"Cassian, you’re running out of time. The family expects you to be settled. Engagement talks won’t wait forever."

He clenched his jaw, the weight of generations pressing down on him. His passion for music, the life he chose far from boardrooms and suits, suddenly felt like a distant dream slipping away.

"I’m interested in someone," he said steadily, forcing calm into his voice. "The girl who saved my life."

The silence stretched. He imagined his mother’s sharp gaze piercing through the phone, dissecting his words for weakness.

Was she angry? Disappointed? Or simply calculating the damage?

He wasn’t sure. But he didn’t care. Not anymore.

He wasn’t going to pretend to be someone he wasn’t—at least, not this time.

He knew the family would move quickly now. Find this girl, thank her… and likely warn her off.

But Cassian’s heart hammered with stubborn hope. Maybe she was the one who could pull him from suffocating expectations.

Maybe, just maybe, this time it would be different.

---

Later, Cassian’s phone buzzed again. He picked it up, eyes lighting as he saw Elara’s name.

“How’s your assignment going? Still holding up under pressure?” he typed, trying to sound casual, though his heart thrummed with something he couldn’t name.

The reply came quickly.

“It’s okay. Just the final part left. I’ll manage.”

Their conversations were simple, polite. To Elara, they were nothing more than exchanges between acquaintances—pleasant but distant. To Cassian, each message was a thread weaving him closer to something he’d never expected to find again.

But the calm was fragile.

Behind closed doors in the Rhys estate, Eleanor Rhys’s lips pressed into a thin line as she shared the news with Vivienne Langley.

“So he’s found her,” Eleanor said, her voice cold but controlled.

“We must act quickly. Find her before this... distraction grows roots.”

A call was made, crisp and discreet, to a private investigator—the wheels of a carefully orchestrated plan beginning to turn.

Meanwhile, across town, Elara moved through her day, unaware of the eyes watching, the plans unfolding.

Yet that evening, as she closed her laptop and peered out the window, a shadow flickered at the edge of the garden. A car idled too long across the street. The hair on her neck prickled.

She told herself it was nothing. Just nerves.

But deep down, she knew the quiet was about to shatter.

And nothing would ever be the same again.

Author’s Note:

Thank you all for reading and supporting the story so far! I’m excited to share that I’ll be releasing two new chapters every day to keep the momentum going. Things are heating up—Cassian’s family is closing in, and Elara’s life is about to change forever. Stay tuned and don’t forget to leave your thoughts—I love hearing from you!