CHAPTER 5
Cassandra's mind raced, taken aback by Antonio's question. Her original plan, driven by a desire for revenge, suddenly seemed dangerous. She had to think fast, to create a story that would satisfy his curiosity without revealing her true intentions.
"No, not the police," she said, her voice remaining calm despite her nerves. "I'm here representing a small fashion magazine. We're always looking for the next big thing, and the opening of Seven Star Mall seemed like the perfect event to cover."
Antonio seemed to accept her explanation, nodding thoughtfully. "A fashion magazine, that's interesting. It must be quite challenging to keep up with all the latest trends and events," he mused, his gaze fixed on her as if trying to unravel the truth behind her words.
The conversation shifted to lighter topics, allowing Cassandra to breathe a sigh of relief.
As the dinner progressed, the atmosphere between them grew more relaxed. Laughter and shared stories filled the air, creating a bubble that seemed to distance them from the outside world. Cassandra found herself drawn to Antonio's charisma and intelligence, her resolve for revenge fading with each passing moment.
Beneath the surface, however, a part of her remained wary. She cannot forget her mission, the reason why she approached Antonio in the first place. The memory of his parents' downfall at the hands of ruthless business practices, which may have been linked to people like Antonio, sparked his determination.
"It looks like it's getting late. I'll take you home, Cassandra."
But at that very second, Cassandra blocked Antonio's hand that wanted to wave for a bill. Antonio looked confused, his brown eyes meeting Cassandra's blue ones.
"What's wrong, Cassandra?"
"You've bought me seafood, but... you haven't bought me a drink, Mr. Franches."
"Do you want alcohol?"
Cassandra nodded her head slowly, looking hesitant herself when she finally said, "This is the only day I get to meet and spend dinner with Antonio Franches, the most famous CEO in New York, I wouldn't miss it." Cassandra's lithe fingers moved seductively up Antonio's arm, she cast a sensual gaze that would captivate Antonio in one try. "Unless... I can get something more 'fun' perhaps?"
Antonio understood what Cassandra meant. He was a conqueror of women. He knew the gestures of all the women he wanted to sleep with. But Cassandra... she seemed to be pushing herself and that just made Antonio feel intrigued. Antonio grinned and returned Cassandra's gaze. "I don't think a few bottles of wine would be a problem."
"Can... you ask your personal bodyguard to leave?"
"Sure."
Antonio waved a hand to the waiter at the restaurant, he ordered some wine of the highest quality to be served. And Cassandra only had to wait a few moments, until finally, the sealed bottle was in front of her. Cassandra lifted her lips, she pointed at Antonio with her forefinger and said, "You're really a good man, Mr. Franches."
Antonio just smiled, then poured the alcohol into Cassandra's shot. Cassandra secretly observed Antonio's attitude, he was indeed masculine, but Cassandra swore in her heart that Antonio's sweet demeanor was just a fake to cover up his past crimes. He was a murderer!
"Cheers!" said Cassandra enthusiastically.
After Ben left, Cassandra began to behave more wildly than before. Cassandra grabbed Antonio's hand and held it without permission. Grinning and half-drunk, Cassandra muttered, "Can you keep me company tonight, Mr. Franches?"
"I don't play with children, Cassandra. Your age... is still too young. I'll take you home. Can you give me the address?"
After trying to pick Cassandra up and carry her to the car, Antonio drove the car to the address given by Cassandra in a half-drunk state. And what a surprise Antonio had when he arrived at the location. It wasn't a house, but a hotel in the city center.
Antonio looked at Cassandra who was now pressing her face against the car window. "You lied to me, um? Where is your real home, Cassandra?"
But Cassandra sulked. "I don't want to go home."
A sigh was heard. "In that case, I'll book a room for you here. Let me help."
Antonio was gentle, he carried Cassandra to the room he had booked. It was a VIP room and Antonio had already paid for it. Once inside, Antonio laid Cassandra down on the bed. Antonio was breathing hard because carrying Cassandra was quite tiring. He was about to leave, but Cassandra's hand suddenly moved to hold him back. Antonio gasped, especially when Cassandra got out of bed and hit Antonio with an unexpected kiss.
Antonio's eyes widened. this was the first time he had been kissed by a woman first. His ego is slightly offended. A submissive and dominant man like Antonio was not accepting of what Cassandra had just done.
Both of Antonio's hands held Cassandra, he moved his body away from her. Their eyes met, but Antonio already knew that Cassandra was drunk. Holding his breath, Antonio muttered in his firm and intimidating voice. "You want something fun, Cassandra?"
"..."
"I'll give you something nice right now."
Antonio lunged at Cassandra with a kiss on the lips. He pushed deeper until the intoxicated Cassandra started to lose her balance. Her body kept going backwards until she fell onto the soft bed. Antonio had no intention of breaking their kiss, instead, he pushed deeper until the man could taste Cassandra's mouth with his rapidly moving tongue.
Cassandra closed her eyes, between savoring the moment and losing consciousness to the alcohol. But on the verge of losing consciousness, Cassandra could taste Antonio's lips with all their sensations. Sweet, but filled with worry. Cassandra let herself fall for Antonio Franches. And this was all for revenge. But Cassandra began to doubt, was the hot kiss that night proof that she had just won Antonio's heart?
Or... was this the beginning of the real disaster?
