He Broke My Heart, I’ll Break His

Chapter 4

A sharp buzz exploded in Vespera's head.

'That can't be real! How in the world could Cassian Thorne marry Genevieve Delacroix? He's lying!'

That denial lasted barely a split second before a bitter truth crashed over her.

This was Cassian Thorne. If he wanted to marry someone, he had the absolute power to make it happen without answering to anyone.

"You... you're joking, right?" Vespera's throat went bone dry.

Those few words scraped out of her raw throat, sharp enough to taste blood.

She stared at Cassian, her eyes bright with desperate hope, silently praying he would say it was a cruel joke, or even just give a dismissive nod.

Cassian didn't answer.

He lowered his head again, flipping crisply to the next page of his document.

"Head back down to the design division and apologize to Genevieve."

'Wait, who was supposed to apologize to whom?'

Vespera froze for a second, utterly bewildered.

When the order finally sank in, her hands began shaking uncontrollably. "She stole my life's work, and I'm the one who has to apologize to her?"

She couldn't keep the sharp bite out of her voice. "Do you want me to get on my knees and bow to her too, while I'm at it?"

Cassian looked up, his dark brows furrowed, faint irritation already simmering in his eyes.

Any other time, Vespera would have backed down immediately and yielded to his demands.

Not this time.

She had already lost her family, the man she loved, and her closest friendship. If she couldn't even protect the creative designs she had poured her blood, sweat, and tears into, what was the point of even existing?

Vespera clenched her fists so hard her nails dug deep into her palms. "I am not apologizing to Genevieve. I have done nothing wrong. She is the one who owes me."

Cassian stared at her, his expression turning dangerously still.

After a heavy pause, he maneuvered his wheelchair until he was right in front of her, every word slow, measured, and razor-sharp. "And what about what you owe me, Vespera Kane? Do you really think two years in exile pays off your debt?"

At those words, every last scrap of her defiance shattered into dust.

Her eyes fell onto his long, immobile legs... legs that would supposedly never carry his weight again.

In an instant, she was dragged right back into the nightmare that had haunted her for two straight years, every gruesome detail sharp as broken glass: the winding mountain road, their vehicle slamming into a massive boulder by the shoulder with a sickening crunch, then tumbling violently over the steep drop.

The car had rolled over and over down the rocky slope.

It finally wedged against the steel guardrail of the lower pass. The sharp stench of leaking fuel had filled the air, thick with the coppery tang of fresh blood...

It was a miracle both she and Cassian had survived that wreck. It was an even greater miracle that she had walked away almost completely unharmed.

Because Cassian had thrown his own body over hers the entire time, taking the crushing blow to protect her, his legs took the impact.

Vespera knew she owed him for that... a life debt she could never repay in a single lifetime.

She could despise Genevieve all she wanted, but if this was what Cassian demanded as restitution, she had no right to protest, not even a little bit.

Yet those sketches were her soul, her entire identity!

When Vespera said nothing, Cassian didn't push her further.

In the suffocating silence, he looked completely confident that she would cave, just as she always had in the past.

After a long, agonizing beat, Vespera lifted her eyes to Cassian once more, her voice rough as sandpaper. "If I break my own legs to compensate you, will you force Genevieve to return my work?"

Dead silence fell over the room, thick enough to suffocate.

Cassian stared at her as if she had lost her mind. "I am giving you one week. Once you clear your head, go apologize to Genevieve. Now get out."

The victim forced to apologize to the thief... what a sick, twisted farce.

Vespera let out a bitter, silent laugh. She met Cassian's icy gaze for one final second, then turned on her heel and strode out of the Thorne Enterprise headquarters.

The midday sun blazed bright outside, but its warmth felt completely hollow against her skin.

Vespera tilted her head back to look up at the towering heights of the Thorne Enterprise tower. The distance blurred the glass facade into a dizzying reflection.

A fleeting thought crossed her mind.

'Was Cassian up there right now, watching her from above?'

She found her answer in the very next heartbeat.

'Of course, he wasn't.'

And there was no way in hell she was ever going to apologize to Genevieve Delacroix.

With her resolve hardened, Vespera spun around and marched straight back into the executive building.

When the elevator doors slid open on the executive suite, she was still rehearsing the words she planned to confront him with.

The second she stepped out onto the polished marble, she froze solid.

A man stood with his back to her beside the floor-to-ceiling glass wall, casually speaking into his phone.

Bathed in the brilliant sunlight, his profile was sharp and imposing. Beneath his tailored slacks, Cassian Thorne was standing tall on his own two feet… strong, perfectly balanced, and bearing his full weight without any brace or support.