CASSIE“What about the rest? Do you want to open that now or later?”I glanced at the other boxes. I was taught by my teacher to cherish the gifts of others, so I would decide to open them. “I'll open them all right now.”“Need help?”“Just looking is enough.”He raised both hands up. “Alright, go ahead.”The second box surprised me no less. It was a heart-shaped necklace with a crown at the top. “What's the philosophy this time? Explain it to me.”“The name of the necklace is The Heart of Kingdom, made of the famous and rare rubies, the carat is decorated with hundreds of diamonds. It is the most beautiful diamond necklace in existence.” “Why did you give it to me? What was the reason?”“Apart from anything else, you are the Luna of Pack Nexus, and to me a pack is like a body that I divide into the head, the heart, and the rest of the limbs. You are the heart, you are the second highest ruler after me, Cassandra.”I needed to blink a few times to digest his words. “Your presenc
JAYDENShe fell asleep before opening the last of her presents.“Is opening presents so tiring?” I gently stroked her hair.Seeing her sleeping so peacefully like this reminded me of someone. Even from the first time I met her, I had remembered that person's face.She was the mature woman I met by accident when I was a child, when mom was still around.If I think about it, Cassie's face is indeed similar. That was one of the reasons that surprised me when I finally met Cassie because it was like I met that woman from the past.But I hope that was just a coincidence because if I remember correctly, that woman wasn't nice, she had intimidated mom.My attention refocused on Cassie. Since she's already asleep, I won't wake her up. I'll clean up the presents and put them in one place so that she can continue later.But it's a good thing that her current sleeping position looks comfortable for her, because if I carry her, I think she might wake up.So I just brought a thick blanket for her
CASSIEMy sleep was disrupted because I heard the sound of someone talking, Jayden's voice with a woman. I wanted to ignore it but I couldn't, so I left my room to look for them. Turns out Jayden had a woman as a guest, they were in the living room. The woman noticed my presence, she turned around and looked at me with a smile, a strange smile. “Oh Cassandra, my dear daughter-in-law.”Mother-in-law? Why is she here?I thought her not-so-good relationship with Jayden would prevent her from coming here, but I was wrong. It seems like she's like Noah who doesn't realize that she's wrong. I walk down the stairs carefully. I haven't returned her smile either because I'm still watching Jayden's response. Suddenly Jayden pulled her arm. “You should go, you have said what you want.”“Let me hug my daughter-in-law first, and then I'll go.”Jayden growled, he looked so mad. And I guess they must have had a fight. “I told you that Cassandra is not your daughter-in-law,” Jayden said with e
CASSIE“Luna, are you sure you want to hang out with Mr. Noah? What if suddenly Alpha Jayden is looking for you and doesn't see you at home?”I took my bag from Karren, “calm down. He'll be home late, he already told me. If everyone in this house is quiet, then he won't know.”I had no time left, I had to get out quickly to see Noah so that he wouldn't stay in this house any longer because I was sick of him too. Turns out he was waited outside the car and opened the door for me. “What do you want to eat?” he asked. “I'll decide later when we're there,” I answered quickly. Keep in mind that here I was going out with him not because I wanted to cheat on him, I agreed to go out with him to build trust between us so that he would stop attacking me and I could stay here comfortably. He starts to drive his car and what makes me uncomfortable is that he always glances secretly at me. I know because it's reflected in the rearview mirror. “Does Jayden know we're leaving?”“Of course not.
