Smoke screens
~Cassandra~
The male’s eyebrow rose when he saw the state of my undress, but he asked no questions. Once I showed my ID, the guard let me in and sent someone to notify Helen. Left alone, resting my back against the wall, I look at the reflection of me in a large mirror occupying the wall. I’m a hot mess. Besides tucking in the blouse to hide my bodice, I refused to do anything else. Perhaps I want to embarrass her, to make Helen flinch, get furious, lose her perfect façade.
The fire smoldering inside of me needs an outlet. And the target of that anger saunters into the room in her high heels and privileged aura, sticking to her designer clothes. Her hips move with grace as if she’s dancing as she strides toward me.
Perfectly painted lips stretch into a broad, plastic smile. “Thank you, Hans.”
He bows and waits on her.
I can’t take my eyes off her, perhaps because I have a sick fascination with her mannerisms that’s so outlandish to me. To watch her move or talk is like watching an old movie, with a strange language, spilling from people’s lips and gestures that look more artistic than natural.
Her perfect face glows with youthful beauty that makeup accentuates as her dress swishes around her long legs, emphasizing her lean figure.
“Cassandra, what a surprise to see you here.” She casts her gaze over me, and her mouth snaps shut in a tight line of distaste she fast hides under the mask of indifference.
“Could you please leave us alone?” She politely dismisses the concierge, who closes the door, leaving us both in a room decorated for the queen to lounge.
“This place is very high-end, Cassandra. You can’t walk in here less than perfect,” she stresses to me, pouring some drink from the bar that’s conveniently set up in the corner.
“Why not?” I taunt, needing her without those marble shields hiding the real person. I’m done talking to the fashion mannequin. It’s time to make her livid.
“Perhaps you grew up without any manners instilled in you, but you’re no longer poor Sandra, without money or respectable name. You are a Cade now, and you won’t be embarrassing our family, sauntering in with your clothes wrinkled and the smudged face of a prostitute.” She chugs the drink, coming closer.
“I would start acting like one the moment you start treating me as the Mrs. Cade I am.”
Helen flinches, cheek muscles twisting into a patronizing smile.
“We are a breed, Cassandra. You can’t do anything about your roots, just mimic us.” My mother-in-law is really pushing it today. I can feel the sharp edge in her voice, the subtle tremble in her hands, rage hiding under the refined mask. “Our family has standards, the name to uphold. You’re already threatening to stain it with your activities.”
“Is this why you decided to fight for my children because I don’t fit in your perfectly made world? Afraid I’ll taint them with my less than refined manners?”
Surprise crosses her attractive features before she masks it but not fast enough for me not to catch it.
“You’re unstable. Grief made you reckless and—”
“Aren’t you also a grieving mother? Aren’t you hurting, Helen?”
“How dare you!” she seethes.
“No, how dare you even try to separate me from my babies?” I raise my voice, pointing a finger at her with my eyes full of fire. “You’re not a better option for my kids. They lost one parent already, don’t you fucking dare to try to push me out of their lives, shatter their world. They deserve better than this!”
“We are not the same. Don’t you compare us!” she shouts, and then flinches, realizing she has done it.
When Helen’s eyes fill up with angry tears, she sneers at me. “You’re a walking disaster, and you earned this pain! You walked away from your dying sons, didn’t you? You don’t deserve my grandkids!” She twists a knife in my chest. “You don’t deserve to be their mother!”
Before her words can unmake me, I probe, “And you do?”
She steps back like I hit her in the chest.
“Tell me, Helen, why your sons ran away from the magnificent life you gave them.” I step closer, and she steps back. “Why did Lucas and Leif choose a life away from your empire, royal life, and pretentious society?”
Her gaze darkens, but soon her face twists in contempt, and she straightens her spine as if she’s about to launch an arrow.
“You don’t know a thing about my family.” Helen’s gaze fills up with shadows, but I still can’t understand the secrets hidden in their depths. “So, don’t pretend you know who we are. You don’t know my sons the way I do. I gave them everything. I was there for them.”
