The Manipulated Villainess

"You came?" Nathan glanced at his friend with an awkward smile. Why did he suddenly show up at Cassandra\'s house? He didn\'t expect to see him here of all places!

Aston turned around, glancing back at forth between Cassandra and Nathan. Then he finally asked, "What\'s going on here?"

"It\'s simple," Cassandra promptly said. "We get back together."

For real? But when?!

"The day before yesterday, after we met in your apartment." It was Nathan who spoke up this time. Was he reading his friend\'s mind? Maybe.

He should\'ve tell Aston right away as the actor was the one who always got caught up between them. He wanted them to be on good terms and now that it happened, he should be the first to know about this. However, Nathan was also busy making up to Cassandra since that night while Aston was busy with his sister.

Nathan thought as if he was caught doing something bad. He recalled himself still saying something negative when Aston told him that it would be okay for him to accept Cassandra again. Now, this happened.

Even the Reyon Boss didn\'t plan to get back together with Cassandra. However, it can\'t be help as when he suddenly saw her in Aston\'s apartment that night, he lost the control which he holds on to for almost a decade!

"I\'m glad," Aston finally spoke up again. Then he approached Nathan and briefly hugged him once. "You finally muster your courage after years."

"It\'s all thanks to you," Nathan quickly said with a smile.

"It must take you quite an explanation to give us this day," Cassandra playfully said to Aston. She was now standing beside Nathan who slightly frowned at her words. There she goes again!

Aston briefly glanced at Nathan before he turned to Cassandra. "If Nathan didn\'t care about you, it will be useless no matter how much I explained to him," he simply said.

Nathan nodded in approval and Cassandra Lim frowned. "You always take each other\'s side. I should have already known that."

The two friends chuckled at her words. It was just like the past when the three of them used to chat and banter around all the time. The only difference now was that they weren\'t that young anymore. Many things happened and some even broke them apart but now, everything had been solved.

"So, what brings you here?" Cassandra Lim asked Aston once again.

Aston thought of what Cassandra had asked her when she told him about his father. She wanted him not to reveal that she was the one who gave him the information. Now with Nathan\'s presence, he wasn\'t sure if it was okay to discuss it.

When Cassandra noticed him hesitating, she said, "I\'m okay with it whatever the reason is. I don\'t have anything to hide from Nathan. I won\'t do that anymore."

Hearing her words, Nathan\'s lips curved into a satisfying smile. Cassandra had never said that before. She was always a secretive person ever since they met and he always thought that he didn\'t know her enough. Now that he heard her saying such things, he was feeling more than grateful!

Aston thought about it for a while and said, "I hear some more information about my father. I\'m sure that it\'s connected with his sudden death."

Nathan was feeling quite confused while Cassandra Lim raised a brow. "Really? How?" she quickly asked him. She was also currently working on it and she was seeing some improvements.

"It\'s a long story and... it\'s beyond my imagination," Aston responded. Who would have thought that Garcia Han suddenly showed up in his apartment and tell him the story of his father which he never heard before?

"Then let\'s sit down first," Cassandra promptly said and looked at Nathan. The latter nodded once with an assuring smile and she smiled back at him despite feeling uneasy. When will she be free of the worries caused by her adoptive father\'s crime?

*

A few minutes passed and Aston already told everything to the couple who were sitting opposite him. Just like how he was stupefied when he heard it from Garcia Han, Cassandra and Nathan were also in bewilderment! Everything was connected?

"What will you do? It happened years ago and it will be hard to find concrete evidence," Cassandra Lim said. Though they were finding out the truth bit by bit, she felt like everything had become more and more complicated.

"I\'m not sure of that. As you said, it happened a long time ago and I feel lost. I don\'t even know where to start," Aston replied. Despite knowing that Peter Jung was the one on the other end of this maze, he can\'t find any road that would take him to the Prime Minister and the feeling was troubling and tormenting.

"I only keep in touch with a very few of my father\'s men from that time. Besides, most of them already passed away and among the living, only two or three are willing to tell me about this. But they don\'t know much," Cassandra paused and sighed. "It would be a relief if my father\'s former right-hand man is willing to talk with me. I\'m sure that he will be able to help us but he won\'t say anything about what my father did."

"You met him?" Aston asked to which Cassandra nodded.

"Yesterday, but he\'s a loyal man. He won\'t just spill it out just because my father is dead." Looking at Aston, she said, "I plan to meet him again once. He is always a good mentor for me and we have a good relationship. I\'ll try to persuade him once more."

"Thanks. I troubled you a lot," Aston muttered with a little smile on his face.

Cassandra shook her head and narrowed her eyes. "It\'s my father\'s wrongdoing. I should at least do this though it won\'t bring back your father," she muttered.

"Don\'t blame yourself," Nathan said to her. "You\'re different from him."

"Nathan is right, Cassandra. I don\'t come here to make you feel bad. I come because you\'re a friend who can help me," Aston added in a calm voice.

Cassandra forced a little smile and looked at Nathan before she shifted her gaze to Aston. "I will meet him again this evening. I\'m close to him even more than I\'m close to my father and he always looks after me since I was a child. If the second time doesn\'t work, there is still a third try."

"Now, you finally sound like Cassandra Lim," Nathan remarked and Cassandra chuckled.

"Oh! One more thing," Aston suddenly said, making both Cassandra and Nathan darted their eyes to him. "I think you should be careful for the time being. Peter Jung will already figure out how Shara\'s rescuing mission is a part of the plan. He might get suspicious of you. He\'s an unpredictable man."

"Don\'t worry. I expect that much. I won\'t let him get me easily," Cassandra simply said without even thinking while Nathan glanced at her with concern.

* * *

Nicole was taken aback when Aston suddenly walked inside her office. She knew that it was his day off but not that he was coming. She quickly rose from her seat and approached him with a smile. "You don\'t tell me that you\'re coming."

Aston holds her and planted a kiss on her forehead. "It\'s a surprise and... it\'s been a while since I last came to your office. I like to see you this way."

"This way?" she mused. "Why is that?"

"You always look great in your business attire," Aston quickly said and she laughed.

"You came all the way here. Did you cause a stir again? You know, whenever you came to my company, it can never be quiet for the rest of the day." Nicole let out a sigh. It would be tiring to be popular.

"Isn\'t that a good thing?" Aston jokingly said and let out a laughter. Then he glanced at his wristwatch. It was the one that she gave him on his birthday. "It\'s 1 p.m. now. Your secretary said that you still didn\'t have lunch and your next meeting is at 3 p.m. Let\'s go and have lunch together."

Nicole nodded. "Alright. If I don\'t have a lunch appointment, I often skipped as I\'m too lazy to go out and eat." She paused when she noticed his displeased face. "I won\'t do it anymore. Don\'t give me that face."

Aston remained that way before he finally smiled again. "Fine. You better keep your promise."

"If you have lunch with me on each day when I don\'t have a lunch appointment, it will be easier to keep," Nicole playfully said.

Aston sighed at her words. "Don\'t try to bargain your way using that. I only say it for your own good." He chuckled when he saw her frowning. Then he took her overcoat and helped her wear it. "Let\'s go," he said to her with a smile and they walked out of Nicole\'s office.....