Chapter 68 The Peace I Couldn’t
Marcus then turned to me and let out a small awkward laugh.
“I was just as shocked to hear my name like that,” he said.
Then Cassandra smiled and moved to the center of the living room.
“It’s not that serious though… your mother told me about Marcus.”
My eyes narrowed slightly.
“My mother?” I asked.
“Yes. She told me you both started your company from scratch. She even showed me the pictures you took at your company’s anniversary last year,” she added casually, her hands on her waist.
Oh. The anniversary.
I remembered the picture and knew my mother always over-shared whenever she saw someone who cared to listen.
I looked at Cassandra, trying to see if there would be any crack in her expression.
But there was none.
“And you just recognized me from the picture?” Marcus asked with a small smile on his face.
“Sure… I have a sharp memory.”
Maybe I had overreacted because I mean… There was no logical reason for them to know each other.
“That’s great… " It’s nice to meet you,” Marcus said, extending a hand to her.
“Same here… I’m Cassandra. I know you would have heard about me too,” she chuckled.
“Yeah. Alex told me so much about you,” Marcus retorted, his lips curling into a small smirk.
“Oh… I see,” she muttered, her gaze moving slowly to me.
“I hope he said good things about me.”
I quickly looked away, pretending to clear my throat.
“He did,” Marcus laughed.
“Alright. I will leave you guys to it,” she said and walked away.
When she was completely out of sight, Marcus walked up to me and whispered.
“I should have told her everything you said about her was bad.”
“You should have tried,” I scoffed.
“Are you scared of her?”
“Get out,” I muttered.
Then he laughed out loud and walked over to the bar shelf.
After drinking for a few hours, Marcus left and I went to my room.
I made sure my door was locked, and I jumped into bed.
I stared at the ceiling for a while before reaching for my phone.
I scrolled through Pixtagram for a while and stumbled on Joan’s new post.
She posted a video of the new project she was working on, which made me go through her page.
I found out that she was following Dave and he followed her back.
I felt a knot in my chest as I stared at Dave’s name.
Then I exhaled slowly.
She was allowed to follow whosoever she wanted, and she didn’t have to stay suspended in the same place I left her.
So why was I bothered?
Still, the idea of another man watching her smile up close, and spending time with her unsettled me more than Cassandra’s presence in my house.
I locked my phone and tossed it to the bed beside me.
After three minutes of pretending I didn’t care, I picked my phone up again, unlocked it, and opened our chats.
My last message to her was still there, unanswered.
“What am I even going to say?” I mumbled under my breath as my thumb hovered over the screen.
I locked the phone again, then unlocked it immediately as if I was fighting myself.
Then I typed:
“I saw your project. It looks good.”
I stared at it for a while then I deleted it again.
I hated myself at that minute.
I hated that I needed to rehearse before talking to her now.
After a few seconds of hesitation, I finally summoned the courage, and I began typing.
I typed it. Deleted it. I typed it again and I stared at it for a few seconds.
Before I could rethink it again, I quickly sent it.
JOAN COLE’S POV
I heard a soft beep from my phone and reached for the bedside table to pick it up.
On the screen was a new message from Alex.
I unlocked my phone and opened the text.
“I know I hurt you, and I won’t justify it. I’m handling my responsibilities and I won’t drag you into it. I hope you find a place in your heart to forgive me, and I hope someone gives you the peace I couldn’t.”
“Handling responsibilities,” I chuckled, but it sounded dry even to me.
Because the truth was… a tiny part of me wished he kept reaching out.
Then I stared at the message for a long while and sighed.
My thumb hovered over the screen as I thought about whether to reply or not.
I had many things to say but none of them felt right.
I read the line where he said he hoped someone would give him peace, but he didn’t and I chuckled again.
Then I locked my phone without replying and placed it on the bed face down.
I turned off the lamp and just let sleep come.
A few weeks later, Jane’s workspace redesign was done and she was so happy with the outcome.
My team outdid themselves.
She insisted on taking us all out to dinner to celebrate a job well done.
When we got to the restaurant she chose, we all sat down and shortly after food and drinks were served.
“To vision and talent,” she raised her glass.
I chorused the toast with my team and we all clinked glasses.
We talked and laughed.
Some of my team members said they didn’t expect Jane to be so humble while she laughed at all of their jokes.
Soon, the dinner ended.
My team members all left and I was left with Jane. I couldn’t leave her alone, because her driver took a long time to pick her up.
“So how’s your brother and the other pretty lady?” she asked, looking up from her phone.
“Oh, they are very fine. Thank you,” I smiled.
“I would really love to meet them again,” she started.
“That’s no problem,” I muttered.
“I will…”
“I can come over to your place, right?” she said before I could land.
“Sure,” I muttered immediately.
A few minutes later, her driver arrived and we set out to leave.
When we got outside, I saw a car that looked like Alex’s, and just as I wanted to shift my gaze to the plate number, the door to the driver’s side opened.
And Alex stepped out…
I could feel a strong pull in my stomach even before I saw his face.
Then the passenger door opened.
And Cassandra stepped out right after him.