Chapter 6
1472words
At the moment, Lily was sitting on Zane's lap.
With her arms around his neck, she acted flirty as usual, but he seemed distracted.
Although the doctor had told him Cassidy had no life-threatening injuries, seeing her wrapped in bandages made his hands tremble with fear. But hadn't he always just seen her as a bedwarmer?
"Zane, what's up with you today?"
Zane snapped out of it upon hearing her voice. Letting out a soft chuckle, he shook his head. "It's nothing. You just look so seductive today that I got a little distracted."
Lily didn't notice his half-hearted tone. With a smug smile, she lifted her skirt and boldly showcased her charm.
As Zane felt her touch, he suddenly found the strong scent of her perfume a bit off-putting. It reminded him of a distinctly different scent.
Cassidy hardly ever wore perfume, and the few times she did, it was always a light, floral scent.
Suddenly, he wasn't in the mood anymore and moved her away. "I'm not feeling up for it today. Let's do it another time."
Lily shot up and blocked Zane's path.
That only made him even more irritated, and he couldn't help but find her cheap.
Cassidy would never act like this. Even when she got rejected and was sad, she would never act this pathetically. If there was ever a time she had backed down, it was when he sent her to buy coffee for Lily.
When he thought about that, he immediately grabbed his phone and called one of his secretaries, John Williams. "Cancel Kayla's dismissal notice. Have her come back to work tomorrow."
After a pause, he added, "Be sure to send out a company-wide notice about it. Also, give her a 50% raise as compensation."
After hanging up, Zane finally let out a sigh of relief. He believed that Cassidy would forgive him once she heard the news.
The next morning, he went to the hospital to see Cassidy. He even stopped to pick up her favorite fruits on the way. Yet, when he stepped into her room, it was empty.
Frowning, he grabbed a passing nurse. "Where is she?"
The nurse replied, "Weren't you told, Mr. Bender? Ms. Hartman discharged herself early this morning."
Zane was in disbelief. "What? Her legs are still injured. She can barely walk. How could she be discharged?"
"We tried to convince her to stay, but she was adamant about it. She left right after paying her hospital bills."
The nurse sighed, worry etched on her face. "Honestly, I have no idea what's going through her head. She just had a miscarriage, and she left as if nothing had happened. What if something goes wrong on her way home?"
"A miscarriage?" Zane could hardly believe his ears. He grabbed the nurse's sleeve, his hands trembling uncontrollably. "Could you repeat what you said? What happened to her?"
The nurse was startled by his reaction. Stammering, she asked, "Didn't you know? She was pregnant when she arrived, but… the injuries were too severe. She lost the baby."
"Pregnant…" Zane muttered as he became unsteady on his feet.
How could that have happened? They'd always used protection. Could the baby not be his?
The thought barely surfaced before he quickly dismissed it. Cassidy loved him too much to betray him.
Still, he couldn't understand. If Cassidy really was carrying his child, why hadn't she told him?
Zane was a player. Over the years, he'd had plenty of flings, but he had one rule, and that was to always use protection.
To him, any woman who got close to him only did so for her own gain. If one got pregnant, the child would merely serve as a bargaining tool for wealth or status.
The only time he ever slipped up was with Lily. Not because he liked her, but because Cassidy hadn't delivered the condoms he requested, which annoyed him. That was why he broke his own rule.
In any case, what mattered most at the moment was to find Cassidy and get some answers.
He called her, but she had already blocked him. As he sped toward her apartment, all he could think about was how unnaturally calm Cassidy had seemed at the hospital.
After being threatened into buying coffee, getting into a car accident, and losing her baby, any person in the same situation would be utterly devastated. And yet, she had seemed unfazed, as if nothing mattered to her anymore.
A sudden unease gripped Zane, and he unconsciously floored the accelerator.
He jumped out of the car and dashed upstairs, leaving the car door wide open. The moment he opened the door, he was met with a stranger.
Zane's face went cold. He'd never met this man before. Could he be…
"Hello, I'm the realtor," the man said with a smile, handing Zane his business card. "The lady who owns this place is a really good person for letting go of this property for such a low price. It's practically unbelievable."
"She's selling this apartment?"
The apartment was a birthday gift he'd given Cassidy. She'd always cherished it.
Zane had never been treated this way. He knew he'd crossed the line recently, but he'd tried to make amends and even apologized. So why had Cassidy gone this far?
When he got back to his office, he slammed the door in anger, his face dark.
His employees exchanged confused looks.
Right then, Lily walked in with a smug smirk on her face.
The moment the door opened, Zane's head snapped up, but when he realized the person who came in was Lily, a look of annoyance crossed his face. "Why didn't you knock?"
Lily froze, looking slightly embarrassed. "What's wrong? Is the company in some kind of trouble?"
Her questions made Zane even more irritated. Pressing his hand to his forehead, he said, "It's nothing. You should leave for now."
Lily still had something to say, but Zane's expression made her sensibly turn away.
Just then, she heard him say, "Wait. Ask Kayla to come to my office."
Lily turned, puzzled. "Kayla? Wasn't she fired?"
"Fired?" Zane looked up. "I told John to have her come back and send out a notice about it."
It was only then that Zane found out Kayla had refused his offer to reinstate her.
John showed him the chat log. Kayla had texted, "I have no reason to stay at a company that fires employees without cause."
He let out an annoyed laugh.
In a single day, Zane, someone who had never known rejection, had been rejected twice. One was his longtime bedwarmer. The other was an employee he hardly ever interacted with.
How could these two "ordinary people" have the audacity to defy him, a CEO?
All of a sudden, Lily spoke up. "I'm no stranger to this push-and-pull strategy, Mr. Bender. I'm guessing they planned this together to make you cave."
His other employees nodded in agreement, chiming in, "She's right. Given Kayla's home situation, she must have an ulterior motive for not coming back."
Zane considered it and thought that maybe they were right. Moreover, his ego assured him that Cassidy would never leave him willingly. Even so, the thought of the child he couldn't save still left a bitter taste in his heart.
"If you ask me, Cassidy's getting way out of line. You might as well kick her to the curb already," Lily said.
She looped her arms around Zane's neck and laughed softly. "Mr. Bender, I want you all to myself."
Zane shoved her away coldly. "I've made it very clear to you. You're nothing more than my lover. You weren't the first, you won't be the last, and you'll never be the only one."
That day, just because of what Lily had said, Zane kicked her out of his office.
He'd had many lovers. Each one eventually said the same thing, and that always ended their relationship.
The only one who had never said something like that was… Cassidy.
Sighing, Zane recalled the stubborn look on her face. For the first time in his life, he felt like things were out of his control.
He was about to go to the garden for a smoke to clear his mind when he suddenly heard a familiar voice in the hallway.
"Damn it… He actually kicked me out even though he's usually super nice to me."
Lily was talking to someone on the phone. She said in a gentle, incredibly affectionate tone, "Mr. Conway, how much longer do I have to hang around him? Today, Zane made it clear he has no intention of giving me any status. There's just no way he would reveal any corporate secrets now."
Zane stopped in his tracks, stubbed out his cigarette, and slowly approached the hallway to eavesdrop.
