CHAPTER SIX

Cassie thought she was going to run mad from anticipation. The mysterious man hadn't responded after she accepted his offer. She couldn't help but wonder if she had unwittingly entered a trap. 

She fell asleep with that thought on her mind. It worried her so much that she had a nightmare about it.

While she was getting plagued about what could go wrong with her plan, Alpha Aser went on with the work he had neglected while he planned out her escape with Matthew.

One of the first lessons he learned when he first branched out on his own to start his own business from scratch was that there was no definite rule. It means that for every ruthless decision he makes, he would have to make a humane, compassionate deal. He didn't like that rule at all, so he decided he was going to be the exception to that rule.

He spared no one when he was being ruthless. Once, a company attacked him unprovoked, and of course, he destroyed them. He sent them packing. Barely two days later, the company's staff gathered in front of his company to appeal to him. There must have been hundreds of them.

"We have mouths to feed."

"This is our only source of income." They said, hoping to change his mind.

"We should not suffer for our CEO's decision. We had nothing to do with the decision." They begged. Miriam, his executive assistant, gave him hourly updates. Their persistence was admirable, but they were getting on his nerves. They were disrupting his peace. 

"They're still there?" He growled lowly.

"They're sitting out in the sun, Alpha, last I checked, some media houses have come to join the cause." He turned on the TV in the office, and it was as she said. Several news outlets were covering their protests outside.

"According to the staff spokesperson, the only person that can help them out of this pit is none other than President Aser Marcom, who had recently taken over the company in a hostile move. As it stands, President Aser has plans of selling the company off, which leaves thousands of employees stranded." The news correspondent said, and he grinned. 

"That's old news. The company has been sold." He muttered. 

"We plead with President Aser to not leave us stranded like this." One of the staff said. "We can't even get severance pay because the company has no money left."

He watched as they alternated between calling him names and begging for mercy. "This is getting out of hand." Miriam said impatiently. "Sir, shall I release a statement?"

I laughed. "That would be like admitting to doing something wrong. I haven't. They are barking up the wrong tree. If they want payment and assurance, they should go to their CEO."

"This is not going to fly." Miriam huffed. The executive assistant was even more impatient than her master. "This is gaining traction. Everyone is condemning your high-handedness."

"Good thing I don't care."

"If it goes on for a while more, netizens will start calling for a boycott of our products, and we don't want that."

"We will lose a few millions, what's the big deal?"

"Sir, I'm offended that you're not taking this as seriously as you should. We have to do something, take a stand." She was right, Aser thought in annoyance. This would not be the last time another company would come for him, and he would keep destroying them all, but he couldn't have everyone thinking he could be swayed by noise.

"You know what, Miriam? You're right. How I handle this cluster right now will be the precedent for the future. So, call the cops and have the protesters arrested for obstruction in the workplace. That ought to do it."

"Yes, sir." That night, his stock skyrocketed. Most shareholders invested more because they were assured that the Alpha was very invested in keeping their money safe. 

That was over a year ago. He got away with it, as he had gotten away with many others who seemed to think that they could get in his way. He made himself the exception. 

But now, as he looked through his compiled reports on Cassie, he was reminded of the fact that every rule had an exception. Cassie was his only exception, and he allowed it.

When he first started keeping tabs on her through Matthew, he told himself it was because he wanted to know what was going on in his half-brother's life. Truth be told, he couldn't care less what was going on in his half-brother's life. 

He also didn't need to resort to dirty, underhanded tricks to succeed or to best his brother. He could have been winning fair and square. It took him a long time to admit to himself that he was more interested in the man's Luna. Yes, she was the prettiest woman he had ever seen, but it was beyond that. There was something about her that drew her to him.

It was those green eyes. The moment he saw her picture, everything made sense. Every loose line fell in place. He felt a sense of belonging. A sense of familiarity. It was there. He couldn't pinpoint why exactly he felt that way towards this woman he had never seen, so Matthew did a little digging. As a matter of fact, it was more than a little digging, but the result was definitely worth it.

She was the one. She was the one who had pulled him out of the dark place he was in several years ago. She didn't even know it, but Alpha Aser was here, he survived because of her. All those years ago, they didn't reveal their identity to each other, but he had plans on getting to know her in real life. They were friends for more than a year before she abruptly went dark. He never stopped thinking of his anonymous, but he had no way of locating then so he gave up.

It all made sense to him when Matthew told him her real identity. When she first got married, he didn't have any plan. He would only follow her from a distance whenever she left the compound, but he never made himself known. He had already made peace with only seeing her from a distance, but that plan quickly went up in flames when his contact told him she was unhappy, but she fell pregnant before he could do anything about it, so he let her be.

It was a stupid mistake because she was more unhappy than ever. Cane had the audacity to move his mistress in. I didn't have to leave with them to know that the mistress was going to make life difficult for her and her daughter. It pained me greatly to do nothing while she suffered at the hand of the monster that Cane was.

Everything came to a head when his contact reported the mistress was gunning for her daughter, and they did nothing about it. That was when he knew it was time to make his own move. He had to speed things up when the contact told him that she had asked for a divorce. Cane wouldn't let her go so easily, obviously.

When he did finally make contact, she was wary at first, as she should be. He had to hint at his knowledge of her hacking skills before she accepted his help.

Now, he had to make a plan on how she was going to get out of there without any suspicions, and that was where the contact came in. He looked at his watch just as there was a knock on his office door. 

"Come in." An older woman in a maid uniform stepped in just as he was getting impatient. "Helga, you are right on time."