Chapter 256
""Mr. Hernandez, your breakfast is right here,"" the staff member said, bringing out the meal she had prepared.
Joseph glanced at it and frowned. ""Cassie, you didn't make my breakfast.""
""Yesterday you compared my cooking to slop,"" Cassie responded calmly. The pattern was all too familiar: he'd disparage her culinary efforts in moments of misapprehension, only to expect her to serve him again later. Did he never feel tired of this cycle?
""Make it now,"" Joseph demanded, his expression darkening further.
""I won't,"" Cassie retorted after finishing her porridge and rising from her chair. ""I'm not your property. I'm off to work now.""
Joseph turned to Joe at the doorway. ""Keep a close eye on her, and if she dares go to the hospital, knock her out and bring her back.""
""I'm not your slave!"" Cassie burst out, her eyes reddening with anger. She had already decided against going to the hospital, yet he insisted on coercing her. ""Joseph, you're going too far.""
""The moment you crossed paths with me, you should've been ready to be at my beck and call. No one defies me,"" Joseph said, his words filled with infuriating arrogance.
Grabbing her bag, Cassie stormed out as Joe followed.
On her way to the office, no matter how Cassie gunned the engine and weaved through traffic, Joe kept up effortlessly.
Pulling into the parking lot, Cassie hopped out of her car only to see Joe swiftly emerge from behind.
""Joe, stop following me, okay? I'm not going to the hospital,"" Cassie confronted her. Truth be told, she kind of liked this female bodyguard.
""I'm sorry, but those are Mr. Hernandez's orders.""
""Is it Joseph who hired you? How much is he paying you? I'll double it,"" Cassie said, pulling a card out of her purse.
Joe remained unfazed. “Miss Brooks, no amount of money will change things. I was brought up by the Hernandez family, and I answer only to them.""
Cassie paused, startled. Were there many like Joe working for the Hernandez family? They seemed even more enigmatic than she had thought. ""So you've been with Joseph for a long time. Do you know someone named Megan Ray?""
A ripple of emotion briefly disturbed Joe's calm gaze. Though it vanished in an instant, Cassie caught it immediately. ""I've heard Joseph mention her. She's his ex-girlfriend, right? Were they close?""
""Miss Brooks, that's all in the past. Mr. Hernandez's heart belongs to you now,"" Joe rushed to say.
""Is that so?"" Cassie laughed ruefully. She had merely been toying with Joe, but Joe's response made her believe there truly was a Megan Ray in Joseph's past.
He was mumbling her name in his drunken stupors. How could his heart belong only to her?
""Joe, thanks for sharing that with me.""
She turned and headed up the stairs.
Joe, with no choice, followed in tow, envying her colleague who got assigned different missions, while she was stuck protecting the boss's lady, walking on thin ice between the two of them.
---
The next day at 4:30 PM.
After visiting David, Laura Miller stepped out feeling a tinge of regret.
If only she hadn't mistaken someone else for him in the beginning, they would have settled down together long ago, and David wouldn't have lost his kidney.
But what's done is done. Fate can be cruel.
She took out her phone to call Benjamin. ""Benjamin, are you picking up my parents later, or will you head straight to the Emerald Tower?""
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