“A date?!”
Cassandra nodded her head. The answer she said made Jessica frown. She took a sip of her cigarette, then let out a gray vapor from her mouth. Jessica was an active smoker and she was addicted to alcohol since she started the nightclub business.
“This is good, but not great.”
“See? You can't even judge whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.” Cassandra sighed, then took a sip of the mojito she had ordered at her best friend's Sun Bright Club. “I really didn't know that my plan would turn out like this.”
“Um, but I want to know something, Casey,” Jessica said, bringing her face closer and crossing her arms on the table. “What do you think... Antonio Franches is like?”
There was silence between them before Cassandra finally began to comment. She mumbled for quite a while before she finally started to recall Antonio. “He had a face that was... memorable.”
“Is that your way of saying that Antonio is handsome?”
Cassandra rolled her eyes lazily, then she pushed away her almost empty mojito glass. “I don't want him to look handsome, Jess. Remember, he killed my parents. I want him not because I like his handsome face, but because I want revenge. Again, it's all about revenge. OK?”
Jessica gave a short snort, she lightly tapped her cigarette into the ashtray on the table. She began to take a drag and filled the atmosphere between the two of them with the nicotine-filled smoke from her cigarette. “Well, can you stop talking about revenge and just describe how you see Antonio?”
Cassandra's smile brightened, she liked Jessica's reaction to being in a bad mood. “Well, he has a distinctive scent. A woodsy perfume, maybe. And, oh, whenever he speaks... I'm kind of intimidated, he really has power over other people.”
Jessica chuckled. “Sounds like Antonio is a sexy guy, um?”
“He's not sexy.”
“Well, but you remember little things about Antonio. That's a good development.” Cassandra could only smile and roll her eyes lazily. “So what about your date?”
“Antonio said... he wants to meet me for drinks.”
Jessica's eyebrows furrowed deeply. “Are you guys going to have drinks at my club?”
“I recommended your place, but it looks like Antonio has other plans.”
Jessica's gaze turned enthusiastic, she admired Antonio's demeanor just from the story Cassandra had made up. Putting the cigarette on the ashtray, Jessica patted Cassandra's shoulder and said, “He's a masculine man. He would totally dominate you in bed, Cassey!”
“Stop talking about sex, Jess.”
“Tsk, I can't. Everyone wants to sleep under Antonio's body and you have that chance, Cassandra Baker. You are one lucky guy.”
Instead of looking pleased, Cassandra gave a short snort and crossed her arms over her chest and squinted as she looked at Jessica. “Is ‘murdered old man’ part of the luck you're talking about, um?”
“Gosh, you're so stiff. I'd better go serve the guests.” Jessica got up from the chair, she smiled and waved. “Good luck with your date. Don't forget to use a condom, OK?”
“God, this is embarrassing.”
****
In an abandoned warehouse, Antonio sat looking at the paper in his hand. It was a sheet of paper that had just been given to him by one of his men, Harry. He was a well-built man, tall and had many tattoos all over his right arm. Harry raised his face in front of Antonio, then he began to speak.
“Old Jenskin is preparing his escape to San Francisco. Should we stop him now, Boss?”
Antonio crumpled the paper in his hand, then squinted. “The company's loss is ninety percent. He should be crying bankruptcy, but instead he wants to go to San Francisco. Looks like the old man's trying to trick us, doesn't it?”
Harry cleared his throat confidently. “Let me take care of it, Boss.”
There was silence for a few seconds, before Antonio threw the paper he had crumpled onto the floor. Antonio stepped on the paper, then lit a cigarette and began to smoke out of his mouth. Antonio pointed at Harry. “You know I don't like leaving traces.”
“I see what you mean, Boss.”
“You can go now.”
“Okay, Boss.”
After Harry left, Ben walked over. He stuffed both hands into his pants pockets, then lifted his face. “You've been getting some bad clients lately, Boss.”
Antonio chuckled, getting up from his oversized chair. At the base camp, he was truly like a king in his own kingdom. He was feared, respected, he was also respected and needed because of the wealth he had.
“Tsk. Those are ungrateful people.”
“But by the way... are you really going to date that young lady you met at the club?”
Antonio grinned, he took another drag on the cigarette in his hand and let the smoke out of his mouth casually. He put one hand in the pocket of his black pants, while the other hand held the cigarette.
“You know that Cassandra and I didn't just meet at the club, she was at the mall opening.”
“Do you think it was planned, Boss?”
“Ben, do you think... there will be any crazy woman brave enough to step near me?” Antonio dropped the cigarette in his hand, then stomped on it hard with his shiny loafers. “She even tempted me to climb into bed during our second meeting.”
Ben nodded his head slowly.
“This is going to be something different.”
“Not just different, Cassandra Baker... will be my perfect new toy. I wonder how she'll react if she finds out... that I'm already aware of her revenge plan.”
“Does she know you killed Marvin and his wife, Boss?”
Antonio shrugged, then continued with both hands in his long pants pockets. “No one knows who killed Marvin and Annalise.”
