Lapses
1171 Words
CHAPTER NINE: Lapses
Cassandra
The city welcomed Cassandra back with cold rain and steel skies.
New York always felt sharper after the coast, less forgiving, more watchful. The hospital rose before her like a fortress of glass and light, familiar yet newly dangerous. She adjusted Jay on her hip as Bosco’s driver opened the car door.
“Remember,” Bosco said quietly from the back seat, “routine today. No deviations.”
She nodded. “I know.”
Bosco’s gaze lingered on Jay, then on her. “And Cassandra, if anything feels wrong...”
“I’ll call,” she promised.
She stepped out, heart pounding, unaware that eyes were already on her from across the street.
Watching.
Waiting.
*****
Lyra
Lyra had never believed in coincidence.
She stood inside a sleek café across from Cassandra’s hospital, her manicured fingers wrapped around a porcelain cup she hadn’t touched. Through the window, she watched Cassandra emerge with the child, watched the way nurses smiled at her, the way security subtly flanked her.
Interesting, Lyra thought coldly.
This wasn’t some fragile nobody.
This woman had resources.
Protection.
And secrets.
Lyra opened her phone and sent a message.
Lyra: I’m ready.
The reply came instantly.
Queen Anastasia: Then act.
Lyra’s lips curved.
*****
Jason
Jason’s breakthrough came from the last place he expected. It was from a child psychologist.
He sat stiffly in the quiet office, hands clasped, listening as Dr. Elaine Mercer slid a file across the desk.
“You said the child you met reminded you of someone,” she said gently. “That reaction wasn’t random.”
Jason frowned. “I’m not imagining things.”
“No,” she agreed. “But memory can surface in indirect ways, especially when trauma is involved.”
She tapped the file. “You lost someone suddenly. No closure. When your mind sees echoes in form of physical resemblance, emotional familiarity, it tries to fill the gap.”
Jason exhaled slowly. “So you think the child triggered something buried.”
“I think,” she said carefully, “that you should look at who protected that child.”
Jason stilled.
“Protection leaves trails,” she continued. “Hospitals. Security. Finances. Guardians.”
Bosco.
Jason’s pulse spiked.
As he left the office, his phone rang.
Adeline.
“I found something,” she said urgently. “A sealed trust fund linked to Jay Wells. Benefactor listed as D.B.”
Jason stopped walking.
“Don Bosco,” he whispered.
Everything snapped into alignment.
And for the first time, Jason wasn’t chasing Cassandra.
He was circling Bosco.
*****
Julie
Julie didn’t believe in waiting.
She believed in leverage.
She sat in her penthouse apartment, legs crossed, staring at the photos on her tablet. Bosco entering Cassandra’s building. Bosco at the school. Bosco at the hospital. Always Bosco.
And then there was the one she cherished most.
Cassandra and Jason. On the boardwalk. Close. Intimate.
Julie smiled thinly.
She dialed a number.
“Alpha Maxwell Brown,” came the smooth voice.
“Maxwell,” Julie purred. “We need to talk. About Cassandra.”
Silence.
Then, guarded: “What about her?”
Julie leaned back. “About how she used to belong to the royal pack. And how she disappeared.”
Another pause, longer this time.
“You’re lying.”
“Am I?” Julie said sweetly. “Because I have proof she’s been lying about who she is.”
She let the words sink in.
“I’ll be by your office in an hour,” Julie added. “If you still care about her… you’ll listen.”
She hung up, smiling.
*****
Cassandra
The summons came at noon.
“Dr. Wells,” the receptionist said, eyes darting nervously. “There’s… a visitor. She insists.”
Cassandra stepped into the waiting area and froze.
Lyra stood there, elegant, immaculate, and utterly out of place.
“Hello, Cassandra,” Lyra said brightly. “May we talk?”
Every instinct screamed danger.
“I’m at work,” Cassandra replied coolly. “If you have business...”
“I do,” Lyra interrupted. “And it concerns your child.”
The word sliced through her composure.
“Five minutes,” Cassandra said tightly. “My office.”
They walked in silence. Cassandra closed the door and turned.
“What do you want?”
Lyra smiled without warmth. “Honesty.”
“You won’t get it.”
“Oh, I think I already have it,” Lyra said softly. “You’re very hard to erase, you know. Even after my in-laws tried.”
Cassandra’s blood ran cold.
Lyra stepped closer. “You were declared dead. But here you are, alive, thriving, hiding.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Lyra tilted her head. “Then why does Jason react to your son like he’s seen a ghost?”
Cassandra’s breath stuttered, but she recovered fast.
“You’re imagining things,” she said evenly. “Just like Jason.”
Lyra’s eyes hardened. “Listen carefully. Jason belongs to the royal line. To me. If you threaten that, even unknowingly, I will destroy you.”
“Threaten?” Cassandra laughed softly. “I avoid him at all costs.”
“For now,” Lyra said. “But men are weak. Especially when guilt is involved.”
She leaned in. “Disappear again. Or this time, I won’t miss.”
Lyra straightened and walked out.
Cassandra stood frozen long after the door closed.
The mask was cracking.
*****
Maxwell
Julie didn’t waste time.
She laid everything out from documents, photos, to timelines, watching Maxwell’s face darken with every word.
“She’s lying,” he said at last.
“She’s surviving,” Julie corrected. “By using men.”
Maxwell stood abruptly. “Get out.”
Julie smiled sadly. “You think you’re the first Alpha she’s wrapped around her finger?”
“Leave,” he repeated.
Julie gathered her things, pausing at the door. “Jason will figure it out. He always does.”
When she left, Maxwell sank into his chair, hands shaking.
Who are you, Cassandra? he wondered.
And why did the answer terrify him?
*****
Bosco
Bosco knew something was wrong the moment his phone rang twice without Cassandra answering.
He was already moving by the third ring.
By the time he reached the hospital, Cassandra was pale but standing, Jay clinging to her leg.
Bosco crouched instantly. “Did someone threaten you?”
Cassandra hesitated.
“Yes,” she whispered.
Bosco closed his eyes.
“Lyra,” Cassandra said. “She knows… something.”
Bosco stood slowly, fury coiling tight and silent. “Then we move.”
“Bosco...”
“No,” he said firmly. “This ends now.”
Across the street, Jason watched Bosco usher Cassandra and Jay into the car with military precision.
And Jason knew.
Not the full truth.
But enough.
The woman he loved wasn’t just hiding.
She was being hunted.
And whoever stood in the way, royalty included, would answer to him.
- Writer
