Author’s POV
James didn’t answer immediately. He kept staring at Isabelle, his gaze searching... like he was revisiting a memory... and trying to match it to what stood in front of him now.
Then he smiled—an easygoing, harmless smile.
"You really don’t remember?" he asked her, his tone polite... "We seem to have met before."
He caught the panic in her eyes that she tried to hide. How her eyelids twitched and became even more certain.
There was no mistake. The face, the voice... even the hesitation.... So why was she lying about her identity? Why was she pretending to be another person?
She had already given herself away in the hallway when Randy introduced them. Randy introduced him as Young Master James, but she had called him Mr Anderson.
With such poor acting skills, how can she pull it off?
He wouldn’t be worried if it were someone else she was deceiving... but it was Cassian.
Cassian Knight.
Does she know what Cassian does to people who lie to him? People who betray him?
"I think you’re mistaken," Isabelle replied calmly even though he could hear the slight tremor in her voice. "I’d have recognised you if we did."
James chuckled softly. "Yeah... I don’t think you have any reason to lie to me," he murmured.
James stopped testing her. He didn’t want Cassian to catch on to their little secret. Besides, he had ways to uncover her secret himself.
He just didn’t like the fact that she was involved with Cassian.
However, it was too late because Cassian had already realised something was off. His gaze flicked to Isabelle.
"Isabelle? What is he talking about?"
Isabelle frowned, feigning confusion. "Your cousin thinks I look like someone he knows. And I don’t remember meeting him before."
Silence.
"What part?" Cassian asked, looking at James.
"I don’t get you," James said.
"What part of her reminds you of that ’someone’?"
James shook his head.
"She just reminds me of someone," he said. "Same face. Same voice..."
His eyes slid back to Isabelle. "...same habits."
Isabelle’s throat tightened.
Cassian didn’t speak. But his gaze sharpened.
"Habits?" He repeated.
James nodded slowly, like he was thinking out loud.
"Small things," he said. "The way she stands. The way she answers questions."
Isabelle’s heart slammed violently against her ribs as Cassian’s gaze snapped to her.
His piercing eyes felt like a physical weight pressing down on her.
"I’m not—" she started.
"Relax," James cut in casually. "I didn’t say she was lying."
He smiled again.
Cassian shifted slightly on the bed. Then he grabbed her wrist again, his hold possessive.
"Isabelle," he said quietly, eyes still on her face, "look at me."
Isabelle held Cassian’s gaze, his intense orbs locked with hers.
"Do you know him?" he asked.
The question was simple.
Too simple.
And that made it worse.
"No," Isabelle said.
Cassian didn’t blink. He didn’t even react; he just watched her for a long moment. Then he let out a faint chuckle.
"Good," he said, his voice dangerously low.
James let out a small laugh.
"I’m sorry for making things awkward," he said casually. "I’ll let you two talk... I’ll come back later."
James turned toward the door but paused before stepping out. He glanced back over his shoulder.
"Try not to stress too much, cousin," he added. "Wouldn’t want your recovery delayed... over unnecessary complications."
Cassian’s gaze darkened slightly.
"I decide what’s unnecessary."
James smirked faintly.
"Of course you do."
Then he left.
The door closed behind him, leaving the ward in silence. It was heavy and pressing. Suffocating even.
Cassian didn’t move immediately. His hand was still around her wrist. Holding her in place.
He knew James very well, and he could tell that look in his eyes.
He had known James since childhood, and James wasn’t someone who paid attention to women.
The man doesn’t even remember the names of the women in his company.
Apart from his childhood sweetheart he usually spoke about, all women looked the same to him. She was his friend’s little sister.
Cassian remembered how James had been so out of it 3 years ago because he said he had missed the right time to confess his feelings and the said girl now had a boyfriend.
After James left Pearl City 3 years ago, he had wanted him to check on the said girl, but he had outrightly turned him down, only for him to return from Italy a week ago to the news of her death.
In James’s own words, he was in mourning. He had even refused to pay him a visit ever since he returned.
It made him wonder what kind of circumstances James had met Isabelle. What was so different about it that he remembered her?
And why did Isabelle deny it?
His thumb brushed lightly over her skin, then pulled her closer.
"Isabelle."
Isabelle’s heart skipped at his tone.
"Yes?"
"You’re shaking."
Her breath caught.
"I’m not—"
"You are."
His voice was quieter now. His hand slid slowly down from her wrist to her waist, holding her against him. Anchoring her in place.
Cassian’s eyes searched her face again.
His thumb brushed over the fabric, slower this time, drawing circles on her hip, the slight curve over her waist, his actions were deliberate and claiming.
"Aside from worrying about me," he said, "is there anything else you’d like to tell me?"
Isabelle stiffened. The question hung in the air, thick and loaded. And for a moment she didn’t even know what to say.
She knew Cassian already had his own ideas. He was just that kind of person.
But she felt tired... She had thought being Isabelle would be easy, but she never realised how draining it actually was.
Ryan’s madness, Cassian’s suspicion and now James, who knew her past was also in the mix.
She really wanted to give up. She just wanted to make the Swans pay... Why was it so difficult?
By the time she realised she was shaking, her lips were trembling and her throat constricting as she forced the sobs back.
"I was scared," she admitted, voice raw and hoarse. "I was afraid that it was serious and that you...you... I didn’t know what to do."
Cassian froze.
For a moment he didn’t know what to do. He had zero experience in comforting a crying woman. He was that clueless.
Did he scare her?
He wrapped his uninjured arm around her tighter. Something was stirring in his heart, seeing her vulnerable because of him.
He held her like that for a long time until Isabelle came to her senses, seeing how awkward he looked.
"I’m sorry," she sniffed, reaching for the tissue at the bedside table and cleaning her face.
She was mortified... She cried in front of Cassian.
"No, I’m sorry for making you worry. I had already noticed strange people tailing me before the accident happened. That was why I was able to dodge the truck and sustained minor injuries."
"Huh?"
"What I’m saying is, I could’ve returned home and let my doctor attend to me there, but I agreed to be admitted because I wanted to lure the mastermind. I didn’t think you’d be worried and rush over."
"Oh." Isabelle felt her cheeks getting hot at his words. He didn’t even expect her to come.
"You...you believe me? You don’t think I’m pretending to be worried?" She asked in surprise.
"I have heard you tell lies with those sweet lips of yours, Isabelle. Terrible lies," he rasped, holding her chin, his face mere inches from hers.
His thumb lingered against her lower lip... brushing slightly as he watched her breathe.
"But I can also tell when they spill the truth," he rasped against her lips.
"You lie badly," he murmured.
"But your truth..." His gaze darkened slightly.
"...that’s what interests me."
He captured her lips in the next second, not allowing her to speak.