Antonio broke the kiss, he looked at Cassandra who closed her eyes. The beautiful curve of Cassandra's collarbone made something down there tremble. There was something Antonio couldn't hold back and he had to resolve it right now.
"Cassandra, let's have some fun."
The sunlight sneaking through the cracks in the window made Cassandra blink softly. Her head hurt so much, it felt like it was spinning and it was really heavy.Cassandra raised her hand, then massaged her head lightly and began to look around. Wait a minute! Finally, Cassandra realized that she wasn't sleeping in her bedroom.“What the hell?!”Cassandra's blue eyes scanned the surroundings, at the hotel room booked by Antonio Franches last night. Cassandra couldn't hide her shock as memories of last night's events began to play vividly in her head.“Antonio and I... kissed?”Panicking, Cassandra immediately got up from her very comfortable bed. She looked at herself in the mirror, a complete mess. Cassandra held her head, trying to recall... whether Antonio and she... had sex last night, or not.“Shit! I don't remember anything because I was drunk.”Cassandra's eyes wandered around again. In such a large room, it seemed she was alone. And to answer the question in her chest, Cassandr
“A date?!”Cassandra nodded her head. The answer she said made Jessica frown. She took a sip of her cigarette, then let out a gray vapor from her mouth. Jessica was an active smoker and she was addicted to alcohol since she started the nightclub business.“This is good, but not great.”“See? You can't even judge whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.” Cassandra sighed, then took a sip of the mojito she had ordered at her best friend's Sun Bright Club. “I really didn't know that my plan would turn out like this.”“Um, but I want to know something, Casey,” Jessica said, bringing her face closer and crossing her arms on the table. “What do you think... Antonio Franches is like?”There was silence between them before Cassandra finally began to comment. She mumbled for quite a while before she finally started to recall Antonio. “He had a face that was... memorable.”“Is that your way of saying that Antonio is handsome?”Cassandra rolled her eyes lazily, then she pushed away her almos
CHAPTER 1New York, 2013.A knock on the door made Cassandra turn around. Cassandra's blue eyes waited hopefully. A female figure appeared, she was wearing white overalls, and there was a brown stain on the bottom of her clothes, and it was even more obvious after her raincoat was removed."Aunt Claire?" Cassandra stood up from the sofa, she was very excited.As for Aunt Claire, she had a tired expression. Her face was wet because it was raining heavily outside. The raincoat couldn't handle the water that continued to fall on the ground. Aunt Claire wiped her face, patted her dress, and walked over to Cassandra."I'm sorry, Cassey."Cassandra's enthusiastic face changed quickly. There was still hope in her gaze. But Cassandra closed her mouth to hear more."The police will close your case.""Noooo! They shouldn't do that!"Cassandra pulled the TV remote from the table, she turned on the news channel. Breaking news on the television had just announced that the accident that caused the
CHAPTER 2Bright Sun Club, New York.The smartwatch on Cassandra's left-hand points to the number eight. The streets of New York City at night were filled with glittering lights. This city never dies. It's like the city has two sides opposite each other. Light and darkness. Day and night. Goodness and... badness.Cassandra took off her formal-looking clothes. She left the top two buttons of her white shirt open to reveal a noticeable portion of cleavage. Cassandra took off the coat that covered the shirt, then applied makeup with red lipstick and orange blush. She looked at herself in the mirror in the car, Cassandra looked like a different woman.Once she was confident enough, Cassandra got out of the car. She left her police identity on the dashboard, then entered the club like a different person.Jessica, one of Cassandra's closest friends had just waved her hand in the air, signaling her not to get lost among the people on the dance floor.Cassandra cut through the streets, overta
CHAPTER 3"You asked for seafood?!"Cassandra threw herself onto the bed, she covered her face with her pillow in embarrassment."You could have taken him to a motel to sleep together, but instead you asked for seafood, Casey?! Are you crazy? You missed your chance?!"Cassandra threw the pillow covering her face, then sat up and looked at Jessica regretfully. "Aaargh! I couldn't ask him out like that.""But you planned it!""I know, I know. But I've never slept with any man! I'm a virgin, it's too hard to pretend about that.""So why did you set a trap that you couldn't handle?"Cassandra whined like a child. She closed her eyes and began to sulk. "This sucks, Jessica!"Jessica took a cigarette from her jacket pocket, then began to light a match and burn the cigarette in her hand. Smoke began to fill Jessica's room as she smoked the cigarette. Jessica pointed at Cassandra on the bed and said, "So, you didn't ask for Antonio's number?""I left my number on his cell phone.""You were ho
CHAPTER 4The opening ceremony of the Mall in the city center has finally been completed. Antonio Franches stood with an exclusive audience to cut the ribbon covering the Mall's main entrance. Seven Star Mall. A new mall that would fulfill the expectations of New York socialites.The Mall owner had borrowed huge sums from Antonio Franches, but it was covered up and manipulated as a 'venture capital fund' system to keep the Mall owner's rottenness out of the public eye. Antonio didn't care about the name. For the forty-year-old, it was all about business. Antonio would receive huge profits from the interest he gave to the Mall owner. He didn't care about the little details that didn't benefit him.The ribbon was finally cut and the ceremony was over. Meanwhile, Antonio didn't go inside the Mall to be interviewed at the press conference with the city's media, instead, he walked up to Cassandra on the other side and started talking."Are you okay?"Cassandra knew that this was out of her