If Adrian truly does love Cassidy, he should be ready to confront the people he has been together with ever since he was born.

Things can reach to the point where he might need to turn his back on everything he has used to be. It is either her or his family - he will need to choose.

​​

But then, she thinks that there is really no need for him to. She will cut him the slack and do him the favor of distancing herself first. This way, he doesn't have to trouble himself over which side he is going to join.

'I've heard from Asher that Grisham Donovan has returned to visit his grandchildren. I still don't know where he is now, but I need to stay away from him as much as possible. He did say that he would take care of him himself. Yet at any case, his grandson also has to know that he is the mastermind behind everything...' Cassidy pondered deeply as she stole a glance at Adrian.

'I know that this man is not a bad person - misguided, yes. It was already nothing short of a miracle that he used to be so kind to me in the past even though he was raised in such a household. He is good, and he can help us. However, I doubt that it will be easy. He might end up not believing me if I tell him about his grandfather, and even if he does, just what it is he can do to a close relative?'

For what seemed like the hundredth time, she recalled how he had chosen his family over and over again.

She doesn't stand a chance at all. Her presence is probably too little unlike them. Two months of genuinely spending time with him and five years of endless pining - she doubts those are enough to make him go against his own flesh and blood.

'Yeah. That's it. There's no use...' Cassidy thought with a downcast gaze, still traumatized by her newly-recovered memories - though most of them were still not that clear.

'Asher and the others will take care of Grisham Donovan. I, on the other hand, will just have to do what I have come back here for.'

---

Cecile has not particularly gotten close to Cassidy ever since she has become her pet, but she could tell that something changed about her right away.

She has called for her in the middle of the night. Now, they are meeting up inside her bedroom. For minutes now, she is only sitting in silence with her boxes of jewelry placed on the table before her.

For someone who has gotten deeply involved in a shooting incident, she acts strangely composed. She appears to be all ready for another battle - to surge right in the midst of raining bullets and blasting explosives once again.

In other words, she looks like she has one destructive scheme.

'Being chased by assassins could've made her emotionally unstable at the very least. Why did she return with such a stronger and tougher front on...?' Cecile grimaced at the possibility that Cassidy was going to exact revenge on those people who attempted to murder her.

'And if she is gonna do it, I have to be roped into it too. Great.'

This is not a kind of mess that the head maid ever wants to get into.

Leaking information and spying on the other members of the family - those she can do. But if the redhead ends up ordering her to pick up a gun or something, she thinks she might faint. She is too afraid of something like a head-on, death-dealing confrontation that involves bloodying one's hands.

"M-Ma'am Cassidy, I will do anything you want. But p-please, if you're going to recruit me to your revenge squad or something, d-don't put me on the front line. I-I can't hold a gun," Cecile finally had the courage to confess, fidgeting nervously all the while.

"Huh? Who said you gonna hold a gun?" Cassidy replied incredulously, silently wanting to laugh at her ridiculous assumption.

"B-Because Ma'am just seems so ready for a bloodbath-"

"Okay, no. I'm not. I get where you are coming from, but that is not how I do things."

"Which means you are indeed going to do something?"

"Why, of course. I never run out of what to do."

While Cassidy only flashes a mischievous smirk, Cecile tries to keep herself from shuddering. It is really as she has thought - something has changed about her. For a second there, she even feels like she has finally recovered her lost memories, which then fires her up to do whatever kind of revenge she is planning.

"Cecile, I'll be giving you these things as promised. I want you to do something for me again, and I want you to make sure that no one will ever find out about it..." Cassidy trailed off with a meaningful smile, patting the lid of one of the jewelry chests all the while.

"Give me a list of all of the Millicent's business partners, including their contact numbers. Smaller corporations that are affiliated with the family will do. Also, take note of those high-paying companies that have vacant spots for job applicants."

The head maid reacts taken aback by that, but she chooses wisely as she does not question further.

Cassidy does think that selling all her luxuries can be an easier way to go around this matter, but there is no way that her husband will not notice. Then again, all the money she possesses now is coming from him. He may as well turn out to be her sugar daddy if she is to ask for more without even doing nothing. Above all, she can't find it in herself to depend on him any more than she has.

'You can stop with sacrificing your life like that, Adrian. Don't bother sacrificing anything else. I will only give you nothing in return,' Cassidy brooded with a heavy heart.

---

When Adrian said that he would do better, he meant it - and without delay.

On their way back to their home residence on the next day, he has a list of places in his mind that he is secretly planning to stop by. He is going to take Cassidy on a date without her knowing it. That being said, he decided to drive this time instead of getting themselves a driver. The others will be riding on a separate vehicle, so it will just be him and her for the whole day.

'Oh, and the bodyguards too...' Adrian then remembered after glancing at the rear-view mirror of their car and catching sight of a couple of vans that were escorting them from behind.

'Well, that's a given. I don't mind as long as they'll only watch over us from a distance.'

Right then, he takes a moment to look at his wife who is sitting on the passenger's seat beside him.

Cassidy has been oddly quiet ever since she returned. Aside from asking how his recovery was faring so far and some other things that were related to his hospitalization, she didn't initiate any more exchanges. He understands that she is still greatly affected by everything that has happened, but at the same time, the way she is not acting like her usual self concerns him.

Adrian badly wants to know where she has been and what she has done for the past days. There is a lot of things to talk about. He himself also has many to say, including his recovery of his memories, their forgotten past, and the fact that he was already onto the mastermind of the assassination.

Those topics are all heavy to discuss, especially that one with his grandfather. He was not even sure how he would start the conversation. But eventually, he realized that they probably needed to take a break for now. There may be a lot going on, but they still have their lives to live - he still has a life that he wants to live with her by his side.

'Just one day... Even for just one day, I want to take her away with me...' Adrian thought firmly.

'I want both of us to be away from everything - at least, within a few hours. After this, I will have to tell her. I will reassure her. I want to confront all of it alongside her.'

Without looking, Adrian removes one of his hands from the steering wheel and places it on top of hers. Cassidy flinches a little in surprise the moment he intertwines their fingers together and squeezes her hand gently. She then finally turns to his side and finds him looking quite serious.

Whatever he is thinking now is making him appear somewhat determined and resolute.

"Do you want to go somewhere before heading back home, Cassidy? You can tell me anything you want. I'll give it to you..." he then started all of the sudden, surprising her even more.

"Just as I promised back then."

Cassidy slightly gapes at that, feeling like the promise that Adrian was referring to was also the same one he made during that summer day.