Chapter 69

11:49 AM

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Chapter 69

Ethan.

“You really are out of your mind, you know!” Amber rolls her eyes at me.

“I don’t have time to argue, Amber. What are you doing here anyway?”

I just landed at the airport, on my way to pick up Cassie to whatever hotel she was stranded into. I have been trying to call her number for two days, but the storm has cut out all communication lines. My only assurance that she was okay was that there’s no major incidents or casualties reported on the news.

But as soon as I got out of the rent–a–car office, I find Amber standing outside, arms crossed in front of her chest. How this woman found me, I have no idea.

“I’m here to stop you from making a further fool of yourself.”

“Amber, let me get one thing straight! For Cassie, I have absolutely no problem in making a fool of myself!”

“Even if she got stuck in an island resort with her ex–husband, who, by the sound of it, still have the hots for her!”

“So what? Cassie is an amazing woman! She’s beautiful, she’s smart and she’s a nice human being. So, what if her ex–husband is still crazy about her! Can I really blame him?”

“You’ve been pining for this woman for years! Years, Ethan! And she hasn’t returned even one percent of your feelings for her! Don’t you think you ought to wake up by now?”

“I am aware that she cannot… probably cold never… return my feelings for her! But that does not mean I will stop loving her. I will be here for her for as long as she needs me. If she gets back with her ex–husband, then so be it. But until she does, I will be here for her. I will take care of her until somebody else does.”

“Aargh!” Amber groans. “I wonder what on Earth she fed you!”

I got in the car and Amber gets into the passenger seat.

“Where will I drop you?” I ask.

“I will

go

with you to pick up Cassie!”

“That’s not necessary!” I protest.

“Tough shit! You don’t have a choice. I will go anyway!”

“Fine! Suit yourself!” I sigh in defeat and start the engine.

Amber and I drove in silence. She looks out the window with a scowl permanently pasted on her face. I look at the road in front of me, asking myself, “What the hell am I doing?‘

It’s clear to me even if Cassie does not say it. She will never feel for me whatever she felt for Steele. Maybe in this life, they are destined to be with each other, even though he barely deserved her. And I, the

person who deserved her the most, am just destined to be her most loyal friend.

But who cares? Right now, Steele isn’t coming to his senses. That means that Cassie is still wide open. And I am resigned to taking care of her and her son for the rest of my life. All I am asking for in return is… that she allows me to. She doesn’t even have to love me the way that she loved Steele.

Call me a martyr. Call me stupid. But that’s how much I love Cassie.

When we got to the hotel that Lyn mentioned Cassie was in, I immediately go to the front desk.

“Hi,” I greet the front desk officer. “My name is Ethan Sullivan.” I give her my drivers‘ license, and my corporate ID under King’s Court. “I’m one of the shareholders of King’s Court. Two days ago, my Assistant Lyn Thompson booked a couple of rooms here in your hotel, under the account of King’s Court.”

The front officer studies at my ID cards.

“I’m looking for Miss Cassandra Carlisle. She is checked into this hotel before the storm,” I continue.

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Chapter 69

“One moment please.” The lady starts scanning her computer.

After a few moments, she turns to me and says, “I’m sorry, Sir. But Miss Carlisle only had a reservation here two days ago. But it seems that she cancelled her booking just before the storm.”

“You mean she didn’t check in here?”

She shakes her head. “There is no room registered under her name.”

Did Lyn just make a mistake?

I get my phone and check out Lyn’s message to me again:

‘She is at White Ridge Villa Resorts. I cancelled her reservation at first, but then because of the storm, she is unable to get out immediately. She said she will book the hotel herself. She and Kayden finished the site inspection together.”

I read the last line over and over.

She and Kayden finished the site inspection together.

Together.

“I am sorry sorry, Sir, but we have absolutely no room available at the moment.” I hear the other front desk officer say to another customer. “You can check back with us after two hours if some of our guests will be leaving. Because of the storm, we have been overbooked. Some hotel guests even opted to stay with each other just to the have shelter from the storm.”

Her last sentence seems to hit me like cold ice bucket.

‘What if…

My heart pounds inside my chest. I can barely hear or see anything.

me sta

“Sir?” The front desk officer in front of me stares back at me curiously. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

I shake myself back to reality. “Ummm… is there a guest named Kayden Steele who is checked in here?”

“For a moment, Sir.”

She searches at her computer. I hold my breath. I think I’m bracing myself with the cold reality that is about to hit me.

“Ah, there it is,” she smiles back at me. “We do have Mister Steele and his guest checked in with us.”

“A guest?” I echo. “Does the guest happen to have a name?”

She checks her computer again. Then she smiles back at me. “I’m afraid that I don’t have that information, Sir. It just says that Mister Steele has a guest. The guest information has been… hmm…” she checks her computer again. “Withheld.”

“Withheld? What does that mean?”

She nods. “It means that it’s either the guest information were not given or Mister Steele requested that the information not be disclosed.”

“But we are all from the same company. My assistant made this book for our directors.”

She shakes her head. “No, Sir. Mister Steele did not make this reservation under King’s Court. He arranged for this booking for his companion and himself a few days before he checked in.”

Why do I have this feeling that Steele’s companion is Cassie?

Was it just fate or coincidence that brought them together here?

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