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Fool Me Once
Last Updated : 2025-06-26
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Cassie Jones was the girl who went unnoticed—plus-sized, shy, and silently battling her self-esteem issues. But she had a secret: a gigantic crush on Jeffery Richards, the star athlete, golden boy and basketball hero of their school. What she wasn't aware of was that he too idolized her, secretly drawing her and composing poetry about her silent beauty. That was until the day a cruel bet forced his secret feelings out in the worst way imaginable. Cassie, heartbroken, disappeared from his life. Thirteen years later, fate brings them together again. Cassie is a tough PR executive, prosperous, aggressive, and not interested in revisiting the pain of her past. But Jeffery is resolved to demonstrate to her that he has changed—that his love for her never has. Will she learn to trust him again, or will the past repeat itself?
View MoreChapter 1
Prologue
The wind in the evening was chilly, and the fragrance of spring flowers was lovely as Cassie walked with Jeffery along the cobblestone walkway by the spring in the city square. The street lamps gave a warm glow reflected in the rippling water below. The whole evening was a dream—something she did not wish to wake up from.
Jeffery opened and wrapped his around hers, his fingers entwining with hers with a comfort that bypassed her heart. "I've wanted to do this," he admitted, his voice rough, almost shy. Cassie pressed her lips together, gazing up at him. "Do what?" "Take you out on a date. Just the two of us." Heat encircled her waist. "Seriously?" She chuckled. "Why didn't you ask me all this while?" He smiled. "I guess I wanted it to be special and memorable." They strolled in silence for a moment before they decided where to sit on a wooden bench next to it that was near the spring water. They were shrouded in darkness like a cocoon as they exposed their fears and desires—Cassie's fear of being insufficient, Jeffery's fear of being sufficient. "I don't want to be that guy everyone's expecting me to be," he confessed, turning his back to her. "With you, I feel like I can be me; I feel like I can be real without the world crushing me down." Cassie's heart hurt. "You know you can always tell me the truth." I understand how that feels. I have always felt like an outsider, too. People bully me because of my weight and size, which made me not express my true self openly. "I think you're beautiful and have a great body, too. You shouldn't worry about your size." She chuckled, "Easier for you to say". Then, before she could even think before she could even allow doubt to creep in, Jeffery leaned in. His lips touched hers—soft, full lips, tentative but full of unspoken promise. Sparks flew, and warmth ran through her veins as she dissolved into the kiss under the starry sky. They did not notice the shadow that was behind them. Eric, Jeffery's high school basketball friend, folded his arms, his eyes wide with amazement. "Wow, so Jeffery finally got her," he muttered and grinned, knowing that this evening would be over so quickly that neither of them would ever anticipate it. ***The next day, at school lunch, Cassie's life fell apart.
She wasn't supposed to have heard it, but she did. Laughing out loud, Eric called out to Jeffery, "So, did you do it already? I mean, the bet's still on, right?" Cassie's gut twisted. Her heart throbbed in her ears as the truth hit her. Hard. "Come on, man," Eric said, shoving Jeffery. "You have to sleep with her. That's the whole point." Some other students gasped, and Eric looked at their growing group, unwatched. "Hey, guys!" Eric announced to the group. "Jeff here had the most romantic night of his life. Too bad that it was a bet." Guffaws. Side looks. Mutters. Cassie felt the walls closing in on her, her vision clouding. Without thinking, she rounded on Jeffery. "Tell me it isn't true." Jeffery looked at her. "See, I can explain, Cass, forget them; it's not what you think." She couldn't hear anything anymore, her heart broke—no, it shattered. Tears blinded her eyes, but she would not let them do so again. So she raised her chin and walked away, leaving humiliation, deception, and betrayal along with the first boy she ever trusted. One promise she made to herself was to never let Jeffery Richards ever fool her again.Latest chapter
Fool Me Once Full Circle
Cassie’s POVEthan's gun barrel flashed in the light of the yellow dock, but mine held firm. I was firmly behind him, my heart pounding like a war drum inside me. One breath, two, and then—he spun around, and our eyes met.His smugness shattered."Cassie," he sneered, relaxing his grip on the gun slightly. "You just don't know when to quit.""No," I said, my tone strong. "I just know when to fight back."And I didn't wait.A single, pointed word escaped my mouth. "Now."Behind the shipping container, two of our private security officers and Claire emerged, guns drawn. Jeffery moved with lightning quickness to disarm Ethan with such speed and precision that even I was taken aback. The gun thudded against the ground. Ethan dived—but too late.He didn't stand a chance.Handcuffed, pinned, and hauled away, Ethan's cries of betrayal echoed out over the water. It didn't matter anymore. The evidence was irrefutable. With documents Morland has given us and Edward's final handover, Ethan would
