Chapter 14
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Inside Tristan’s office, the light was stark and cold.
Spread out before him were documents detailing how Cassie had been secretly driving a wedge between him and Annabel.
Among them was a stack of documents delivered by a private investigator, which included photos, recordings, transfer records, and even the testimonies of those thugs from back then.
“It was Ms. Lawrence who hired us. She told us to stage a show, and she’d pay us well…”
“She told us to pretend to harass her, but we were never supposed to actually touch her…”
“She said as long as Mr. Morse believed it, there would be extra payment afterward…”
Tristan’s knuckles turned white, his eyes swirling with an unreadable storm.
From beginning to end, it had all been Cassie’s self–orchestrated act. He had personally thrown the woman he loved into the abyss.
When the bodyguards escorted Cassie into the office, she was still wearing that coy smile.
“Tristan, why were you in such a hurry to see me…”
She barely got the words out before a stack of papers hit her squarely in the face.
“Explain,” Tristan said coldly.
Papers were scattered across the floor. Cassie glanced down and caught sight of the photos and transaction logs.
The smile on her lips froze.
“I–I can explain!” She crouched down, trembling as she scrambled to pick them up.
“Someone must be framing me! It must be Annabel. She hates me, so…”
“Annabel?”
Staring intently at Cassie, Tristan’s tone was oddly calm. He took the recording pen from his drawer and pressed play.
“It’s that bitch’s fault for not knowing her place. She deserved it…”
Cassie’s voice echoed through the room, shrill and malicious.
Her face turned ghostly pale.
Forcing a smile, she tossed the documents aside and slowly walked toward him.
“Tristan, you have to believe me. I didn’t do
any of that…”
Meeting Tristan’s cold gaze, her breathing quickened. “You have to believe me… I love you so much…”
“Love?” Tristan repeated the word in disbelief. He grabbed her chin and asked, “After everything you’ve done, you still have the nerve to say you love me? Isn’t that disgusting?”
“Do you think you’re any better?” Cassie suddenly looked up. The delicate look in her eyes had vanished, replaced by a twisted, seething hatred.
“Tristan, you were the one who came to me first and treated me like a substitute! You made me believe you loved me!”
She broke free from his grip and pointed at his
nose.
Sneering, she snapped, “You were too blind to see who truly cared about you! Annabel’s done with you. She’d rather give up everything and disappear than ever look at you again!”
Tristan’s pupils contracted sharply, his chest feeling as if struck by a heavy hammer.
Cassie let out a cold, mocking laugh. “You know what she left, don’t you? You’re the one who gave her that necklace. You’ve seen the surveillance footage in it… Wasn’t every single blow delivered by your own hand?”
The room fell into a suffocating silence for a few seconds.
Tristan suddenly laughed. He slowly stood up and walked over to her, raising a hand to gently caress her cheek. His movements were tender like a lover’s, but his eyes were terrifyingly cold.
“You’re right. I was blind,” he said softly. “So now, it’s time to correct the mistake.”
Before Cassie could react, the office door swung open again. Two bodyguards walked straight toward her and began tying her up tightly with coarse rope.
Cassie’s eyes widened in shock. The force nearly knocked her over.
“Tristan! You can’t do this to me! I.. I can pay you back that money!”
Tristan stepped back, watching expressionlessly as they cuffed her hands. “Pay me back? Do you actually think I care about that money?”
He leaned close to her ear, his voice soft as a snake’s hiss
“I’m going to show you what it means to live a life worse than death.”
Chapter 15
