Semua Bab Bound By A Broken Night: Bab 21 - Bab 30

Cassidy claimed her place beside Zandrie after the polite exchanges with Jefferson and Zabrina, her posture perfectly composed and her smile flawless as they continued greeting the approaching guests.“Your woman seemed not to know her place—until now,” Cassie murmured when they finally had a moment of privacy.Zandrie turned to her, studying her expression as if weighing her words. Cassie met his gaze calmly, unflinching.“Nissa?” he muttered, his eyes subtly scanning the crowd as if expecting the woman to appear.Cassie’s lips curved faintly. “Arrogance can be dangerous,” she said evenly. “I’ve never interfered with your rendezvous, Drie. But lately, too many people seem interested in stirring the pot—your marriage, your private activities.”Her eyes swept across the room, taking in the guests with effortless grace.“Being a CEO—and the face of every business transaction bearing my name—isn’t your only responsibility,” she continued.“You also have an image to uphold—as a respectabl

"Dad called.”Zandrie rushed in the instant Cassie opened the door, urgency etched across his face.“What’s wrong?” she asked, brows drawing together as she followed his frantic movement.“Jameson and Jeff are in serious trouble,” he said quickly. “Those two idiots brought women back with them.”Cassie gave a quiet, humorless chuckle and shrugged.“And that’s new? You’ve done the same often enough.”“This isn’t that,” Zandrie snapped, pacing the room as he dragged a hand through his hair. His agitation filled the space. “The women called security. They’re claiming they were forced—beaten.”He stopped abruptly, jaw clenched.“If this leaks, Father is finished. The Holt name will be dragged straight through hell.”The trace of amusement vanished from Cassie’s face. Her eyes narrowed, sharp and calculating, as she weighed the implications.“What hotel?” she asked evenly.“C&M Hotel.”She reached for her coat without hesitation.“Tell Mom, Kai will be staying with her a little longer.”

"Another conquest,” Zandrie said lightly, sliding a slim folder across the desk toward Cassie, a satisfied smile tugging at his lips.Cassie’s gaze dropped to the folder, but she didn’t open it. She didn’t need to. She already knew what it contained.“The documents are finalized,” Zandrie continued as he settled into the visitor’s chair across from her—her chair, the one she occupied every time she visited his office.“The acquisition of the AI firm is complete.” He leaned back, folding his arms. “Soon, it’ll be known as KaiTech Solutions.” Pride and quiet triumph colored his voice.Cassie merely hummed in response, spinning her chair slightly left and right, as if the weight of another acquisition was no heavier than a passing thought.“You’re insane, you know that?” Zandrie added with a chuckle, casting her a sideways glance.“Most women your age are collecting luxury bags, shoes—living carefree lives.”Instead, he gestured around the room, then toward the city beyond the glass wal

"Are you okay, Cassie?”Drie’s voice cut through the haze, sharp enough to pull me back into the present.Six years. And here I was—returning to my birthplace.The city that had watched me fight for a sliver of space I could call my own, only for me to realize, far too late, that I had never been given one to begin with.Earlier, during the flight, I had stared out the airplane window. As the familiar outlines slowly emerged below, conflicting emotions closed in around me—longing and fear, twisted so tightly together I couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began. The realization unsettled me more than the sight itself.For six years, I had lived in a foreign land with nothing but the brilliance of my mind, my stubborn resolve, and borrowed money from the Pierces hanging over my head like a gamble I couldn’t afford to lose. Every move I made had carried the weight of that debt—and the risk of failing the people whom I have learned to care.Yet I had built something from nothing.

“I’ll give you time to explain it to your daughter,” I whispered before stepping away from her grasp.“Bitch,” she spat under her breath, her glare sharp enough to cut.“What nonsense are you spouting, Cassie?” Mirriam demanded, turning to me when she received no answer from her mother.“I’m not sure myself, Mirriam,” I said lightly, feigning innocence as I looked back at Rima Knowles. “Only your mother can explain it to us.”Rima’s composure finally cracked.“You really wasted no time causing trouble the moment you returned,” she snapped, her face flushing a deep, furious red. “Do you think you’re braver now?”She stepped toward me, fury blazing in her eyes. If looks could kill, I would have been on the ground.“How dare you weave lies about me?” she hissed. “Are you trying to destroy my family?”Then she reached for her favorite weapon.“Is this how you repay me for raising you in my own household?” she went on through clenched teeth. “I treated you like a daughter.”A short, humorl