Contract Marriage With The Illegitimate Heir

Chapter 8

CASSIAN'S POV

When we arrived at the mansion, Saraphina finally took off her mask. She stared at the place with an expression I couldn't name, and then she sighed deeply.

"What's wrong? You don't like the house? I've got a few more houses and I can show them to you, we'll move into whichever one you like best.'' I said.

"No, no." Saraphina instantly shook her head. "It's not that, your house is very lovely and I like it."

I wanted to ask why she made that expression and why she had sighed like that, but I didn't. I don't want to trigger her or something.

"Okay.'' I replied.

An awkward silence ensued between the both of us. I didn't know what to say to her and she also didn't look like she wanted to say anything more.

"I'm stepping out for a bit, if you need anything, you can just ask the maids." I gestured to the two ladies standing a few feet away from us. "They'll also show you your room."

"Thank you." Saraphina said, giving me a small smile.

I was about to leave when I remembered something, so I turned to Saraphina again. "I don't know when I'll be returning home, but you can have dinner without me."

A look of confusion flashed in her eyes, but she said nothing and simply nodded in reply. I left without saying anything else.

When I got to my car, I immediately placed a call through to my close friend, he answered almost immediately.

"Hey, Cassian. What's up?" Jude's cheerful voice echoed from the other end.

"Where are you? Let's meet up."

"At the bar?"

"Yes."

"Alright, I'll meet you there." Jude replied and I hung up.

****

When I walked into the bar, I immediately spotted Jude sitting at a corner with two ladies seated at each side of him. I shook my head, not in the least surprised.

I walked towards them, and when Jude saw me, the smile on his face widened.

"Hey, Cassian." He winked at me.

I heaved a deep sigh before taking a seat in front of him. One of the ladies with him tried getting close to me, but my cold stare pushed her away.

"Come on, man. Loosen up a little." Jude said, a hint of frustration in his voice.

"I didn't come here for this, Jude. And if you don't mind, I'd like to have a private moment with you." I replied, my tone and expression serious.

Jude rolled his eyes at me. "Kill joy." He muttered. He asked the ladies to excuse us and they didn't even hide their disappointment as they left.

Jude picked up a spare glass and poured in some whiskey, then offered the glass to me. I made to collect the glass from him but hesitated when I remembered I'd just gotten married to Saraphina and I can't afford to get drunk.

I leaned back into my seat and refused the drink.

Jude raised a questioning brow at me. "You're rejecting a drink? What's wrong? Hit your head on your way here?"

"No, I..." I trailed off, not knowing how to break the news to Jude.

I sighed, reaching for the drink and gulping down the whole thing.

Jude stared at me, confused. "What happened, Cassian? You're acting weird. You know you can talk to me right?"

I stared at Jude for a moment, then heaved a deep breath. "I did something." I started.

Jude nodded. "Okay, I'm listening."

"I got married to Saraphina."

Jude stared at me in disbelief, then a small frown appeared on his face. "Married? You?'' He scoffed in disbelief. ''And who is Saraphina? How can you even get married without informing me, your best friend? I don't believe it."

"I'm serious, Jude. And it's Saraphina Quinn, my brother's ex fiancee."

Jude's eyes widened in shock. "What?!" He half yelled. "Saraphina Quinn? Like... the Saraphina Quinn? Hold on." He frantically reached for his phone in his pocket, then he pulled up a photo of Saraphina and showed it to me. "This Saraphina?" He asked in disbelief.

"Yes, Jude. I got married to her."

"Cassian! Are you insane?! No...You're insane. Why the hell would you do that? Why would you get married to a woman with a huge scandal on her head? Did you even tell anyone about this?"

"Not yet, but I will.... soon."

"Why would you do this, Cassian? Are you even in the right frame of mind? She's your brother's ex fiancee, and do you even think your family will accept this? Most especially your brother. You know how things are between the both of you." Jude said, concern etched in his face.

I couldn't help but frown when I heard the last statement. "That's the reason I'm doing this. And you don't know the full story, you shouldn't be quick to judge Saraphina because she's innocent."

"How can you be so sure about that? It's all over the news, she scammed her own father and then betrayed her own fiance. You could have picked any woman in the world, Cassian. Yet you went to pick the worst of them all." Jude scoffed, grabbing his glass of whiskey and downing the entire content.

"Saraphina is not like that, Jude. She was framed by her sister, and that's one of the reasons I got married to her. It's only a contract marriage for three years, and we'll both go our separate ways when we get what we want."

Jude narrowed his gaze on me. "A contract marriage?" He leaned forward, a hint of amusement flickering in his eyes. "Tell me more about this, Cassian. I want to know the full details, and you better not leave a single thing out of it."

"Fine, but I'm only saying this because I don't want you slandering an innocent woman, she already has a lot on her shoulder, and I can't afford you being among those ignorant people that slander her without knowing the truth." I have no idea why I'm defending Saraphina, but I guess it's because I pity her. I can't get her face out of my head; how she had felt and cried when those people recognized her at the county clerk's office. I feel really bad for her.

Sometimes, the ones who deserve to get punished ends up being the people that go free no matter what they've done.

My blood boiled with rage. I grabbed the bottle of whiskey and poured quite a lot for myself. After taking a large sip, I proceeded to tell Jude the whole story, hoping he'll support me after gaining some understanding about the situation.