He Broke My Heart, I’ll Break His

Chapter 3

Five years ago, on the night of her twentieth birthday, Vespera confessed her feelings to Cassian.

After one passionate night together, they started a secret relationship no one else knew about.

Vespera had always assumed Cassian refused to go public because of the nominal generational difference between their families.

But now, Genevieve, who was the exact same age as her, got to stand right by his side out in the open, walking with him into the main Thorne compound.

What gives? Why her?

Vespera ached for an answer.

Cassian only spat out two words, "Get out." His tone left zero room for argument, sharp with clear irritation.

Her nose stung immediately, but she dug her heels in, determined to get her answer one way or another.

The second she lifted her eyes and met Cassian's icy gaze, her courage crumbled. She turned on her heel, pulled the door open, and fled.

She didn't stop until she reached the guest suite in the east wing of the Thorne estate.

Staring at the space that felt both familiar and foreign, memories of her childhood came flooding in unbidden.

Her own parents forgot about her so often that she had stayed over at the Thorne house more times than she could count, and this was the exact room she had always stayed in back then.

Worn ragged both physically and emotionally, she flopped face-first onto the bed and buried her head in the pillow.

She held her breath, not letting a single gasp escape, only letting herself breathe again when her chest throbbed so badly it felt like it would burst and her mind went completely blank.

Even so, she slept terribly the rest of the night.

It felt like she had dreamed of Cassian a dozen times over, but when she woke up, she couldn't remember a single detail of any of the dreams.

Knock, knock.

There was a rap at the door. It was the housekeeper, holding a tailored business suit for her.

Staring at the professional set, Vespera suddenly remembered Cassian had told her to report for duty at Thorne Enterprise that day.

She didn't even need to guess who had prepared the clothes... this had to be Cassian's doing. The measurements were exactly her size from two years ago, after all.

It would have fitted her like a glove back then, but right now, it hung off her frame, loose and baggy.

Vespera stared at her almost ridiculous reflection in the mirror, and for a second, she couldn't tell if Cassian actually cared about her at all.

If he did, how had he not noticed how much weight she had lost?

If he didn't, why would he bother arranging a work outfit for her in the first place?

In the end, though, she still put on the suit and headed to the company.

*****

Thorne Enterprise, Design Division.

Vespera had barely stepped out of the elevator when she ran into Genevieve.

Genevieve walked right up to her and linked their arms together, all sweet and friendly. "Vesper! Welcome to the design division!"

Vespera frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"Me?" Genevieve's lips curled into a cheerful smile. "I'm the creative director of the division. Of course, I'm here."

'Are you kidding me?'

Vespera's frown deepened. Genevieve majored in finance in college. She didn't know the first thing about fashion design. How on earth could she be the creative director?

As if she had read Vespera's mind, Genevieve let out a soft laugh. "Mr. Thorne appointed me himself."

She tugged Vespera into the main studio, gestured proudly at the rows of works framed on the gallery wall, and said, "Look, all of these are my designs."

Vespera's eyes automatically darted to the spot Genevieve was pointing toward.

Her blood ran cold. The next second, in the dead silence of the office, she shot forward, clamped down hard on Genevieve's wrist, and slammed her against the wall with a dull thud.

"Say that again. Whose work did you say these are?!"

Every single one of those portfolio sketches was hers. She had pulled all-nighters after all-nighters drafting them in Iceland over the past two years!

The commotion in the office was loud enough that a few employees rushed over and pulled Vespera away from Genevieve.

Word of the fight quickly reached Cassian on the executive floor.

*****

When the executive assistant led Vespera into the top-floor corner office, Cassian was reviewing contracts.

The second she laid eyes on him, all the anger bubbling in her chest curdled into raw, aching hurt.

Any other time she had been wronged in the past, Cassian had always protected her whenever someone crossed her.

She had thought this time would be no different. She marched right up to his desk, her voice tight with fury and desperation. "Genevieve is a thief! All those designs are mine! I asked her to help me submit them to domestic industry contests and publishers!"

Cassian set down his fountain pen and looked at her, his expression completely detached. "So what?"

Vespera froze on the spot, convinced she had misheard him. "What?"

"It's just a path to exposure. If you want that kind of opportunity, I can arrange another one for you." He laced his fingers together over the desk, his tone as casual as if they were discussing the weather. "Why are you fighting her over this?"

Vespera stared at him, stunned by how absurd he sounded. "Fighting her over it? They were mine to begin with!

"It's just a casual romance between you two, you aren't going to get married. Is there really any need to defend her to this extent?"

The Delacroix family didn't even rank among the premier elite families of the Capital City. No matter how you looked at it, there was no way Cassian Thorne would ever formally marry Genevieve. That was the one certainty Vespera had clung to.

She never expected what he would say next.

Cassian spoke, his tone calm and unhurried, "I do have plans to propose to her."