[The Benedotte's Mansion]
Mr and Mrs Benedotte were already at home by the time Cassandra arrived. Meeting them at home was something she never expected because she had left them at the wedding venue, and she expected that they would still be there, busy wallowing in the hullabaloo she created for them to enjoy.
Mr and Mrs Benedotte were sitting opposite each other, their hands clutching tightly to their knees, and Madeline was still in her wedding dress, wallowing in her tears of shame.
Despite her explanation, her parent failed to believe her, and they insisted on going to the hospital to confirm right after seeing Cassandra.
"What has gotten into your head!" Mr Benedotte yelled the moment Cassandra stepped into the living room. He paused, taking in deep breaths to control his anger. "Cassandra, you know how important today was to your sister, yet you ruined it. Why didn't you inform us? We could have buried the whole thing. Why throw the family name in so much shame and ridicule?"
Mr Benedotte's eyes bore into hers, a mixture of pain and disappointment on his face. "You've always loved your sister. Why would you do such a dreadful thing, honey?"
He waited for a response. He knew the type of daughter he had. She was probably going to lower her head and apologize sweetly to her sister.
He had always known his daughter to be a peacemaker and an unbiased individual who loved everyone dearly.
Mr Benedotte moved closer to Cassandra, holding on to her hands. "Fine, I know my daughter never says things without a reason. But this is probably a mistake, and it's fine. Mistakes are bound to happen. You are human, and humans make mistakes…"
"I don't make mistakes," Cassandra responded, letting go of her hands from Mr Benedotte. She looked up to the grey-haired man, probably in his late 60s. "What I said at the church wasn't a mistake, and I am not sorry I made those statements."
The maids around couldn't help but murmur at the manner with which Cassandra had replied.
To them, Miss Cassandra was one who was very quiet, smiled all the time, respectful and obedient, and had been living like that for the past twenty-five years.
Madeline wiped away her tears. "But I'm not pregnant. I saw you this morning, and you said nothing to me! Why are you doing this to me, sister? Why?"
Cassandra was almost convinced by her tears. Only if she hadn't seen Madeline in the revelation, she would have believed she couldn't hurt a fly.
"Even if she really is pregnant with another person's child, you shouldn't have sold her out just like that and in the presence of everyone." Mrs Benedotte added.
Cassandra massaged the space between her brows. Gosh! Who knew being a human could be so disturbing? No one dared question her, even if she killed someone in the underworld. But here on earth, she simply caused a minor ruckus, and they are acting so annoyingly already.
But then, she remembered. She wanted to live peacefully as a human.
With a sigh, she turned to them, "Mother, Father, Madeline, I'm sorry I did that. I was just having fun." She said nonchalantly and began to walk away from them.
"Fun?" Madeline remarked. "You were having fun at my wedding? Do you know how much this has taken from me? You fucking lied, Cassandra!"
Cassandra uttered no word, nor did she spare them a glance. Rather, she giggled happily till she got into her room and shut the door behind her.
Paying no attention to her beeping phone, she turned around joyfully before crashing on her bed.
"Yes! This is good! Happy life!" She admired her room once, the toilet, and the closet
"Gross." She muttered disgustingly as she checked the set of clothes in her closet. She didn't like the style. They were too humble.
She needed something extravagant! She had to go shopping.
Unbeknownst to her, her phone buzzed again with diverse messages tripping in, but she was too overwhelmed with the joy that she was alive and her powers were intact.
At the same time, she felt sad. Her being the only one alive meant her other clan members had been killed and sent to burn in hell, all of which wouldn't have happened if Nexafarion, a powerful and greedy demon, had not implicated the Essoh clan.
'Well, Nexafarion must be so happy being next to the throne now.' She nodded and turned around joyfully again. Nexafarion could have the throne or the whole of the underworld in particular; she wasn't concerned.
All she wanted now was to live a normal and peaceful life as a human.
Back in the living room, Mr Benedotte insisted that Madeline get checked at the hospital. Arriving at the hospital, Madeline was made to go through the necessary procedures. Deep down, Madeline was confident that she wasn't pregnant.
She didn't understand why Cassandra would cook up such a destructive lie and fake evidence to support it. Her sister would never be after her downfall. She believed Cassandra had no justification or reasonable conviction to have done what she did.
She was worried…
'Or did Tristan make her do it?'
Another person who came to mind was Tristan. Yes, she did him dirty, but was it enough to cook up a lie as bad as that? Besides, she believed Tristan would never stoop so low as to do something that ridiculous.
Her head ached. "What's going on?"
The tests result turned out to be negative.
"See, I told you. I told you I wasn't pregnant, but no one believed me." She fell into her mum's arms and wept. "I don't know why my sister is doing this to me. I'm scared, Mum. I love Myles so much. Is he going to take me back?"
She raised her head to her mother, her face wet with tears. "Or… is it because I made my wedding day the same day as Cassandra's birthday? Is that why she is mad at me and decided to ruin the wedding? She could have told me."
Mr and Mrs Bennedotte tried to console her, but it grew worse instead. Her tears trickled down her cheek like a flowing ocean, so much more that the doctors around her began to complain.
[Cassandra's room.]
Cassandra's phone beeped continuously as she tried each dress in her wardrobe. Turning left and right as she checked herself in the mirror, she shook her head in disappointment at how they looked on her body.
"This girl's got bad tastes. How did she grow up wearing these?" She flung the dresses to the side till her gaze got a glimpse of her beeping phone.
At first, she thought it was a bomb due to the way it buzzed incessantly, but then, she remembered her friends who had once been sent on a mission to Earth had talked about humans having electronics and gadgets, which included phones.
She hummed as she picked it up. There were about ten messages from a contact saved as Baron.
She swiped up to see, and her brows furrowed as she read the message.
[Happy Birthday, babe. You haven't forgotten about the dinner date, right?]