Chapter 364
Cassie even saw many netizens calling for a boycott of products from companies invested in by Joseph.
The once-wealthiest man in Madison had now become a pariah, a common target of contempt.
Cassie's gaze complicatedly drifted toward Joseph across the breakfast table, engrossed in the morning paper. He was in a dark green bathrobe, the sash loosely tied, revealing a glimpse of his firm chest and tanned skin—oozing the mature charm of masculinity.
It seemed he wasn't going to work again today.
In reality, all this could have been avoided if he agreed to marry Luna and break up with her.
She was still struggling to believe that he was willing to give up Madison's most dazzling status and reputation for her.
"What's with that intense stare first thing in the morning?" Joseph suddenly looked up from his paper, his lips curling into a teasing smile.
Cassie's eyes widened. Had she been staring for too long? She hadn't even noticed.
"Intense? I was thinking about something," Cassie replied, turning her face away awkwardly.
Joseph closed the newspaper and stood behind her, resting his hands on the back of the chair. "Thinking about what?"
"None of your business," Cassie said, sipping her milk.
"Is it something about me?" Joseph leaned in closer, his freshly shaved face and the faint masculine scent of his aftershave teasing her senses.
Cassie almost lost grip of her milk glass. This man, still in the mood to flirt amidst the chaos, must be out of his mind.
Grinding her teeth in frustration, Cassie confronted him bluntly. "Joseph, I just don't get what's going on in your head. Let me go, and you might still have a chance to fix everything."
"Everything? You mean my reputation, my status?" Joseph asked with a wry smile.
"Aren't you well aware of it?"
"I am, but it seems you're not." Gently, Joseph wiped a smudge of milk from her lips. "Cassie, you still don't understand. For you, it's worth it."
For you, it's worth it.
Those five simple words effortlessly shattered the tough exterior Cassie had built up over the days.
Her heartbeat quickened.
She didn't understand. Hadn't she stopped loving him a long time ago?
All she felt for him was hatred, wishing him dead, hoping to be as far away from him as possible. He was a devil that filled her with fear.
Yet, why did she still find herself helplessly moved by him?
"Don't tell me you like me." Cassie gripped her cup tightly, fighting back anger as she scoffed. "Your kind of 'liking' is forcing me, injuring me, intimidating and coercing me. How are you any different from a criminal?"
"Am I supposed just to watch David sweep you off your feet?" Joseph said as if it were obvious. "I'm sorry for hurting you; I really am. I won't let it happen again. I'll make it up to you, slowly but surely."
"I don't want your compensation; I just want you to leave me alone." She didn't want to be stirred any further; she feared forgetting all the hatred and the pain.
Joseph's gaze hardened. "Is that how eager you are to get back to David?"
"No," Cassie replied hastily, fearing he might lash out at David, "I agreed to the engagement because I felt indebted to him, not because I've stopped loving you."
At those words, Joseph's eyes shook, and he suddenly gripped her shoulders tightly.
Cassie turned to look at him, only to see the same fierce intensity in his eyes that he had the night he'd pinned her down.
It was that same look.
The look instilled a profound fear deep within her, making the idea of a life with him unbearable.
"So is this your 'never harming me again'?" Cassie managed to say as a cold sweat broke out from the pain.
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