Chapter 5. You're A Liar!

Being apart from Sophie for just a few hours had already made Cassidy miss her. Even in the middle of a gathering with his friends, he found himself wanting to talk to her. Cassidy stood up and moved to a quieter corner to call Sophie.

His brow furrowed deeply. Why was Sophie rejecting his call?

“What are you doing?” Divers called out when he noticed Cass stepping away from their group’s conversation and laughter. Cass turned and slightly raised his phone.

“I’m trying to call Sophie, but she keeps rejecting my calls. I don’t know what’s going on…”

Divers frowned.

“Where is she, anyway? Is she at home?”

Cassidy shook his head. “She’s supposed to be home now.” Divers parted his lips slightly, then nodded. He didn’t respond further and looked away.

Divers glanced back at him, noticing the worry on his face. “Maybe she’s still at work. She should be fine.”

Cass let out a long breath and looked away. He couldn’t shake something on his mind right now—a worry he had never felt before.

“I’m afraid of losing her…” he mumbled, almost inaudible.

Divers immediately chuckled at the way his friend sulked. “You’re overthinking…”

“I’m serious, Dive! You don’t know what it feels like,” Cassidy snapped, his expression annoyed.

Divers only shrugged.

“Yeah, I don’t know… I’m not even sure whether I’m in love or not…” Divers admitted, his thoughts drifting to Madison.

“What do you mean?”

Divers snapped back to reality and shook his head. “No, just forget it.”

Cass didn’t press further and tried calling Sophie again. But it was still the same.

“Oh, Sweet Pea…” Cass muttered, growing more frustrated.

“Did you call her office?”

Cassidy thought for a moment, then scrolled through his phone again, looking for Sophie’s office number.

When Cassidy Belgenza arrived home, his wife hadn’t returned yet. He asked the maid, but Sophie hadn’t come back.

“Did she call to say she’d be working late?” Cassidy asked the maid, and she shook her head.

“No, sir. Not at all.”

Cassidy sighed in annoyance. He pulled out his phone and called Sophie. Her phone was completely unreachable now, which made him frown in confusion. The last time he called her office, the staff said that Sophie hadn’t even arrived since morning.

This wasn’t like her at all. In the end, he decided to wait for her until dinner. But Sophie still didn’t come home, and there was no news from her.

“What is this, Sophie? It’s already night, and you’re still not home.”

Cassidy began to feel anxious. He paced back and forth in the living room, waiting for a wife he once admitted he didn’t love. Somehow, his feelings for Sophie had begun to soften after their marriage. A few times, they had shared intense and sweet conversations. He couldn’t hide his worry. He was also afraid Sophie might eventually discover the conspiracy and lies he had created.

Meanwhile, Cass could no longer hide his anxiety. Sophie hadn’t come home by dinnertime. He had even arrived two hours earlier, assuming she would already be there—but she wasn’t.

“Oh God, Sweet Pea… where are you, sweetheart?” Cassidy tried calling her, but the call kept getting redirected. His stress built until he sank onto the couch. Where was he supposed to look for his wife?

In the end, Cassidy chose to wait for Sophie to come home. He let dinner grow cold. The maids came to ask him about it, but he shook his head, telling them to clear everything away. Finally, he decided to go out and look for her. He couldn’t take it anymore. Finding Sophie was all that mattered.

“Maybe she’s with Madison…”

Cassidy then sped through the cold night toward Madison’s flower shop. But the shop was closed and dark. There were no signs of life at all.

“Uh… what should I do?” Cassidy muttered in confusion. He peeked inside but saw nothing. He walked back to the front of his car, thinking hard about his next move.

Sophie had to be with Madison. But if he called his parents-in-law now and told them what had happened, they would surely think he had been fighting with Sophie.

“No… damn it, what should I do? I can’t possibly call Laura…”

Cassidy surely couldn’t call Sophie’s sister, Laura. She would panic, then call her boyfriend, who was apparently Cassidy’s uncle. Then the whole family would find out, and bigger problems would begin.

Cassidy leaned against the hood of his luxury car, one hand pressed to his forehead, thinking, trying to figure things out.

“Divers! I should ask for his help!” Suddenly, Cass remembered his friend Divers, who also knew Madison. At the very least, Divers might have an idea.

Divers arrived half an hour later, well past midnight. Cass was sitting inside his car in front of Madison’s flower shop. As soon as Divers saw Cass’s car, he pulled over, stepped out, and got into the passenger seat.

“What’s going on?” Divers asked as he closed the door.

“Help me. Sophie is missing. She hasn’t come home yet!”

“Calm down, Cass. Here’s what we’ll do—I’ll call Madison and ask her.” Cass immediately nodded and waited anxiously as Divers tried to contact Madison.

It took quite a while for Madison to answer, and the call ended on its own. Confused, Divers tried calling again. After several rings, she finally picked up.

“Maddy, why did you only answer now? Where have you been?” Divers asked, growing anxious when she didn’t respond right away.

