Chapter 157 - Contract Wife Morning, My Darling CEO

Third Person POV

Catherine’s face broke into smiles as she clapped her hands in glee.

“Welcome to our family, Cass. Hurry now dear and sit down. We can gossip while eating,”.

“Thank you, Nana,” Cassidy nodded.

From behind her, Chad, who seemed to have faded into the background, reached for her hand and guided her towards a chair. His fingers brushed the corners of her eyes as he quietly wiped the flecks of tears lodged there and then leaned in and whispered into her ears,

“Welcome, Mrs West,”.

Warmth surged in her heart as she chuckled softly, feeling the comforting embrace of warmth around her. Since the death of her parents, this was the first time she was finally feeling at home. Everything just felt right.

Soon, the whole atmosphere lightened with a clatter of plates and spoons and scattered conversations. Cassidy didn’t come from a particularly large family, so during the festivities, it had just been her and her family, then Aunt Mabel and Mia, but experiencing this for the first time, she liked it.

She was making small talk with Chad when an elderly servant walked up to Catherine and whispered into her ears. The easy smile that had been on her face a few minutes ago suddenly tanked. Cassidy, who had watched the exchange, wondered what kind of message was passed to Nana that changed her mood.

Still puzzled, Cassidy opened her mouth to ask her what the problem was but swallowed her question and continued eating silently.

“Cass,” Catherine called out gently, “I have something to ask you,”.

Immediately, Cassidy put down her fork as she turned to her with a smile and said,

“Go ahead, Nana. You can ask me anything, I promise to answer truthfully,”.

The old lady was pleased with Cassidy’s response and beamed with smiles.

“Okay, let’s talk about your career as a director or rather, your acting career. Since you seemed to be doing both of them,”.

“Yes,” Cassidy nodded in agreement “I got into acting because I suit the role perfectly but I only want to be a director,”.

“I see,” Catherine nodded “How long are you going to keep working on set? Do you plan to do it forever?”

Cassidy’s gaze strayed to Chad beside her as she looked at him with uneasiness in her eyes. Chad frowned slightly, then leaned forward to dump a slice of tender lamb meat on Nana’s plate.

“Grandma, you should taste this. It’s simply divine, that’s the word for it,”.

“You rascal,” Catherine cussed as she swatted Chad’s hand “I am talking to my grandson’s wife. How dare you try to interfere? Do you want me to bend you over my knees and spank you?”

“Grandma, I wasn’t trying to do anything, I just thought you’d like to try this out. Which I still insist that you should,”.

Catherine gave him side-eyes before turning her attention back to Cassidy.

“Please speak dear,”.

“Directing is not just a career for me, Nana. It’s something I enjoy doing and I naturally want to keep doing it,” Cassidy responded with a smile.

“You want to keep doing it?” Catherine repeated with a tinge of unhappiness in her voice, but she kept her emotion in check. “If that is the case, won’t things like what happened today keep happening frequently?”

That was when Cassidy realized why she was asking. She was referring to the trending news about her and Adrian.

She quickly felt relieved as she hurriedly explained,

“Nana, please don’t get me wrong, Mr Moss and I are just co-actors and nothing more. You know the media has a penchant for blowing things out of proportion. Also, I have already explained the situation to Chad and he believes me completely,”.

As Cassidy spoke, she reached out tentatively and gently held Chad's hand. Chad’s eyes flashed slightly and, for a moment, Cassidy thought he would withdraw his hand, but at last, he interlaced his fingers with hers, silently affirming her statement.

“This isn't just a misunderstanding; it's reality,” Hannah chimed in coldly “As long as you remain in the entertainment industry, situations like today will keep happening. I’ve lost count of the number of times you’ve trended in this month alone. It seems with each day, comes something new,”.

“The media is just trying to leverage the situation to make sales,” Cassidy said quietly.

“If you truly love Chad, you will give up your job as a director or whatever. You could go into business, maybe join the family business and help manage the West Empire. You can either work with any of our subsidiaries or with Chad – your choice. It’s not too late for you to learn a new thing you know,”.

“But…” Cassidy tried to protest.

“Hannah is right,” Catherine nodded in agreement. “The entertainment industry is too chaotic for you to survive and you think it’ll get better with time, but I promise you, it won’t. You could also become a housewife if you want,”.

“What?” Cassidy stared at Nana (Catherine) as if she had developed a second head.

“Yes,” Nana shrugged her dainty shoulders “You could grow your family, have one, two or as many children as possible with Chad and live peacefully and happily. You cannot imagine how much joy you’d derive from that,”.

Cassidy's grip on her fork tightened. Moments ago, she had felt joy reuniting with her new family, only for it to dissolve into a stark realization of the fundamental differences between her husband's family and her own.

Both Nana and Hannah were practically asking her to give up her career as a director. The more the revelations keep coming, the more she realizes that her family was different from Chad’s. Chad and his family believed it was her duty to sacrifice her passion to become a housewife or another figurehead heralding the family business.

While their perspective wasn't necessarily wrong, she couldn't just accept it.

There was a time when both her mom and dad were mildly pushing her to take over the family business. Even at that, they still respected her wishes for her to explore the world on her terms and find something she liked the most.

Even when she had indicated interest in filmmaking, they allowed her to go to a television and film-making school to go learn and during the process, they gave her their unwavering support because they wanted her to always be happy. Her happiness was the top priority.

