Sleeping With The CEO-Chapter 317: Crying

When Cassandra had found out about Derek and Emily. She had done what at the time had felt like the right thing to do. She had broken them up, and in the weeks that had followed, when she’d had to witness her son’s heartbreak.

Cassandra had convinced herself that it was just a passing phase. That he would get over it.

But now as her son, and Emily Molson stood before her and Cassandra saw them together for the first time. It truly dawned on her that she had made a mistake back then. That was something that she could no longer deny. She had made assumptions about their relationship without even taking the time to get to see them as a couple. free𝑤ebnovel.com

On paper it sounded as though Emily Molson were after her son for the things that he could provide her with. And her son in turn, seemed like someone who was being led around by his emotions. But seeing them together was something else.

Just one look, and Cassandra knew that their feelings for each other were genuine. The energy around them was just...it was warm. The type of warmth that only two people who really cared about each other could generate. And even if she were not good at reading auras. Their physical body language said it all.

They might have been looking at Cassandra.

But it was clear that most of their attention was on one another. They might as well have been the only people in the room. Emily was unconsciously leaning into Derek, and he in turn was doing the same. He had even placed his hand over the back of her chair. Which was horrible manners. But it was clearly an unconscious gesture, like he was ready to pull her out of harm’s way at any second. And Cassandra was ashamed to realize that even if he might have not been actively thinking it. Derek was unconsciously trying to protect the woman he loved from his mother.

Needless to say, lunch was a tense affair. For the majority of the meal there was silence. No one said anything. Whether Emily and Derek were having silent conversations with their eyes, Cassandra had no idea. She just looked at her plate and focused on finishing it.

But there was so much that she wanted to say. She wanted to rush over to her son’s side, and tell him how sorry she was that she had meddled in his love life. That she would never do it again.

But at the same time she wanted to look over at Emily Molson, apologize and also beg her not to take her son away from her.

’I know that I nearly took him away from you, but please do not rip him away from me. He is all that I have,’ Cassandra wanted to say. It was unbecoming for the lady of Haven manor to be thinking such things. But Cassandra, feeling her desperation building in her chest, knew that given half the opportunity, they would not be just thoughts.

She would turn them into action if it meant that she got to see her son again. And Emily Molson held the key to that. Cassandra wanted to believe that Emily would not take Derek away from her.

That she was not cold-blooded enough for such things. But then her treacherous brain reminded her of how awful she had been to the poor girl. She’d had her kidnapped for crying out loud.

At the time, it had made perfect sense to Cassandra. But now she was beginning to realize that she might have overreacted. If Emily chose vengeance, there would be nothing that Cassandra could do to defend herself.

After all, the weapon that Emily Molson now had in her arsenal,was not one that Cassandra Haven was willing to destroy to get ahead. Because that weapon, that key piece in the tug of war between Cassandra and Emily was Cassandra’s son.

Her Derek.

If Emily so much as said that she was uncomfortable in Cassandra’s presence, then that would be it. She might have been his mother, but Emily Molson was the love of Derek’s life, that was clear to see. For her sake he would cut Cassandra out of his life without a second thought.

She did not want that to happen at all. If Emily decided that that was the price that Cassandra had to pay for having crossed the line. Then Cassandra had no idea how she would be able to recover from that.

There would be nothing left for her. Literally.

Cassandra wanted to avoid that fate, so as she ate. She tried to come up with a plan, but her mind was failing her.

Sure enough, the main meal came and went without her being able to come up with anything. And each of them sat, her promissed blueberry muffins in front of them. But no one touched them. There was a sense of expectation around the table.

And Cassandra knew exactly what was coming. Sure enough, Derek finally raised the subject.

"Mother, you owe Emily an apology, for what you did,"

To get out of it, Cassandra could have faked an illness, or she could have pretended to have an emergency somewhere. But that would have been just delaying the inevitable.

She did not want to keep prolonging things. So rather than digging into her desert. She looked over at Emily, and decided it was best to just come out with it.

"Emily Molson. I am sorry," Cassandra said.

"I had no right to manipulate you like that, roping my son into the plot, all so I could keep him away from you,"

"I should not have made assumptions about you or your character. But I did, and it is something that I will always regret. Because of those assumptions I hurt both you and my son,"

Pushing her still untouched dessert to the side, Cassandra stood.

Unable to look at the couple before her she bowed her head.

Cassandra Haven was a proud woman. She always had been. And she had thought herself too proud to beg. But suddenly faced with the thought of losing her son. The realization that Emily might take Derek away from her forever.

Cassandra suddenly found that begging was something that was very doable. ’Derek, don’t go. Emily, do not take him from me. Please do not abandon me.’ Those were some of the words that Derek was, that Cassandra was thinking of saying. But when she opened her mouth only one would come out

"I am sorry," And it was like once she said those three words. Everything else just went offline, and she was stuck in an infinite loop

"I am sorry, I am sorry, I am sorry." Cassandra heard herself whispering over and over again. Her head buried in her hands, tears streaming down her face.

It was the most undignified that she had ever been. But she did not care about that. This was not something that money or status could fix.

She was about to lose her son. There was no fixing the situation.

Cassandra had not meant to start crying. But the moment she began she could not seem to stop, so she just stood there, crying her heart out.

Lost in the storm of her own emotions, Cassandra startled badly when she felt arms come around her.

"It’s all right. Let it all out," Emily Molson’s said. Her hug, as soft and as gentle as her voice was.

’Why are you being so nice to me?’ Cassandra wanted to ask. But she was too overcome by emotion to do so.

A second set of arms came around her, Derek joining the hug. And Cassandra felt her heart settle.

She had nearly torn them apart, but now they were holding her together.

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