“Sorry, I fell asleep… yawn…” Madison sounded like she was waking up. Divers glanced at his watch. It was already past midnight.

“Is Sophie with you?”

“Yeah,” Madison answered casually, as if nothing had happened. Divers frowned, then looked at Cass and nodded, signaling that Sophie was indeed with Madison.

“Oh, thank God. I want to talk—” Cass tried to jump in, but Divers quickly stopped him.

“Let me talk to her,” Divers whispered, and Cass scoffed in annoyance.

“Maddy, what’s going on? Why didn’t Sophie come home? Cassidy is really worried because her phone was dead.”

Madison sounded calm in her response, which only made Divers more suspicious.

“Everything’s fine. Sophie and I did a lot of shopping, and we were so tired. After we got back, we fell asleep. She’s still sleeping now. She looks happy and tired, hehe.”

Divers frowned at the explanation, while Cass insisted on speaking. Reluctantly, Divers handed him the phone as Cass began whining like a child.

“Sorry, Maddy. Cass is with me, and he wants to talk to you…”

Cass quickly grabbed the phone from Divers.

“Hello, Madison! It’s me, Cassidy!” Cass’s voice came through the line. Madison pulled the phone slightly away and glanced at Sophie, who was sitting against the bed, her legs stretched out and her head resting back.

Sophie looked at Madison, then turned her face away. Madison understood what she needed to say.

“Maddy, is Sophie okay? Where is she?” Cass’s voice sounded panicked and confused.

“She’s with me, and she’s fine.”

“Why didn’t she come home?”

“We were exhausted and fell asleep…”

“Then I’ll come over to pick her up—”

“No! Uh, Sophie is still asleep.” Madison quickly came up with an excuse to stop Cass from coming. Right now, Sophie didn’t want to see him. She needed time alone.

“I can carry her, don’t worry.” Madison began to feel nervous, unsure how to handle Cass, but she tried again to persuade him.

“Besides, Sophie promised to stay over at my place. If you take her home, she’ll get mad.”

Cass fell silent for a moment, while Madison scrambled to think of a convincing reason.

“But she didn’t ask to sleep over at your place. She said she was going to work this morning.” Madison’s heart raced; it pounded loudly in her chest. She had never tried to deceive someone like this before.

“She told me you allowed it. Come on, Cass, it’s not a big deal. It’s fine if Sophie stays here tonight, right?”

Cass went quiet again, while Madison desperately hoped he wouldn’t insist on coming.

“Then I want to talk to Sophie.”

Madison almost cursed, but managed to hold herself back and continued speaking.

“She’s asleep. I don’t have the heart to wake her. Please understand. She’ll come home, but not tonight, okay?” Cass let out a long breath, clearly frustrated, but Madison didn’t waver.

“I’m hanging up now, Cass. Good night.”

Madison quickly ended the call without waiting for his reply. She even turned off her phone completely before turning to Sophie. Sitting beside her on the bed, she leaned against her.

“Soph, do you want to eat something? You skipped dinner.”

Sophie remained silent, staring blankly without answering. Tears streamed down her face again, and Madison gently rested her head against Sophie’s.

“Why does it hurt so much, Maddy? I feel so empty…” Sophie whispered, her voice barely audible, swallowed by the pain consuming her heart. Madison had no answer. Sophie didn’t deserve any of this.

“What did I do wrong?”

Madison shook her head. “Nothing. You did nothing wrong. I don’t even know who to blame.” She kept rubbing Sophie’s shoulder and arm, holding her close.

“I can’t do this, Maddy… what should I do?”

Madison took a deep breath and gently turned Sophie to face her.

“Look at me! You did nothing wrong, Sophie. Never think that this is your fault. Cassidy Belgenza is a con. He doesn’t love you—he trapped you…” Sophie sobbed harder, though still without sound. Her heart was completely shattered, beyond repair. She could barely breathe; it felt like she was dying.

“Maddy…” Sophie clung to her, unable to hold herself together.

“Try to stay calm. I’ll be with you through all of this. Whatever you want to do, we’ll face it together. I’ll stay by your side.”

Tonight would be a long and painful night for Sophie. After learning the whole truth, she now had to decide what she would do next.

Meanwhile, Cassidy felt both frustrated and confused. Sophie suddenly didn’t want to come home, and he felt uneasy being alone.

“Come on, maybe they just want to spend the night together. Women do that sometimes—sleepovers and all…” Divers said, trying to comfort him.

“You don’t understand, Dive. My wife doesn’t want to come home! This morning, she said she’d be back before dinner. Now it’s almost one in the morning!” Cass snapped, raising his voice in frustration. Divers glanced at him, watching him spiral over being left alone for just one day. A faint smile tugged at Divers’s lips.

“You’ve fallen for her, haven’t you?”

Cass dropped his head back against the seat and stared blankly ahead.

“What am I supposed to do?” he murmured.

“Relax. You’re acting like your wife is leaving you forever just because she’s staying over one night…”

“If she leaves me, I could die!” Cass shot back irritably.