Chapter -4

Cassandra's POV:

Last night I had a relatively less nightmare filled sleep. And waking up in the same room I have been staying in during my childhood days wasn't as beautiful as you might think it is. Well most of my things are not in it but surely the bed and other furniture are at the same place as I left them.

It is bright here. I stretched my body inside the duvets and went out of the queen sized bed to head to the bathroom. I was wearing the pajamas my mother lent me last night and the material it's made from is soft as silk.

I went to the shower, brushed my teeth with the spare toothbrush my mother gave me and went out of the bedroom to head to the kitchen.

"Cassie? You woke up already?" It was my mother. She was sitting on the dining table with her coffee cup in her hand. 

"Yeah, Good morning." I said and joined her at the dining table.

"Have you had a good sleep?" She asked again. This time putting her coffee cup on the table and shifting her whole body to my direction.

"Yes it was a good night's sleep." I said and then I went out of words to say next. What do you say to your mother whom you didn't see for the last ten years?

"Well that's good. We have a lot of catching up to do." She said smiling. How could she even form a smile this early in the morning? 

She is right about the catching up though. We definitely need to catch up. Let me start with the relationship she has with Jaden for example.

"I need to get my clothes from the hotel today." I said to her and she nodded in agreement. 

"You are right. Did you bring a car?"

"No, but I can can call Uber." I said but as I thought, she had other plans.

"Oh, of course not darling. I will give Jaden a quick text and tell him to drive you there." She said taking her mobile from the table.

"No, you really don't have to." I said. Hardly being able to contain the disgusted feeling I felt whenever he's around me. 

"I do have to. He is so into you. And he would gladly drive you to the hotel." She said, covering her excited voice with her smile. 

But I know just what she's trying to do. I have been keeping tabs on her ever since I joined the mafia. She is one of those people who sets up girls with men to get money. And I know by now she thinks I'm fool enough to be persuaded by her and fall in love with a boy like Jaden. 

I know what her plans are. After I fall in love with Jaden, I'm supposed to do everything he tells me to do like a pup. And what comes after? She gets all the money I have and Jaden will set me up with hungry men who loathe over young girls' bodies.

"Ok then." I said. Behind me,  I heard voices inside the kitchen. "Who's in there?" I asked my mother.

"Oh, she's our maid. Do you remember her? She's been staying with us for the longest time."

"Is it aunt Jane?" I was excited to see the only person I remember being nice to me since childhood.

"Oh! So you remember her." She smiled at me.

Oh don't even get me started with those sickening smiles that she always gives me.

"Breakfast is ready." Someone said from my side and I turned around to find an elderly woman who's wearing a maid uniform. She was just as I recall her.

"Aunt Jane?" I smiled at her eyes which were now glued on me as if she couldn't believe I was here.

"Cassie? My child is that you?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yes yes it is me." I stood from the chair I was sitting on and hugged the stunned lady standing beside me.

"Oh my child, it's really you." Her words came out muffled on my shoulder. I must have grown so much since she reached around my shoulder now because the last time I remember, I was the one in that position.

"Yes, aunt Jane. I'm so glad to see you're still here " I said and we broke our hug.

I felt eyes boring behind my head and I didn't need to turn around to know it was my mother who's staring at me. I got the cue though. She's not happy about my close friendship with aunt Jane.

"It's good that you are back, child."  She said as she glanced towards my mother and she silently continued her work.

We ate breakfast in silence until the doorbell rang and aunt Jane went to open the door.

"It must be Jaden." The color was back on my mother's face once she saw his silhouette.

"Good morning ladies." He said as he came inside the living room.

"Good morning Jaden, come have a seat." She invited him but he rejected the offer saying he ate his breakfast. We didn't wait long until he asked me to go and we went out of the house heading to his car.

"After you, my lady." He said opening the passenger door for me and I smiled sweetly at him. He also smiled and closed the door behind me as I got in.

If only he knew how much I hated him. If only he knew what I plan to do with him.

"So, how was your night here?" He asked while swerving the car in the neighborhood, heading to the main street.

"It was nice. Thanks for calling my mother asking for me to stay." 

"It was nothing." He said: his eyes on the road.

"What do you do for a living?" He asked out of the blue.

'I'm a mafia assassin.' I thought of saying but didn't voice it out.

"I'm a neurologist" 

"Woah, that's good. You fix brains I see." He joked. It's not funny by any means but what can I say?

We reached the traffic light and stopped. "Your mother is planning on preparing you a welcoming ball by the way." He said facing me this time.

Ok I expected a party but a ball seems to fit my mother's tastes more. She wants to show me to her friends who would pay fortunes to have me in their beds. And this time she's playing big I see.

"That's not necessary though. I don't want her to spend so much on this." I said seemingly concerned for my mother.

"Don't worry it won't be that big." He said and looked out of his window.

"Hey Sasha!" He yelled out.

'What? Did he just say her name?' 

My ears weren't fooling me right? - No, they definitely aren't fooling me because the next thing I know, the window of the next blue jeep beside us opened revealing a woman with red hair.

"Jaden? What are you doing this early in the morning?" She asked. She was wearing big sunglasses that covered most of her face and she was looking at me right now.

Oh no, not now Cassandra! I yelled back at the rage I felt seeing her clown face.

"And who's that beauty beside you?" She asked him.

"Oh this is Cassie. Sarah's daughter." He answered.

"She has a daughter?" Well that explains why she doesn't remember me. She didn't even know my mother had a daughter. 

The green light was lit as he was about to answer and I couldn't be any thankful for it. 

Today I saw one of the faces that haunted me in my sleep for ten freaking years. The rage I felt when I saw that red hair, the high pitched voice is unbearable.

"That's Sasha by the way. You know her?" Jaden asked while pulling me out of my deep thoughts.

"Yes, I went to the same highschool as you." I said slowly not wanting him to remember me suddenly but what he said next made me realize that his memory of me in highschool is non-existent.

"Really? You must be kidding me. Because I would have noticed this beauty from a mile away." He said looking at me with a serious face.

'It's true you stupid excuse of a human. I was even your girlfriend for a week.' I really want to spit on his light bearded face right at this moment.

"You flatter me so much." I smiled and turned to look out the window. He started the radio and a slow song started to fill the silence between us.

We were almost at the hotel when a question came to mind.

"When is my mother going to hold the ball?" I asked. 

"Well, she said she would make it soon. Maybe in two days?" He said not to leave the sight of the road.

"Ok, that's short notice. I should go out shopping tomorrow then." 

'Real smooth, dear mother. You are so afraid I will go soon that you want to tie me here with you as quickly as possible, huh?'

Sometimes the way her mind works amazes me. She is so wise it is hard to predict what her next move is. As much as I hate to compare her to anybody, I can't help but remember Tobias when I think about how wise she is. 

I wonder how he took my escape? Is he angry at me? Is he chasing me? Or maybe he forgot me.

"We are here." Jaden said as he parked the car In front of the hotel entrance.

"I will be back quickly." I said opening the door of the car.

As I walked out of the car I caught a glimpse of his face for a fraction of seconds, saw that he had a glint of disappointment written on it. I can't believe this jerk wants me to invite me to my hotel room.

*Fast forward *

I was very wrong if I thought two days were long enough to get used to seeing a lot of people from my past. And I realized this in my glistening white dress and matching heels while standing at the entrance of the hotel where my welcoming ball was held.