Just then, Simon called over, and immediately, Julia felt a surge of panic.
Simon’s family ran a hardware business. They weren’t very wealthy, but he was good-looking and ambitious, which Julia found appealing. So she chose him to go after Murphy Group with her,
She knew Simon all too well. If he found out what had happened to her, he’d definitely be turned off. So, she could never let him know.
Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself and answered the call, adopting a sweet tone. “Hey, Simon, did you replace Cassie?”
“She’s back at the Murphy residence.” Simon said, his voice deep The thug I paid off is also unreachable for now.”
The thug’s phone had been broken right in front of Cassie. Of course, he couldn’t get in touch.
“No way! Julia exclaimed, shocked. She had given Cassie a heavy dose of drugs. There was no way Cassie should have left the bar, let alone made it home.
“After all this planning, it’s still a failure, Simon said, impatience creeping into his tone. “I told you, Murphy Group
to get.
isn’t easy
“It’s not over. Julia snapped, teeth clenched, “So what if we didn’t get the photos? With Al face swap technology being what it is now, we can create something seamless. No matter what happened tonight, tomorrow our plan will go off without a hitch.”
After hanging up. Julia frowned, getting even more agitated. She felt something was off about tonight-Cassie, drugged up. made it home fine, and the thug had disappeared. Plus, there was that disgusting incident she endured. Julia’s heart sank. Could it be that C**ic…
But soon, Julia recalled Cassie’s usual airheaded self-like the type who would help count the money even after being sold out. She quickly dismissed the idea, doubting that Cassie had the sense to pull something like this off.
There would be time later to investigate tonight’s fiasco. She wouldn’t let any of those thugs go. But for now, she had to get the photos lined up before Cassie’s coming-of-age party tomorrow night. She couldn’t let this golden opportunity slip away,
The next morning, Cassie jolted awake from nightmare again. In her dream, she was back in the asylum, strapped to an electric chair, struggling against the current coursing through her body, while Julia and Simon stood in front of her, laughing like maniacs,
Outside the window, birds chirped cheerfully, and sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows. After a moment, Cassie finally calmed herself down. She reached out to catch a ray of sunshine, her delicate fingers clearly feeling the warm glow.
In the asylum, she had dreamt of sunlight too, but even in dreams, the light felt cold. So, this couldn’t be a dream-she really was back in the past.
“Wait, it’s already bright out. Mom, Dad and Grandpa should be back now: Without a second thought, Cassie threw off the covers, jumped out of bed, and rushed down the stairs, not even bothering to put on her shoes.
In the dining room, Lucas was peeling eggs for his wife, Anne, who was wearing a face mask and flipping through the latest fashion magazine,
Heston, with reading glasses perched on his nose, was deeply focused on the newspaper. “Look, Marcus’s forced another old business to sell our
Lucas scooped out yolks and placed the whites on Anne’s plate. le probably thinks he’s untouchable now, but I heard the
Anderson family is all after bim-hired guns, poison, you name it.”
“Good for him.” Heston grunted, still holding a grudge about the acquisition
Cassie stood in the doorway, watching the scene. Tears welled in her eyes as she kept repeating in her mind, Thank goodness… thank goodness…
“You’re awake!” Heston’s face brightened as he spotted Ca**ic. The stern look faded, replaced with a warm smile. “Come have breakfast. Louisa made your favorite pancakes.”
“Okay,” Cassie replied, taking a deep breath as she walked over.
“Happy eighteenth birthday, sweetheart. Lucas said with a grin. “Anne and I have put your gifts in your room. Did you open them yet? Do you like them?”
Cassie glanced at Anne, who was still reading the newspaper, acting like she hadn’t even noticed Cassie had arrived.
Growing up. Heston had always treated Cassie the best. Her parents worked overseas for so long that they hardly spent time with her. Lucas was decent enough, but Anne had always been particularly cold toward her, so their relationship had never really been great.
Things changed after the photo incident, though. Instead of being indifferent, Anne became protective of Cassie. But before Cassie could heal, that terrible car accident happened, and she never got the chance to reconcile with Anne.
Thaven’t opened them yet I woke up thinking about you guys and rushed down to replace you,” Cassie said, her eyes glistening with tears. I really missed you. Having you back with me is the best birthday gift I could get.”
“You missed us?” Heston paused, and his smile faded, replaced by a hint of guilt. “We’ve been so busy lately. I’m sorry we haven’t spent more time with you. I’ll make sure to do better moving forward.”
“You’re grown up now, and you still need us hovering around every day?” Anne put down the newspaper, removed her face mask, and handed it to a nearby se**nt.
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