Even when she grew tired and bitter during the study process and wanted to give up, it was her parents who encouraged her. As long as she thought of them, she was filled with motivation and hope. She was determined to get better and better so she would prove to them that they had made the right decision from the beginning.

She has been building herself for so long. How can she give up now?

Cassidy’s gaze settled on Catherine. Her eyes didn’t look at Catherine humbly like they used to, neither did they look like she was joking.

“I’m sorry, Nana. But I cannot grant you this request. I want to follow my passion and my dreams. I just want to do what my heart desires,”.

“What does your heart desire?” Hannah yelled with contempt, speaking up before Catherine had a chance to speak “You’re not even considering, Chad. Whether you’re an actor or a director, you’d get together with this Mr Moss. It’s only a matter of time,”.

“How can you say that?” Cassidy looked at Hannah with surprise. “How can you accuse me of intending to cheat?”

“Because it will happen, dear. If not for anything, have you ever thought about your marriage? You’re barely a year in it and your husband has had to put up with all these scandals,”.

Cassidy turned to look at Chad with warmth in her eyes.

“What we have between us can’t be broken despite the number of difficulties that I’ve had to go through. I will do my best to choose a shooting location closest to him in the future and will make sure I don’t get entangled with the media like this,”.

“You think that’s enough?” Hannah hissed.

“I’ll do my best to make sure we never get separated again or for too long,”.

Chad, on the other hand, didn’t say anything. He just continued eating, slowly with his head down, concentrating solely on his meal. His calmness was making her panic. She wished he would say something.

Finally, Catherine let out a sigh as she looked up at Cassidy with a small wistful smile on her face.

“Honestly, Cass, I don’t want to quarrel with you, but this matter is not up for discussion. The only reason why you’re being told is because I’ve loved you long before Chad took you as his wife. I hope you can accept the terms,”.

“Nana…” Cassidy’s eyes widened in surprise, wishing she was dreaming.

“Why should you even insist on acting? How much will you make in the long run?” Catherine sighed again. “Making and taking care of your family should give you a sense of accomplishment compared to acting or directing. You should resign after you’re done with the current drama that you’re working on, OK?”

Cassidy gritted her teeth, as her eyes flashed with anger. She pursed her lips and it seemed like she was considering Catherine’s request. Then she shook her head slowly as she looked up.

“No, I won’t give up my passion for marriage. I have worked hard for this. Hard and long. My parents – God bless their souls-want this too. This is their dream and I’m not just going to throw it away. Please, Nana, don’t make this difficult for me,”.

Cassidy has always been well-behaved to Catherine West. Rarely has she displayed any form of stubbornness. Seeing her acting like this surprised Catherine the more. She narrowed her eyes as her lips thinned into displeasure. Her body suddenly exuded a powerful oppressive force, the kind she used whenever she wanted to command respect.

“Cassidy, you’re now a daughter-in-law of this family and it’s now your responsibility to care for both your immediate family and the extended family at large. You cannot do it when you spend the better part of your day working on a movie set. If you don’t want to comply with these terms, then I’m afraid I’ll have to reconsider my feelings towards you. Even if I do like you,”.

“Did she mean she would deal with her? And how was she going to do that? By stripping her of her title as a daughter-in-law?” Cassidy wondered in her heart.

Panic surged through Cassidy’s heart as she looked at Catherine West and Hannah West, who had their emotionless gazes on her alongside the gazes of their trusted old servants. They continued staring at her quietly as if her decision was a life-and-death situation.

Chad’s calmness and his blank expression were not helping matters either. Cassidy was sad, scared and disappointed in him.

As if to prove that, no matter what, he'd take her side, she turned to him, forcing the tears at the corners of her eyes, and asked him with a tearful smile.

“Chad, what do you think?”

Finally, he turned his gaze towards her. His handsome features were shrouded in the shadow of the light, his amber eyes shone with the light reflecting a thousand emotions that lay beneath his calmness above.

His lips pressed into a thin line of uncertainty and he said faintly

“Cass, you should step away from this situation.”

Blood rushed into her brain and exploded like fireworks, taking away the tiny bit of sanity that had remained hopeful that Chad was going to stand up for her. It was replaced immediately with endless pain and disappointment. She couldn’t think, she didn’t think she could breathe. How could he not take her side, especially in this kind of situation?

For the first time, she felt truly alone.

She thought this was a family dinner; one was you had to be yourself with expectations or judgement. But it felt like death row.

Slowly, she stood up from her chair, fighting back tears.

“I may not be able to do what you want and that’s because, just as you have your reasons, I also have mine. In the end, everyone is destined to stay on a path and I have chosen mine,”.

Cassidy stared at the emerald ring on her finger as a tear rolled into her eyes. It looked so beautiful on her but turns out she was fit to wear it then.

She exhaled as she removed the ring and placed it on the table, determination written boldly on her face.

“I’ll leave first,” she muttered, and turned on her heels.

It was so sad that she went with Chad, but she was now left alone. As she left, it felt like a part of her heart remained in the room. She welcomed the tears, allowing them to flow freely from her eyes. She was a mess – an emotional mess.

She didn’t want to take the bus in her condition, so she decided to walk. Outside, the world seemed a blur as she walked down the road, sirens wailing around her. Lost in thought, her heart felt heavy, burdened by a weight she had never experienced before.

The world seemed happy except for her…

Her heart was dead.