My Fiance Has Been Married For Six Years Behind My Back Chapter 09

My Fiance Has Been Married For Six Years Behind My Back Chapter 09

After the Crowe case was closed, I turned my attention to Cassian.

Alaric compiled everything-every transaction, every decision, every piece of evidence that tied him to what

happened. It was enough to destroy him completely.

The night the files were released, Cassian came to the hospital.

He stood in the hallway, thinner than I remembered, his suit hanging loosely off his frame like it no longer belonged to him.

“Nerissa… do you really have to do this?”

“I know I was wrong,” he said, his voice strained. “But if you release those, my company-my reputation-

everything will be ruined.”

“I understand you hate me. But have you thought about your mother? If she finds out everything… can she

handle it?”

I listened.

Then I laughed. A quiet, hollow sound.

“Now you’re thinking about my mother?”

“When you pulled Elowen’s medication… when you forced me to kneel at that wedding-did you think about

whether she could handle that?”

“You knew how much she trusted you. She treated you like a family.”

“And you still used her against me.”

He had no answer.

“I know I was wrong,” he repeated, his voice breaking. “But I loved you, Nerissa. From the beginning until now

-you’re the one I loved.”

“Think about everything we had. Was I ever bad to you?”

“I wanted a future with you.”

I looked at him.

There was nothing left. No anger. No love. Not even disappointment.

“Cassian,” I said softly, “you don’t love me.”

“You love having someone you can control.”

“Someone who won’t say no. Someone who will always forgive you.”

“But that’s not me.”

“I’m a person.”

“And I have a life that belongs to me.”

His lips parted, but no words came out.

I watched him struggle, and for the first time, it felt almost absurd.

In the end, I said the only thing that mattered.

“Leave.”

“Don’t come back.”

“We’re done.”

Behind me, I heard it-a broken, animal sound. Like something wounded beyond repair.

The moment the files went public, everything collapsed.

Cassian’s company went into freefall overnight. Stock prices crashed. Billions wiped out. Partners pulled out. Banks demanded repayment. Suppliers lined up at the doors.

The board forced him to step down.

His father was hospitalized from the shock. His mother was cut off from her social circle.

In a matter of days-he went from heir to nothing.

A stray voice in a crowded street.

Someone his own world no longer recognized.

His secretary called me once.

“Ms. Hale… he hasn’t eaten in days. He’s locked himself in his office.”

“He keeps looking at your photos. He just sits there… and cries.”

“Could you come see him?”

I hung up.

Without hesitation.

Whether he ate or starved, that had nothing to do with me.

A few days later, his mother called. Her voice was sharp, furious.

“Nerissa Hale, do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

“After everything this family gave you-your sister, your life-this is how you repay us?”

“You tear us down and don’t even think twice about it?”

I listened quietly.

Then sighed.

“You’re right,” I said.

“Your family did help me.”

“But that help…” I paused. “Dragged me from one hell into another.”

“Your son helped me survive-while turning me into a homewrecker at the same time.”

“He paid for my sister’s medication-then took it away and killed her.”

“That kind of help…”

“I don’t want it.”