CHAPTER 1New York, 2013.A knock on the door made Cassandra turn around. Cassandra's blue eyes waited hopefully. A female figure appeared, she was wearing white overalls, and there was a brown stain on the bottom of her clothes, and it was even more obvious after her raincoat was removed."Aunt Claire?" Cassandra stood up from the sofa, she was very excited.As for Aunt Claire, she had a tired expression. Her face was wet because it was raining heavily outside. The raincoat couldn't handle the water that continued to fall on the ground. Aunt Claire wiped her face, patted her dress, and walked over to Cassandra."I'm sorry, Cassey."Cassandra's enthusiastic face changed quickly. There was still hope in her gaze. But Cassandra closed her mouth to hear more."The police will close your case.""Noooo! They shouldn't do that!"Cassandra pulled the TV remote from the table, she turned on the news channel. Breaking news on the television had just announced that the accident that caused the
CHAPTER 2Bright Sun Club, New York.The smartwatch on Cassandra's left-hand points to the number eight. The streets of New York City at night were filled with glittering lights. This city never dies. It's like the city has two sides opposite each other. Light and darkness. Day and night. Goodness and... badness.Cassandra took off her formal-looking clothes. She left the top two buttons of her white shirt open to reveal a noticeable portion of cleavage. Cassandra took off the coat that covered the shirt, then applied makeup with red lipstick and orange blush. She looked at herself in the mirror in the car, Cassandra looked like a different woman.Once she was confident enough, Cassandra got out of the car. She left her police identity on the dashboard, then entered the club like a different person.Jessica, one of Cassandra's closest friends had just waved her hand in the air, signaling her not to get lost among the people on the dance floor.Cassandra cut through the streets, overta
CHAPTER 3"You asked for seafood?!"Cassandra threw herself onto the bed, she covered her face with her pillow in embarrassment."You could have taken him to a motel to sleep together, but instead you asked for seafood, Casey?! Are you crazy? You missed your chance?!"Cassandra threw the pillow covering her face, then sat up and looked at Jessica regretfully. "Aaargh! I couldn't ask him out like that.""But you planned it!""I know, I know. But I've never slept with any man! I'm a virgin, it's too hard to pretend about that.""So why did you set a trap that you couldn't handle?"Cassandra whined like a child. She closed her eyes and began to sulk. "This sucks, Jessica!"Jessica took a cigarette from her jacket pocket, then began to light a match and burn the cigarette in her hand. Smoke began to fill Jessica's room as she smoked the cigarette. Jessica pointed at Cassandra on the bed and said, "So, you didn't ask for Antonio's number?""I left my number on his cell phone.""You were ho
CHAPTER 4The opening ceremony of the Mall in the city center has finally been completed. Antonio Franches stood with an exclusive audience to cut the ribbon covering the Mall's main entrance. Seven Star Mall. A new mall that would fulfill the expectations of New York socialites.The Mall owner had borrowed huge sums from Antonio Franches, but it was covered up and manipulated as a 'venture capital fund' system to keep the Mall owner's rottenness out of the public eye. Antonio didn't care about the name. For the forty-year-old, it was all about business. Antonio would receive huge profits from the interest he gave to the Mall owner. He didn't care about the little details that didn't benefit him.The ribbon was finally cut and the ceremony was over. Meanwhile, Antonio didn't go inside the Mall to be interviewed at the press conference with the city's media, instead, he walked up to Cassandra on the other side and started talking."Are you okay?"Cassandra knew that this was out of her
CHAPTER 5Cassandra's mind raced, taken aback by Antonio's question. Her original plan, driven by a desire for revenge, suddenly seemed dangerous. She had to think fast, to create a story that would satisfy his curiosity without revealing her true intentions."No, not the police," she said, her voice remaining calm despite her nerves. "I'm here representing a small fashion magazine. We're always looking for the next big thing, and the opening of Seven Star Mall seemed like the perfect event to cover."Antonio seemed to accept her explanation, nodding thoughtfully. "A fashion magazine, that's interesting. It must be quite challenging to keep up with all the latest trends and events," he mused, his gaze fixed on her as if trying to unravel the truth behind her words.The conversation shifted to lighter topics, allowing Cassandra to breathe a sigh of relief.As the dinner progressed, the atmosphere between them grew more relaxed. Laughter and shared stories filled the air, creating a bub
The sunlight sneaking through the cracks in the window made Cassandra blink softly. Her head hurt so much, it felt like it was spinning and it was really heavy.Cassandra raised her hand, then massaged her head lightly and began to look around. Wait a minute! Finally, Cassandra realized that she wasn't sleeping in her bedroom.“What the hell?!”Cassandra's blue eyes scanned the surroundings, at the hotel room booked by Antonio Franches last night. Cassandra couldn't hide her shock as memories of last night's events began to play vividly in her head.“Antonio and I... kissed?”Panicking, Cassandra immediately got up from her very comfortable bed. She looked at herself in the mirror, a complete mess. Cassandra held her head, trying to recall... whether Antonio and she... had sex last night, or not.“Shit! I don't remember anything because I was drunk.”Cassandra's eyes wandered around again. In such a large room, it seemed she was alone. And to answer the question in her chest, Cassandr