CASSIE[I'm not coming home late because some work actually got done. How about we go out now?"]"Now?"[Yeah, is something bothering you? Are you not feeling well? Then let's go at night, you can sleep this afternoon.]That's not the case Jayden, but I'm currently with your stepbrother!"Isn't it still too early to go home? You're not being talked by your employees?"I heard his laugh. [I own this company, I have freedom as long as it's not malicious.]I bit my lower lip. At least he shouldn't go home now, not before I get home. "Enjoy your time too, you need some me time. I still want to sleep."[Don't worry, even if I come home early, I won't bother you, I won't enter your room until you wake up."Thankfully, at least I have time. "Okay, I'm hanging up, I'm so sleepy." I pretended to yawn to sound convincing. Then when the call hung up, I ran straight to the table. "Noah, I want to go home now.""But why? You haven't even finished everything.""Jayden's coming home, if he comes
JAYDENI actually sensed the strangeness of Cassie's behavior, starting when I called her earlier. I heard some noise around her, like she was in a crowded place, not in her room. But when I randomly asked some of the maids and guards, they said Cassie was home and in her room. "Why are you daydreaming?"I blinked my eyes. "Were you actually playing with the maids in the backyard earlier?""No, I was in my room. Why?""It's just that I heard another voice when you called me?""What kind of voice? Perhaps what you heard was the sound of the movie I was watching?""You were watching a movie in this room?"She nodded eagerly, "I do like to spend my free time watching movies sometimes. Maybe the voice you heard came from there."So that answered my curiosity. "You can watch it on the home theater in this house. The screen is bigger than watching on a phone.""No fun, if I watch it in bed, I'll fall asleep. I like it that way.""Aren't the radiation rays bad for the baby?""Oh come on
CASSIEThe third meeting with Noah is about to happen. Today he took me somewhere, his house. He told me not to worry. He'll take me to a safe place, that's how he assured me. Even so, I kept my guard up. I brought one knife from the kitchen that I kept in my bag. “Luna, where else are you going?” the butler asked worriedly. “Karren, I have no intention to make you worry, but I promise this is the last time I go out secretly like this.”“I'm not sure Alpha Jayden would believe the same reasons.”I closed my bag and patted her shoulder. “Then I'll make up another excuse. I'm not running away after all, Karren. I'm just visiting his parents. But you have to keep this a secret, okay?”She looked down limply, “alright, I'll do that. But not next time, Luna.”“I love you, Karren.” I waved goodbye when Noah's car arrived. I quickly got in and buckled up. “You look happy today, what's happening?”“Does it look like it?” I looked in the rearview mirror. “It's normal, I look like this ev
CASSIE"If you think about it, you'll find a reason why he didn't marry his fiancée when she existed long before you came along," Kylie said again, making the air heated. I've been thinking about it and I only got the answer a few seconds ago. I thought I was safe from danger, but it turns out I've just entered into a new danger. I was too naive to trust Jayden, whose past I clearly didn't know. I believed his story too much to think he was good. "Everyone already knows that Jayden is cursed?" I asked in a trembling voice. "Sure, it's even a common story. He's searched for many women with abilities like yours, but found none. Until you came by yourself.""Enough! Don't say anything more!" I covered my ears. Everyone here agreed to keep quiet and not tell me, meaning that either they were afraid of Jayden or they really wanted the heir to continue the throne without thinking about my feelings. "I told you to postpone it." I felt someone wrap an arm around me. "Let's go, the ban
CASSIE"Are you still mad at me, honey?"I just sighed. Since we argued about Paula, I haven't asked him anything. I purposely gave him silence treatment so he could introspect.It's true that he did introspect, but he also bothered me. He kept asking me questions that made my ears burn. "Do you want to eat something? Do you want something sweet? I'll buy you whatever you want. Just say it.""I'm just asking you to stop talking because I want to kick you out of here."Jayden mimicked the gesture of closing the zipper on his mouth but he didn't want to move away from me. "To pay for my mistake, how about I take you to a secret place that only you will know about?""What kind of secret place? I don't want you to make surprises and waste your money in the end.""You'll find out where I've been getting my money from. This is the first time I'm taking someone else there because I don't intend to tell anyone except my wife and my daughter. And you are my wife so you have the right to know
PAULADamn, Jayden really loves that lowly woman! How could he downgrade his tastes from a model like me to a slut he picked up at a nightclub? I'm not letting Jayden love her, he should love me. If that woman hadn't come to Pack Nexus, I would've been married to Jayden by now and I would've had a child with him. I'd be lying if I didn't love Jayden at first, I loved him, I just didn't want him to control me when he knew how I felt, so I pretended to be cold and ignorant. But I just realized that I can't continue like that if I want to get Jayden, I have to change, I have to fight for him. Even if he has a wife or kids, I can get rid of them to be with Jayden. I can definitely give Jayden a child too, not just that woman. To hell with the curse, it should be gone by now.When the news of Jayden getting married to that bitch spread, I didn't even get an invitation. Their wedding seemed rushed and like it wasn't a real marriage, aka made up. At least Jayden had to pick a woman as b
CASSIELuckily Noah was already gone when Jayden approached his car. Right now I'm not thinking about whether Jayden will smell Noah or not because I don't have much time to clean up the smell so let him ask if he wants to know. "Honey, how about we eat--" Jayden looks down at my shirt which I didn't realize had blood stains on it. "Are you hurt? Who hurt you? Did you get it treated?"God this is a disaster. Whose blood this is I don't know either. I didn't realize there was blood on my shirt at all. Between Noah and Oscar, it must belong to one of them. "I'm fine, I'm not hurt.""Then why is there blood? I also smell Noah's scent. Did he come here? Did he hurt you?"Jayden can't take this the wrong way, he has to know that Noah saved me. "Something bad happened earlier. Oscar came up to me and cornered me. Noah came and he helped me, but Oscar had a knife. But I don't know who got hurt between them.""Oh shit!" Jayden immediately took a wet tissue and wiped the blood stain on my
