Chapter 25

When Peter realized that Cassie had completely forgotten what happened to her in the cafe and few minutes ago. Peter raised his hand. “Shush listen to me now.”

Cassie put down his hand with her finger. “Don’t shush me.”

Peter closed his eyes and took deep breaths then looked at her. “Whatever happened inside it's not your fault. It's actually Ryker's fault so you don't need to run away or hide yourself from anyone.”

Cassie didn’t know that coming. She opened her mouth but shut it back because she had nothing to respond. Peter continued. “I only wanted to divert your attention so that you would be able to understand whatever it is that I am explaining to you. To set the record straight, I did not have any covert plans.”

Cassie's face returned to a painful expression, and she whined. "Why are you doing this?"

Peter winked. “Because I believe in fair competition and I don’t want you to give me an excuse that I beat your scores because you were upset.”

Cassie rolled her eyes. “Some people never change.”

Peter said before turning around. “Try not to shed tears for any jerk. You deserve better.”

Cassie’s lips slightly curled up and a tear rolled out of her eye. Peter came close and wiped with her finger. “Not even one tear.” and then he walked away.

Cassie was perplexed by Peter because he was the one who held Ryker when he was about to harm her, and when Cassie thanked Peter for saving her, he made her believe that he was still a competitive dick. Today, after comforting her, Peter walked away. Nobody in the cafe stepped out for her instead of mocking her, but Peter did.

Cassie's shattered heart pain reignited after Peter left. She knew she had to face whatever came her way, but she needed time to gather her strength to do so. Cassie decided to return home and turn off her phone because she wanted to curl up in a cocoon.

When Ryker saw Peter touch Cassie she smiled. A pain emanating in his heart that he is unable to understand so he flicked his head and resumed laughing and talking with his friends. Cassie also walked away from the cafe.

Steven was wrapping up his practice and rushed to take a shower. In the shower, he heard what had happened in the cafe with Cassie. Anger coursed through his veins and he asked the guys if it was true or not. They told him how Ryker planned everything to take his revenge and how Cassie ran out of the cafe with tears in her eyes.

He ran to his backpack to fetch his phone. Steven dialed Cassie, but her phone was switched off. He went to the cafe, knowing she usually sat with Daniel. When he entered, his gaze fell on Ryker. Steven went over and punched Ryker, his words full of rage and warning. "If I see you near Cassie, it won't be good for you."

Ryker wanted to get up and punch him back, knowing he was strong enough to do so. But he did not. Instead, he stayed on the ground and accepted the strike. Ryker reasoned to himself that he deserved the punch.

Ryker wiped the blood from his lips headed to his car and stormed out of the Elite. He drove to a racing place because it was far from the city. He pulled over but didn’t come out as he did not intend to participate in the race. He gripped the steering wheel and screamed until his throat started to hurt.

Ryker sat in a car for a few hours. He didn’t do anything just staring at the dashboard and convincing himself that he didn’t do anything wrong. Cassie got him suspended for a week so he took revenge in return. He broadened his chest and started the engine.

When Ryker returned home, he expected Daniel to lecture him on how insensitive he had been or to express his anger. But nothing of the sort happened. Ryker squinted and walked to Daniel's room, intrigued by the strange silence. Looking inside, he noticed Lilly sitting on the side of Daniel's bed. Ryker felt a stab of envy as he watched them; he thought Daniel had diverted her mom’s attention away from him. Driven by envy, Ryker frequently found himself doing wrong or evil things to earn his mom's attention.

Lilly asked Daniel, "How are you feeling now?"

Daniel was sitting up in bed with a bowl of soup. "I told you it was just a slight fever."

Lilly sighed. "Everything seems slight to you when it comes to your health."

Daniel passed the bowl to Lilly. "But I didn't want to bother you."

Lilly put the bowl on a tray. "Although I have two sons, God gave me the privilege to take care of one, and that's you."

Daniel smiled. "Thanks, Mom, for everything you have ever done for me."

Lilly placed her hand against his cheek. "I want you to stay happy, and I've noticed you've started to smile more since you became friends with that girl with glasses."

Daniel blushed and adjusted his glasses. "Her name is Cassie, and she's just a friend."

Lilly inquired, "Did you tell your friend about your fever?"

Daniel noticed that the entire day had passed without Cassie asking him why he hadn't arrived. He picked up the phone. "You think I should have told her."

Lilly raised her hands in faux helplessness. "I fell in love with your dad and married him, so I'm no expert in advising about love."

Daniel asked. “Seriously, how could you fall for him?”

Lilly shot up her shoulders. “I think you must have heard that ove is blind.”

Daniel giggles. “I think in your case love was out of his mind.”

Daniel and Lilly chuckled, and Ryker returned to his room with flaring nostrils. Lilly said good night to Daniel and walked out of his room. Daniel dialed Cassi’e number but it was switched off. He left her a few messages, rested his head on the pillow, and closed his eyes.