She’s running, refusing to face the truth and hitting me where it hurts because she doesn’t want to feel her own agony. She wants mine. That’s why she demonizes me. Because otherwise, she’ll have to accept responsibility, deal with guilt, learn to forgive.
My spine is straight like a rod and my gaze zeroes in on her, needing to make her bleed too. I’m not done with her just yet, and before she can counter me, I nail the last nail in that proverbial coffin.
“Your sons ran straight here, to me, away from you, for a reason. And you know what that reason is, isn’t it? Whatever it is, guilt’s weighing you down.”
Her frame trembles and hands ball at her sides.
“My children won’t be your toys for these twisted mind games. I won’t allow you to hurt them. Find justification for your past mistakes somewhere else, because I can make your life less perfect, Helen. Don’t you fucking dare to touch my babies!”
“Enough.” Our heads snap toward the booming sound.
Darren marches in the room with an air of entitlement like he owns this place.
“My driver’s waiting with the car outside. We’re going to leave the Royal Gardens and find a private place to talk.” His harsh tone invites no arguments.
Helen fixes her hair and follows Darren outside like nothing has happened. Drawing a shaky breath in my aching lungs, I straighten my blouse and leave the royal lounge, bleeding from the cuts my mother-in-law inflicted.
The ride to their penthouse is loaded with silence. Darren’s talking with someone on the phone, his voice quiet and calm, soothing the edge between us.
They’re going to sidetrack me, and it’ll resolve nothing. Darren tends to sweep everything under the proverbial rug and use the distraction to stop any arguments between us. Except we need to clear the air and finally face each other, level the ground.
After we depart the car, he steers us toward the private elevator into his penthouse. My heart gallops, sensing the fight ahead of me. Resting my back against the panel, I shut my eyes to regain balance. The phone starts to ring, and I dive into my bag, rummaging through its contents.
“Hi,” I answer breathlessly as soon as I find the device. When I exit the elevator, I walk into the far corner to speak.
“What’s wrong?” Mark’s raspy voice makes my heart palpitate faster for a different reason. My gaze snaps to both Cades farther away, pretending not to listen, and yet, judge every silent word I utter.
Hot tears threaten to spill in torrents, but I shove them back to deal with later. “I’ll need you tonight . . .” My plea gets stuck in my throat.
“I’m already at your house. Your children aren’t here. You sure you don’t want me to come?” Mark can sense something’s going on. He’s very intuitive about these things.
“I need to speak with Helen and Darren alone. We must straighten out some things. After this I’ll come home, I promise.”
“We have to talk, don’t we?”
My gaze fastens on the envelope protruding from my bag. It is proof of how far Helen and Darren are willing to go to destroy me.
“Yeah, we do. Mark?” I pause, listening to him breathing. “Stop keeping secrets from me. You need to trust me.”
I can’t be questioning his motives every time someone tries to hurt us. There are too many predators circling around us. W
e must present a united front. Especially, when the family acts as the enemy, and the ghost from his past is looking for the cracks to tear us apart.
“Some things, I can’t share with you, not yet. Promise me you’ll wait. Promise me you won’t run from me. I love you with everything I am. I’ll shred my skin and bleed for you, but I can’t open the door to those secrets all at once.”
“I just don’t know, Mark, if we have time to wait for perfect timing. There’s none, can’t you feel it?” My chest quivers as I recall what it’s like to lose people I love. And this love I feel for him is deep as the ocean.
“We’ll make time, Lovebird. Come back to me, let’s figure things out together. Bring your babies home. Don’t let the Cades control your life or use your children to hurt you. You’re their mother, you deserve respect. Just because you sympathize with them, it doesn’t give them the right to treat you this way. Stand up for yourself and your kids.”
My chest unravels, tears streaming down my cheeks as I take the time to let those supportive words sink in. I didn’t even know I needed to hear it, someone to validate what I’m about to do.