CASSIEI was relieved when Jayden believed me instead of asking if what I said was true or not. He had also met Paula last night right when he got home from work. Jayden said he'd gotten over Paula, so he asked me not to worry. And today he said he was going to see Oscar. I asked to accompany him but he refused. He said he wants to solve this problem alone with Oscar. The problem is I'm worried if it ends up in a fight. Moreover, Jayden is very easily provoked so I call him short fuse. I'll try to follow Jayden secretly, so I can step in if they start getting provoked by each other's words. Since Jayden said he will do it after office hour, that means there's still a few hours left since it's only lunchtime. I plan to eat on the rooftop because I want to get some fresh air. On this sunny day everything should be fine but because of Paula and Oscar, I can't even eat in peace. Honestly, I've been trying to avoid trouble but it's as if trouble is closing in on me. What kind of li
JAYDENUsually when I returned to the car, Cassie was reading or eating a snack. But this time she seemed worried, wringing her hands and not noticing when I got into the car.She's been acting a bit strange lately and I guess it's because she misses her father. Indeed, when she was there she seemed to relax, but when she came back it turned out that her temperament returned as well.“Hey baby, sorry for taking so long.” I kissed her forehead briefly and then put my things down.“I saw Oscar,” she said."Did you? He's an employee so he must be around a lot. So it's quite normal, baby."“He was with Paula.”This time I paused, trying to digest the information."They're talking about us, wanting to separate us. Oscar, he was sent by Paula. He was paid to spy on us, to be a barrier between us."I looked into her eyes to make sure that she wasn't under the influence of any drugs. Cassie's eyes were sparkling as usual and there was no way she was taking any drugs while she was pregnant. So
CASSIEThe miraculous thing I never thought of was that my fever was cured when I was in Pack Arcanum. As if to confirm that Jayden's opinion was correct that I had a fever because I missed my hometown.So today I can work again. I'm ready to solve the unfinished business in this company.It seems to be quite quiet this morning. Maybe it's because I came a bit early.When the elevator door was about to close, someone suddenly prevented it with her foot. I was a bit startled but after seeing that it was Sherly, I was somewhat relieved."Welcome back, doc. Are you feeling well?"I answered Sherly's question with a smile, “yes, I'm very healthy now.”“Sorry I prevented the elevator from closing.”“No problem, take it easy.”I could see from the reflection of the elevator wall that Sherly looked nervous. Actually, I wanted to ignore that too but her feet couldn't stay still, moving and tapping on the elevator floor.“Is there something you want to say, Sherly?”She immediately looked stra
CASSIE[So when are you coming here, Cassandra?]I bit my lip, unsure of how to answer Alexei.Alexei called me the next day because I hadn't given him an answer about when we would be visiting.[Are you still there, girl?]"Yes, I'm here. It's just.... I'm sorry, Jayden and I can't go there for now. We're still pretty busy and don't know when we'll have free time."[Is it because Jayden forbade you?]“No, how could he forbid me? He wouldn't be able to fight my stubbornness.”I could hear Alexei laughing from the other side. [Then is he the one who didn't want to come here to see me?]I can't be honest with him. There could be a second war. "He'll go if I go. But since the company is having some important events, his time is currently focused on it."[In meaning that he's ignoring you? You must feel lonely. You can come here by yourself and I'll teach her a lesson for letting you be lonely.]"That's not true.... father. He's not ignoring me and I'm not lonely either. The reason I said
CASSIE“Let's get to the car.” I pulled Jayden after closing the clinic door."Hey, what's up baby? Why are you in such a hurry? Is there something happening?"I couldn't tell him now, not while we were still out in the open space because the person I was going to talk to might hear. That's why I chose not to answer Jayden and just led him to the car."You don't want to talk in the open space? Okay, now say it, we're already in the car."I took a deep breath and locked the car.“It's something about Oscar.”"What's up with that guy again? He's bothering you? Tell me, if he was, then I'd take action against him."“It's more like he eavesdropped on our conversation yesterday, the first day I worked here.”“I don't understand what you're saying, baby.”"Okay, this might sound upsetting but please believe me. So, when you were looking for me when you came back from your office, you still remember that I said I was on the emergency stairs and was checking the stairs right?"“Yes, I still r
CASSIE“Sorry doc, Alpha Jayden is in a meeting so he's not in the room.” That was Sherly's response when I communicated that I wanted to meet with Jayden.“Thanks for the information, I'll be right back.”“Alpha Jayden was discussing your proposal yesterday and it was received enthusiastically by the team.”I stopped my steps. Honestly, I was so happy. So I turned around and approached Sherly again. “You also contributed to this, thank you Sherly, you have a good heart.”"It's my job doc. I really admire you for caring for others. You have a genuine heart," she replied.I didn't expect them to be this supportive. Hopefully, it was because they wanted to help others and not because the idea came from me, as Jayden's wife.“Can you tell him to meet me when he's done with the meeting?”“Sure doc, I'll make it happen.”“Thanks.”I wanted to tell Jayden about the message I got from Alexei. I was also a bit surprised to get a message from him after such a long time had passed. Luckily it w