Chapter 28 Olivier
Olivier
Now
By the time I’m walking through Bhotel’s service entrance and up the stairs, my confidence has fizzled.
I’m not a violent person. Except for that one time my brother and I got into a fight—he started it—I’ve never hit anyone in my life, never even got into those war video games.
I’m a good guy, I just made a mistake—several mistakes.
Fine, too many mistakes. But I can still make them right.
Thérèse and I could technically move here.
Though of course, the tax office would find out soon enough.
They’d come at me. Them and everyone else.
It’d take a lifetime to pay it all back.
Meanwhile, Cassie is sitting on a fortune.
Shouldn’t Reese have a right to something? The house, at the very least.
The moment I open the door to the suite, I know something is off.
First, the light is on. A suitcase, Cassie’s, is stashed by the entrance.
I lift it up. It’s full. It was on the floor by the bed when I left, so Cassie must have packed it.
Cassie is awake. And then I notice something else: the pill bottle is no longer on the nightstand but on the dresser. In full view.
Before I can wonder where she is, the toilet flushes and then the faucet is turned on. A moment later, out comes Cassie, fully dressed. A little too alive. She looks pale and her hair is in disarray as she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, as if she threw up again.
When she notices me, the gasp that escapes her lips sounds like the howl of a dying animal.
I don’t have much time to think.
“How was your night?” I say.
I’m all smiles as I step farther into the room.
“I want to go home,” Cassie says quietly. “Please let me go home.”
She has nothing on me. She can’t prove it. I didn’t do anything. “What are you talking about, sweetie? We’re going home in three days.”
Not taking her eyes off me, she walks across the room and grabs her denim jacket from the back of the chair. “I’m going now.”
But I can’t let her. Moving quickly, I close the distance between us and reach for her hand. She flicks it off, which makes her jacket fall to the floor. Letting out a yelp, she bends down to pick it up.
“Let’s take a minute, okay?” I say. “Whatever is going on, I’m here for you, Cassie.” I need more time to think, to plan. I’m not giving up yet. Not the money, not Reese.
Cassie is shaking as she stands back up, but my focus soon shifts from her to the floor, where the jacket just was. Pieces of paper have spread all over the carpet.
My throat ties in a knot as I look closer. She takes the opportunity to make for the door and grab her suitcase.
I recognize the gold lettering now, the bits of my photograph. That bitch tore my passport to shreds.
“What did you do?” I ask, as the answer washes over me.
She’s leaving me. After everything I did, all the shit I put up with, she thinks she can get rid of me?
Not so fast, babe. I don’t wait for her response and instead lunge toward the door, pressing against it.
Cassie jerks back so hard her suitcase drops to the floor with a loud thump. This only makes her jump more.
“I called the lawyer,” she says, trying to sound calm but not doing a great job of it. “She knows our marriage is fake and that I want out.”
“Hold on a minute,” I say, going for my most soothing tone. “I feel like there’s been a misunderstanding. I want to be married to you, Cassie. I love you.”
I put on a smile and slowly go to sit on the edge of the bed, the one closest to the door.
“You tried to kill me,” she says, eyeing the exit. I let out a deranged laugh. “You drugged me. I was in the bath… I felt myself…go.”
I point at the empty bottle of wine on the floor, which I must have kicked out of the bathroom when I was dragging Cassie. “Hey, I don’t judge you for treating yourself on your honeymoon. But I wasn’t here. You drank that all by yourself.”
Making sure to stay as far away from me as possible, Cassie walks over to the dresser and grabs the pill bottle, which she shakes in front of her. “I counted them. The bottle is almost empty. I only took a couple every night.”
She’s not sure. I can read it on her face. Cassie might throw accusations around, but she has nothing concrete.
“You’re not the only one who felt jet-lagged,” I say with a shrug. “I took some as well.”
I get up and walk over to her. If she really believed I wanted to kill her, she would have tried harder to get away from me.
“Don’t come near me!” she screams.
“Come on, sweetie. Let’s take a deep breath.”
She shakes her head, her eyes practically bulging out. “I told Darren about what you did. I’m serious. He knows. If something happens to me, they’ll…arrest you.”
Oh. Oh! I’m done, aren’t I? Cassie is going to walk out of here freely and I’ll never step foot in the U.S. again. I think she sees the realization on my face even before I open my mouth. She’s gone too far, said too much.
“You little bitch!” I snap. “So used to getting your way. You wanted to marry me. All you cared about was messing with your ex and destroying your sister.”
Cassie steps back until she’s against the wall, but there’s a hint of relief in her eyes.
She didn’t make this all up. “And I won. Darren and I are getting back together. I’ll divorce you and then I’ll be with a real man.
One who can take care of me.” Her voice is shaking, but her eyes are full of hatred.
“Is that right? You think he’s going to stick by you now, when he dumped you before because you were never going to be good enough for him? He wants a nice little wife, the house, the snotty kids. They’ll hate you and you’ll end up like your mother.”
She takes a shaky breath as she tries to push past me, but I wrap my hand around her wrist, squeezing it tight.
“It’s over,” she says, her face contorted in pain.
“You can’t get back to the States without a passport, and you can’t live there without me.
I almost feel sorry for you. Your big dream has gone.
” She presses the fingers of her other hand together, then spreads them out wide in front of her face.
“Poof! And here’s the difference between us: you still need me but I don’t need you anymore.
” She’s trying to sound tough but there’s regret in her eyes. Fear.
“Geez,” I say, releasing my grip just a touch. “It’s no surprise no one loves you. You think Darren does? Then why isn’t he here with you? Why did he let you marry me?”
“You”—her jaw quivers—“you don’t know anything.”
I need to buy time until I can figure out my next move, and it’s working. To show good faith, I release her wrist.
“Your sister definitely can’t stand you.”
A spark goes off in her, angst turning into anger. “What does Taylor have to do with this?”
“Her name’s not Taylor.” If Cassie is determined to ruin my life, I’m not going to go away so easily. “And she’s a much better person than you’ll ever be.”
Cassie scoffs. “She’s a loner and a weirdo. Her mother almost killed her. Wait, is something going on with you two?”
A thought flashes in my mind, so simple and yet unfathomable.
What if I explained the truth? I married the wrong sister for the wrong reason.
I could be with Reese, and Cassie could be with whoever the fuck she wanted to.
Cassie and I could still pretend to be happily married.
I could work harder at convincing her to invest more money in the inn, to let me handle it. It could work. In theory, at least.
“We’re in love,” I say, feeling like a teenage boy declaring my feelings for the first time. Jittery and full of crushing hope.
When Cassie opens her mouth, it’s to let out the highest-pitched shriek I’ve ever heard.
Then, she whips around. I grab her by the waist so forcefully she stumbles back onto the bed.
Before she can move again, I straddle her, pinning her down on the sheets.
I’m about to take hold of both her wrists when she turns her head to the left, looking for something off to the side.
I do the same to see what’s so interesting to her, and our eyes land on the iron at the same time.
It’s on the board, in the middle of the room.
The distraction lasts only for a split second, but it’s enough for Cassie to push me off her.
Then she reaches for the iron, just as I do, too.
Like I said, I’m not a violent person. But in that moment, all I can think of is how good it will feel to smash the cool metal piece into her ugly little face.