1:00 pm... Cassian...
On the other side of Pearl City, Cassian descended from the plane and made his way to one of the black Maybachs already parked on the runway awaiting his arrival.
Andrew, his driver, held the door open and greeted him, "Welcome, boss."
Cassian nodded at Andrew as a form of acknowledgement before he got into the backseat, with Randy entering the front seat.
He had received a call from Tokyo and had gone to inspect some merchandise in person soon after he left the Quinn estate yesterday.
He immediately pulled out his phone and scrolled through it. In the next second, his eyes darkened as he stared at the phone screen in deep thought.
There were text messages from Dr. David, Selena, and even the Iron Lady.
David wrote a long paragraph about how not taking his shots was still a bad idea since he had barely slept in four days.
Selena sent a report about forwarding the Japanese draft to his email. As for his grandmother, Cassian could already guess her antics; it’ll be about his progress with Isabelle, and he wasn’t ready to talk about that subject when the woman in question hadn’t even replied to his text.
’Is she still throwing a tantrum?’ He wondered.
He thought he’d at least get a "witty comeback" from her, but she didn’t do anything of the sort.
Cassian’s mind drifted to the past, to how little Isabelle’s eyes used to light up when he had just gifted her a box of chocolate or even something as insignificant as an ice cream.
She had been so easy to please, and her smile always made him forget who he was—the young heir of the Knight family.
The young boy was an adult even before he grew up.
When their families fell apart, he still wanted to keep in touch with the little girl who always followed him around.
Even though he had always acted as if he didn’t like her following him around, the truth was that she was the only person who treated him like his age, without any calculation.
A memory surged forward. Young Isabelle proposed to him when she had just turned eight.
"You must marry me, Brother Cassian. So that when I grow up I’ll take care of you."
"Who wants to marry a crybaby like you?" He had refused, and she had begun to cry.
She only stopped crying when he promised to marry her... Only her.
But things changed a few weeks after: the Quinns betrayed them, and Isabelle never replied to his letters even though he put his hatred aside and wrote to her.
As time went on, love turned into hatred and care into indifference.
As Cassian reminisced, his bloodthirsty aura was released in full blast, causing the temperature in the car to become freezing cold.
Andrew and Randy, who sat in the front passenger seat, couldn’t help but feel his murderous aura from their seats.
Who the hell decided to anger this God of death all of a sudden?
They both subconsciously reduced their breathing, trying not to breathe too hard and mistakenly incurring the wrath of the devil in the back seat.
By the time Cassian realised, he had dialled Isabelle’s number.
The first call went unanswered, and Cassian’s jaw clenched so hard that one could hear him gnashing his teeth.
He knew she must have been awake by now, so why wasn’t she picking up his calls?
He dialed the number again, and this time the phone was picked up after the first few rings, followed by a man’s voice.
"Who is this?"
Cassian cursed under his breath when he recognised Ryan’s voice.
"Where’s Isabelle?" he asked, his tone cold.
"She is busy. You can leave a message. I’ll tell her," Ryan answered.
"No need." Cassian hung up after those two words.
Cassian clenched his hand so hard around the phone that the screen cracked.
His mind couldn’t help but replay every tiny detail and reaction he observed between Ryan and Isabelle.
He discarded his phone and cracked his knuckles, with his mind scanning everything he’d stored in his brain like a slideshow.
Isabelle kept her distance from Ryan all through the ceremony, even though she had told him they were close because they grew up together.
... And Ryan’s gaze.
That wasn’t how a brother looked at a sister... That was obsession.
And that look on their faces when they exited that room...
"That wasn’t a reunion between siblings ... that was damage control."
No, something didn’t add up.
"When am I going to receive updates about the investigation I asked you to do on Isabelle Quinn?" He asked.
Randy immediately straightened in his seat.
"It should be already on your desk by now, boss," Randy replied.
"Good."
He said one word and leaned against the seat, closing his eyes.
But his mind?
It kept spinning...looping...finding clues.
"The man I’m in a relationship with—"
He kept thinking about the man Isabelle kept talking about.
How her breathing changes when she lies. The hallway tension with Ryan.
The kiss... and her reaction.
Then he realised something.
Isabelle was a good liar... but her body doesn’t lie.
The contradiction should have put him off, but instead, he was intrigued.
’Why am I still thinking of you, Isabelle?
What are you hiding?
Why can I feel warmth when you touch me?
Why do I feel alive when I kiss you?’
He hated that he had no answer to his questions.
And Ryan, what is his role in all of this?
"Randy," he called, opening his eyes.
"I’m listening, boss."
"I need a background check on Ryan Morgan. Focus on his stay with the Quinns and everything between. Don’t look for what’s obvious. Look for what’s missing."
"Yes, boss. I’ll get to it right away," Randy said and began typing away on his tablet, sending instructions to the necessary people.
"...And Randy?"
"Yes, boss," Randy promptly answered, knowing his boss was in a bad mood.
"Track Isabelle’s real-time location and send me there. I want to know where she is before she knows I’m coming."
"Umm...Sure, boss," Randy answered, a polite smile on his face, but inwardly, he was itching to gossip.
Could it be that the boss was acting this way all because of Isabelle Quinn?
Was the world coming to an end?
Cassian closed his eyes again, returning to a little semblance of sleep, but his mind never slept.
"Let’s see how long you can keep running ... Isabelle."
If she was lying...Then he wanted to be the one to strip every truth out of her.