“Mark.” My voice vibrates as I step into the penthouse. “Thank you, and I will.” I disconnect the call and lock my gaze with Darren, nursing a drink in the sitting room.
“Where are my kids?” Even I am surprised how harsh and persistent I sound.
Darren winces, watching the dark caramel liquid swirling in the glass. “Cassandra, we need to talk.”
“Yes, we do. But first, I’m taking my kids home, Darren. Or, I could call the police and report a kidnapping. And God help me, I’ll make a scandal you won’t recover easily from.” I can’t believe I need to threaten them, but I can no longer trust Logan’s parents not to hurt me.
“You aren’t getting them.” Helen strolls in the room before Darren can respond. Blazing hatred in her eyes so potent it saturates the air I breathe.
“I’m their mother, and they’re my responsibility. So, you have five seconds to comply or this day will end up in fireworks.”
“Go ahead, let’s see how it ends. Soon, you’ll receive a summons to court. We have enough evidence to claim the custody of these poor children who live with a mentally unstable mother. No one will listen to you. We have all means to prove how unsafe you are, especially after the degrading recording circling around.”
Darren chugs his whiskey in one gulp, refusing to meet my eyes. So, this is how it’s going to be? She hinted once in the States she wants their custody, but Lucas and Leif put a stop to it. That’s why after press died down, I packed my bags and went home. I couldn’t trust them anymore. It was the last straw that reinforced my decision to go back to the UK.
“And you’re the stable one?” I arch my eyebrow and straighten my back. “How about this, Helen, I’ll ask the court to retrieve medical records, including your psychiatrist observations of your mental state.” I also have a few aces up my sleeve. I learned from my mistake back then.
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“You’re wrong. If you make me fight for custody of my children, I will.” I pause, letting her take it in. “Besides, my records state I’m in control of my issues, but if I request to analyze your emotional state, they’ll find a different story.” Lucas and Leif will testify. I know they won’t stand for this.
My gaze turns to Darren, and he lowers his eyes to the ground, knowing precisely what I’m getting at. Helen isn’t coping well. She’s lashing out because it’s easier. We’re all waiting for her to accept his death, like most of us did.
“How dare you judge me? Look what you did to my son. You tore our family apart, and now you threaten us? Who the hell do you think you are?” She trembles, seething. “If you’d never met, my son would be alive.”
Her words reverberate through me, shaking the foundation I built, slipping past the shields. To stop emotions spilling out of my chest, I bite my wobbling lip, hard enough to break the skin. God, it hurts. A huge part of me even believes it.
No matter how hurtful her words are, how scared I am of her power to destroy me, I remind myself she’s grieving. It takes everything to talk to her with the kindness she’s not giving me.
“You’re right.”
Those eyes full of raw sorrow find mine.
“No one knew that at the end of it, Logan would lose his life.”
Her frame trembles, nostrils flare, but she listens.
“Logan chose to stay with the woman he barely knew. Because you both gave him everything the young child needed. He was drawn to do the same for his children, to build a family. He was the man you raised him to be, Helen. Let him keep his honor, forgive, and accept his choice.”
Helen collapses on the floor as a wail rips through her chest, piercing the air with her sorrow, resonating with mine.
25
Creek of Secrets
~Cassandra~
The glass of dark golden liquid pushed into my hands wakes me up from my mental stupor. Darren winces, looking at me until I realize why. My blouse is gaping open. I tighten it up and chug the drink into my mouth to numb the embarrassment. Gasping as it steals my breath and my eyes water.
“Good, isn’t it? This one is from the brewery in Brazil.” He helps himself to another one, but I shake my head as soon as he turns to fill mine. The silver fox who reminds me of his sons has lost weight. His face looks ashen, and his hands shake slightly as he drinks.