Last Updated : 2025-06-26Fool Me Once Reckoning
Jeffery’s POVThe rest of the world outside the Richards estate was still shrouded in darkness early in the morning, but in the vast corridors of the house where I grew up, war was imminent.I stood in my father's study; my fists balled, my pulse pounding like a war drum of vengeance. The study reeked of old leather and cedar wood, the air heavy with unspoken specters. Edward Richards built this empire with brutal hands, yet he had built a legacy that Ethan now sought to destroy.My brother's betrayal was no longer just personal—it was criminal, threatening, and extensive.Cassie had barely left my side since I'd been home from the hospital, but this evening I'd asked her to remain behind. Just for tonight. Just in case.This wasn't her fight to start with.But it would end with both of us standing tall. Together.Edward sat behind his solid oak desk, his blue eyes piercing through me. He looked exhausted, older than I remembered as if the burden of all his secrets had finally begun t
Last Updated : 2025-06-26Fool Me Once The Aftershock
Cassie’s POVThe silence in the hospital room was almost too much for me to bear.The constant beep of the heart monitor on the side of Jeffery's bed was the sole reminder that time was passing. The morning was beginning to creep along the horizon outside the window, but here, the night was still clinging to everything, most of all, to me.I sat next to him, my hands laced through his. His hand was hard and warm and familiar despite the IV tube that ran from his wrist and the bruising that covered his knuckles. His bruised face was still the face of the man who had always held me with such passionate love.But at the moment, I breathed for fear.The physicians informed us that all would be well—that no organ had been injured and that Jeffery was lucky. Luck was not a word I would choose to describe what had just transpired. It was as if we had survived a storm that was trying its best to destroy us. And we were still standing. Barely.I softly rubbed the back of his hand with my thumb
Last Updated : 2025-06-26Fool Me Once Final Hour
Cassie’s POVI strained in the man's grasp and was pulled behind him as the fluorescent lights dazzled. My heart was beating frantically against my ribs, its frantic rhythm in time with the fear coursing through my veins. As I attempted to struggle free, the skeleton fingers around my arms had closed like a vice, even though every muscle in my body was screaming for me to do so.Jeffery huddled on the icy pavement on a cold winter's afternoon, his muscle-hardened body shaking with rage, his eyes blazing with defensive anger. A gash in his temple was seeping at the jagged edges of his square jaw. Bare to the skin, his very presence still seemed to exude toughness and stamina, his eyes clashing with mine in feral intensity."Cassie," he whispered, his deep voice sliced with pain."Jeffery," I choked out, struggling with the merciless hold of my captor. My curves shook beneath the torn seams of my blouse, exposing vulnerability. My hair spilled wildly onto my face, hiding some but not al
Last Updated : 2025-06-26Fool Me Once Race Against Shadows
Jeffery’s POVI strode back and forth inside the dimly lit room of my office, tension growing in the air and tightening around a spring inside me with each passing minute. My veins hummed with anxiety, muscles tensed under the starched façade of my shirt, every single cell in my body crying out to me that something was most certainly amiss.Cassie didn't answer. No calls had been made back since earlier this evening, and the clock crept towards midnight. Her silence was oppressive. She was responsible and cautious—she wouldn't just up and leave without a word. Not after all we'd been through.My fists were curled into hard balls, and my veins strained tight with anger and worry in my arms. My mind was filled with Cassie's sweet face—her big, beautiful eyes that glinted with obstinacy, the pout of her full lips when she was up to no good, the obstinacy of the line of her chin when confronted with difficulties. She was my vulnerability and my strength, and I could not risk losing her.I
Last Updated : 2025-06-26Fool Me Once The Breaking Point
Cassie’s POVMy heart pounded in my temples as I gazed at my laptop's screen; its blinking light reflected in my own stunned eyes. Finally, the paper on my laptop screen contained the evidence I'd been seeking —irrefutable evidence of Ethan Carter's direct participation in sabotage, corruption, and conspiracy against Jeffrey. My breathing was a strangled gasp as my heart began racing, and I felt adrenaline pumping through my being.I massaged my exhausted eyes, weariness weighing on my shoulders like a yoke. It was late—oh so very, very late—but sleep would never be a possibility, with comprehension demanding to be addressed right there and then.This was my time, my time to break the deadly grip Ethan had on Jeffery, to expose him for his evil scheme, and save the man I loved. I loved Jeffrey. His gorgeous green eyes haunted me with anguish, longing, and a fiery need to clear his name. I owed him—I owed us both—and I could not just stand by and do nothing.I rushed to transfer the fi
Last Updated : 2025-06-26
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