Chapter 6 -

The morning sun streamed through the tinted windows of Cassie's Jeep Wrangler as she pulled into the circular drive of the Hunter Estate, the engine's rumble dying to silence as she cut the ignition.

The manicured lawns stretched endlessly before her, dotted with marble fountains that caught the early light like scattered diamonds. Ancient oak trees lined the cobblestone pathway to the mansion's grand entrance, their branches swaying gently in the Cape Town breeze. It was a picture of old-world elegance, the kind of wealth that whispered rather than shouted yet today, it felt like a cage closing around her.

She sat for a moment in the leather driver's seat, her hands still gripping the steering wheel as memories of the previous night crashed over her in waves. Greyson's penthouse. The way he'd looked at her across the dimly lit living room, amber eyes dark with want and something deeper something that had made her pulse race and her carefully constructed walls tremble. They'd been so close to crossing that invisible line they'd been dancing around for years, so close she could still taste the ghost of what might have been on her lips.

Morning had come, as it always did, bringing with it the harsh light of reality. She was still engaged still trapped in a relationship that felt more like a prison sentence, still bound by expectations and Jake's increasingly volatile demands that felt heavier than chains.

The engagement ring sat heavy on her finger, the massive diamond that had once symbolized hope now feeling like a shackle. Jake Turner's lawyers were pressing for a quick wedding date, of course, knowing that once they were legally bound, her family's fortune would be within his reach. They knew as well as she did that time was money, and Jake was hemorrhaging both with each passing day of negative publicity surrounding his failing tech startup and the whispers about his gambling debts.

Cassie finally stepped out of the Jeep,as she approached the towering front doors she took a deep breath. The estate's head of security, Harris, gave her a subtle nod from his position near the entrance. At forty-five, he was built like a fortress with broad shoulders, weathered face, and eyes that missed nothing. He'd been with the Hunter family for over a decade, loyal to her father Logan first, and by extension, to her.

"Morning, Miss Hunter," he said quietly, his South African accent barely perceptible after years of working for the international elite.

"Just Cassie," she said softly.

Harris's expression softened almost imperceptibly. "Of course, Miss Cassie. Your... fiancé is in the study. Has been since dawn, from what the staff tells me. And he's been drinking."

The way he said 'fiancé' made it clear exactly what he thought of Jake Turner. Harris had seen too much, heard too much through these walls to maintain any illusions about the man Cassie was supposed to marry. The panic button Cassie wore as a pendant around her neck was his idea—a discreet safety measure that would alert security instantly if activated.

She squared her shoulders and pushed through the massive oak doors into the grand foyer. The space soared three stories above her, a crystal chandelier the size of a small car casting rainbow prisms across the marble floors. Family portraits lined the walls generations of Hunters staring down with painted eyes that had witnessed centuries of triumph and scandal.

She barely made it past the antique console table before Jake's voice cut through the quiet like a blade.

"Finally decided to come home huh?"

Cassie turned slowly, taking her time, refusing to be rushed by his tone. He stood in the doorway of the study, one shoulder leaning against the mahogany frame with studied casualness. His once-tailored suit was wrinkled, the shirt untucked, tie hanging loosely around his neck. At thirty-four, Jake Turner had once been the golden boy of Cape Town's tech scene—handsome, ambitious, with the kind of charm that opened doors and bank accounts. But failure had a way of stripping away veneer, revealing the weak, desperate man underneath.

The scent of bourbon clung to him like a second skin, sweet and cloying even at this early hour. His sandy brown hair was disheveled despite obvious attempts to style it, and his green eyes once bright with ambition now held nothing but resentment and barely controlled rage.

"I don't answer to you,"

she said, her voice cool as winter morning fog.

"We're not married yet."

Jake's lip curled in what might have been a smile if it had contained even a trace of warmth.

"Yet being the operative word."

He pushed off from the doorframe and stepped closer, his movements slightly unsteady. His voice dropped to a hiss that raised the fine hairs on her arms.

"You're mine, Cassie. Promised to me. And I don't share what's mine."

The words hit her like a physical blow, carrying with them the weight of two years of systematic degradation. Two years of being told she was too naive, too trusting, too everything and not enough of anything else. Two years of walking on eggshells around his moods, measuring her words and watching her tone, accommodating his rages and his endless need to control every aspect of her existence.

Something had shifted in her during those hours at Greyson penthouse. Something fundamental and irreversible. Maybe it was the way he'd looked at her and really looked at her as if she were precious and powerful and worthy of love. Maybe it was simply that she'd remembered, for a few stolen hours, who she used to be before she'd tried to shrink herself small enough to fit into Jake's version of the perfect fiancée.

Cassie lifted her chin, meeting his gaze without flinching.

"I belong to myself. I always have."

The change in his expression was instantaneous and terrifying. The thin veneer of civilized control cracked, revealing something feral underneath. His nostrils flared, his hands clenching into fists at his sides, and for a moment he looked capable of anything.

