at my boutique,” Cassandra replied quickly, her voice shaking. 

She stared at the outside, which was beginning to fill with reporters and all the interview equipment in their hands. This was the first time in her life that she felt so much pressure, and it was because of her ex- best friend.

Caspian's breathing sounded heavy. “I've ordered my people to take down the news about you. Close your boutique early, send the employees home, and have a security guard there for 24 hours. There's no need to panic, Cassandra. I'm on my way to your boutique.”