Chapter 45 Cassandra's Descent
Cassandra’s POV
The holding cell smelled like stale sweat and desperation.
I sat on the metal bench, my designer dress wrinkled, my carefully styled hair falling loose around my face. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
The plan was perfect. Frame the little bitch, get her fired, maybe even thrown in jail. Gavin would realize she was just another gold-digger trying to use him. He’d see that I was the only one who truly understood him. The only one worthy of standing by his side.
But somehow…somehow…he’d known.
The footage. That goddamn footage.
How had I not known about the camera in my office? I’d checked. Multiple times. Swept for bugs, disabled the obvious security feeds.
But he’d gotten me anyway.
Because of course he had. Because Gavin Cross didn’t lose. Ever.
I pressed my palms against my eyes, trying to stop the tears that had been threatening to fall since they’d shoved me into the police car.
My career was over. My reputation destroyed. And for what? For loving someone who would never love me back?
The sound of footsteps echoed in the corridor outside my cell.
I looked up, hope flickering stupidly in my chest.
Maybe it was a lawyer. Maybe there was still a way out of this. Maybe I could explain, could make them understand that I’d been coerced, manipulated…
The footsteps stopped outside my cell.
A figure stood in the shadows beyond the bars. Tall. Broad-shouldered. Face obscured by the dim lighting.
“You’re fucking useless.”
The voice was cold and very disgusted.My blood turned to ice.
“I told you,” the voice continued, each word dripping with contempt, “make sure the girl gets fired. That was it. One simple task. And you went ahead and ruined everything.”
“No…no, please…” I scrambled to my feet, rushing toward the bars. “It wasn’t my fault. Gavin, he knew somehow. He had footage I didn’t know existed…”
“I don’t care about your excuses.”
“Please, just give me one more chance.” My voice cracked. “I can fix this. I can still get to him. Gavin likes me. I have proof. He looked at me once for more than five minutes. He smiled at me. He…”
A harsh laugh cut me off.
“You’re really a pathetic fool, aren’t you?”
The words hit like a blow making my knees weak.
“No, I’m not…I’m not pathetic…” Tears streamed down my face now. “I can still be useful. I know things about Gavin. About the company. About his family. I can help you…”
“You were supposed to be discreet. Professional. Instead, you let your obsession turn you into a liability.”
“It’s not an obsession!” My voice rose, echoing off the concrete walls. “I love him. I’ve loved him for years. I’ve worked for him, stood by him, been everything he needed…”
“Everything he needed?” The figure stepped closer to the bars. “He doesn’t even know you exist. Not really. You’re furniture to him. Background noise. And the moment you became inconvenient, he destroyed you without a second thought.”
“That’s not true…”
“He broke a woman’s hand today. In front of a room full of witnesses. For touching his little pet.” The voice dropped lower. “Do you think he would’ve done that for you, Cassandra? Do you think he would’ve protected you like that?”
I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out.
Because the answer was no.
And we both knew it.
“He had footage of you,” the figure continued. “Which means he’s been watching. He let you dig your own grave and then buried you in it. That’s what Gavin Cross does to people who betray him.”
“I didn’t betray him…I was trying to protect him…”
“From what? , “You didn’t see what we all saw, did you?”
“See what?” My voice was barely a whisper.I sank to my knees, my hands gripping the cold metal bars.
“Please,” I whispered. “Please don’t leave me here. I can still help. I know people. I have connections. I can…”
“You have nothing. You are nothing.”
“No…”
“You wanted to play in the big leagues, Cassandra. You wanted power, influence, access to Gavin Cross. Well, congratulations. You got his attention.” The figure turned to leave. “Unfortunately for you, it’s the kind of attention that ruins lives.”
“Wait!” I screamed. “Wait, please! I’ll do anything! Anything you want! Just get me out of here!”
The footsteps continued, fading down the corridor.
“I said I can help!” My voice was hoarse now, desperate. “I know things! Secret things! About his family! About the Five Families! About…”
Silence.
They were gone.
I collapsed against the bars, sobbing so hard I couldn’t breathe.
This wasn’t real. This couldn’t be real.
Three hours ago, I’d been powerful. Respected. Gavin’s trusted executive assistant.
Now I was in a holding cell, facing criminal charges, abandoned by everyone.
All because of her.
Melissa fucking Hart.
That little nobody who’d waltzed into Gavin’s life and wrapped him around her finger in weeks.
I’d given him everything. My time. My loyalty. My devotion.
And he’d given her everything without her even asking.
Fresh tears burned down my face.
“You’re wrong,” I whispered to the empty cell. “He does care about me. He has to. I’ve been there for him. I know him better than anyone. Better than she ever could.”
But even as I said the words, I knew they were lies.
Gavin had never looked at me the way he looked at her.
Had never protected me the way he protected her.
Had never cared.
The realization was crushing.
I’d destroyed my life chasing someone who would never want me.
And now I had nothing.
No job. No reputation. No future.
Just this cell and the weight of my own pathetic obsession.
Somewhere in the distance, a door clanged shut.
I pulled my knees to my chest and rocked back and forth, mascara-stained tears soaking into my expensive dress.
“He’ll come for me,” I whispered. “Once he realizes I was trying to help. Once he understands. He’ll come.”
But deep down, in the part of myself I’d been refusing to acknowledge for five years, I knew the truth.
Gavin Cross wasn’t coming.
He never was.
The cell door didn’t open.
No lawyer came.
No savior appeared.
Just me and the crushing weight of my own delusions.
And the knowledge that I’d lost a game I was never actually playing.
Because Gavin Cross didn’t play games with people beneath his notice.
He simply erased them.
The way he’d just erased me.