“She doesn’t hate you, not really, you know? Helen is . . .” He chokes and sets the glass on the coffee table as he sits down. His eyes rise to meet mine. The despair in their depths hits my chest, robbing it of my breath.
“You want to fight me for custody of my children. You collected evidence about how unfit a mother I am. And now, you look at me begging to understand you. You both have enough power to leave me broken and alone.”
I grab my bag and retrieve the envelope, slapping the documents on the coffee table next to him, feeling anger coming back with a vengeance. “Incriminating photos, text messages, therapy reports. You have everything ready to destroy me. Separate me from my children. And yet, here we are.”
“The court will never do it. Your reports also state that you’re stable and in control of your former issues. You've done an amazing job taking control of your life. Our grandkids are in great hands. I thought you should know that, Cassandra.” This doesn’t make sense.
“So why are you filing for custody then?” And when it hits me, my eyes get so big, and my words get stuck in my mouth.
Darren closes his eyes. His nostrils flare as he rubs his face. I finally see a man who’s in despair to help his wife by feeding her obsession for vengeance.
“She’s spiraling out of control. She doesn’t sleep or talk with anyone for days. I don’t know how to help her. All she thinks about is this ambition to save our grandkids from you,” he admits, staring at the family photo hanging on the wall behind my back. “I tried to keep you both apart as soon as I noticed how much she blames you. But it only gave her more time to brew her emotions in that anger and hate.”
“The therapy . . .”
He shakes his head, and I get silent, and the first tears slide down his cheek.
“She refuses to accept help. Helen is a stubborn woman, Cassandra. After these years of trying to keep the peace, I don’t know how anymore. Helen believes you’re going to ruin us. The thing is, I don’t know if she’s wrong.”
“I belong to this family, Darren. I’m part of it. My sister married your son, my children are your grandkids, and your sons love me as their sister. We’ll never be able to ignore this connection. You can’t erase me from this family. If you hurt me, you’ll hurt the rest of them. That’s how it works. I bleed, you bleed with me. Even if you make me the evil person in this story, you won’t be able to fix this family without me.”
“I’m starting to realize that, but Helen isn’t willing to accept the truth. She’s trying to protect Mark from you.”
�
�Perhaps you should stop enabling her.”
His eyes snap to mine, lips parting, but almost in an instant fall shut in a tight line.
“You’re the one who’s giving her reason to believe she’s right. How about you start telling the truth? Shielding her isn’t working. And hurting me will not heal her, won’t fill the void in her heart. The hate will only make it larger.”
Darren stares at me with a cryptic expression I can’t decipher. But my hair stands on ends and my heart palpitates with unease. The shadows in those eyes are unnerving. The knowledge he’s holding back is capable of unraveling me.
What are you hiding from me, Darren?
My instincts tell me to be careful with my father-in-law. He’s the one holding all the cards in his hands. Right now, he reminds me of Logan. A cunning man with power and wealth, getting what he wants with a flick of his fingers. And power, like Mark told me, is a hungry beast. And I’m sitting next to the man who can crush me like an ant.
“Some secrets must stay buried. They can destroy a person, Cassandra. A lie can save the family, but the truth might be too devastating to accept.”
The insects crawl up my skin as he speaks in a grave tone, slipping under my skin. I heard this before. From Mark. I force my stiff neck to move, and my lungs draw in a breath.
“I lived through a lot. I can take the truth and survive the devastation, but I don't appreciate you lying to me. Keep your lies for your spiraling out of control wife, Darren. I’m not a delicate flower who needs someone to nurture her. I can deal with reality and make my own decisions.”
“Choose your battles carefully, sweetheart. I’m not your enemy. Like you said, I’m your family.”
Anger burns within me that he dares to patronize me.
“And yet . . . your actions beg to differ. The man who filmed Mark and me is your business partner. Do you know he’s the man who abused Mark when he was a kid? Why are you working with him, Darren? Is this how you’re going to fix your family?”
Tangled IN LIES (Book#3, IN YOU) Page 24