"Get out."

The words came out flat and final, but Cassie felt something bubbling up in her chest something that might have been laughter if it weren't so bitter. The absurdity of it all hit her at once: this man, standing in her family's home, trying to throw her out like she was some unwanted guest rather than the woman whose trust fund had kept his failing business ventures afloat for months.

She laughedncold, sharp, the sound echoing off the high ceilings.

"You don't get to throw me out of my own house."

"Your house?"

Jake's voice rose, the careful control finally snapping.

"Your precious daddy's house, you mean. Just like everything else in your spoiled little life. You think you're so much better than me, don't you? With your trust fund and your family name and your.."

"At least I didn't lose millions of other people's money on cryptocurrency scams,"

Cassie shot back, her own composure cracking.

"At least I didn't lie to investors about nonexistent products while gambling away the development funds at a casino, masquerading as a teacher and cheating on my fiance with her now ex maid of honor . "

His face went purple with rage.

"You sanctimonious bitch. You have no idea what real pressure feels like, what it's like to actually work for something instead of having it handed to you on a silver platter."

"I know what it's like to be engaged to a pathological liar and emotional manipulator,"

she said, surprised by her own boldness.

"I know what it's like to wake up every morning wondering which version of you I'll be dealing with—the charming facade, sweet music teacher, or the violent drunk."

That did it.

Jake lunged forward, his hands reaching for her throat, but Cassie was ready this time. She stepped back, putting the heavy oak coffee table between them, her fingers instinctively finding the panic button around her neck.

"Stay away from me, Jake. I'm warning you."

"Or what? You'll call security? You'll run to daddy?" His laugh was ugly, desperate. "You think you can just walk away from me? From our engagement? I've invested too much in this relationship, in you, to let you destroy everything now."

"You invested nothing," she said, pressing the button. A silent alarm would now be coursing through the estate's security system. "You've been living off my family's money for two years. After your company's bankruptcy filing last week, you have nothing left to offer anyone."

The truth hit him like a physical blow. She could see it in his face the moment he realized that his last desperate gambit had failed, that he was truly and completely ruined.

"This isn't over," he snarled, moving around the table toward her. "You think you can humiliate me? Destroy my reputation? Make me look like a failure in front of the entire city?"

"You did that yourself," Cassie said, backing toward the wall, her heart hammering against her ribs.

"I just stopped covering for you. The evidence is clear and its out "

Something in his expression shifted then, becoming cold and calculating in a way that terrified her more than his rage had.

"Where were you last night, Cassie,because you sure as hell weren't here."

The question caught her off guard, and she felt heat rise in her cheeks.

"That's none of your business."

"It is when you're still wearing my ring. When you're still bound by our engagement." His eyes narrowed, studying her face with predatory intensity.

"You were with someone, weren't you? Some man who thinks he can steal what belongs to me."

"I don't belong to anyone," she said, but her voice wavered slightly

"Tell me his name."

"No."

Jake's hand shot out, grabbing her wrist with bruising force. "Tell me his fucking name, Cassie."

She tried to wrench free, but his grip tightened, fingers digging into the delicate bones of her wrist.

"Let go of me."

"Not until you tell me who you've been whoring around with." His face was inches from hers now, bourbon breath hot against her skin.

"Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think I don't know the signs? The way you've been pulling away, making excuses, avoiding me?"

" You disgust me,"

she said, the words torn from some deep well of truth she'd been afraid to acknowledge.

"Because every time you touch me, I feel sick. Because I'd rather be alone for the rest of my life than marry you."

The slap came without warning, his free hand cracking across her cheek with enough force to snap her head to the side. Stars exploded behind her eyelids, and she tasted blood where her teeth cut the inside of her lip. She didn't cry. Didn't apologize. Didn't cower.

Instead, she lifted her head and looked him straight in the eye.

"Is that all you've got?"

The question seemed to break something in him. With a roar of rage, he shoved her backward with both hands, putting his full weight behind the motion. Cassie stumbled, losing her balance , and fell hard.

The back of her head connected with the sharp corner of the marble coffee table with a sickening crack

Pain exploded through her skull like lightning, white-hot and all-consuming. She felt herself crumple to the floor, warm wetness spreading through her hair, her vision fracturing into kaleidoscope fragments. The room spun around her, sounds becoming distant and hollow.

Through the growing darkness, she heard Jake's voice, suddenly panicking:

"Cassie? Cassie, get up. Stop being dramatic. Get up!"

She couldn't get up. Couldn't move. Couldn't do anything but lie there as consciousness slipped away like water through her fingers.

The last thing she heard before the world went black was the sound of boots on marble Harris and his team responding to her silent alarm, their voices sharp with professional urgency as they took control of the situation.

"Secure the scene. Call the ambulance and get Mr. Turner away from her. Now."

Then nothing but darkness, and the distant sound of sirens growing closer.