n

n

nFor a while, Cassidy only continues to walk down the aisle all the way to the exit of the casino, planning on staying at the same balcony where she and Edward talked earlier in the meantime.

nAlthough she is too caught up in her emotions right now, she can still notice how people will look in her direction. Through the corners of her eyes, she can see a number of them turning to look at her even when she just keeps staring ahead. She is no longer wearing anything to cover her bare skin like earlier, so her appearance might have stood out again.

nAt least, that's what Cassidy assumed for the first few seconds.

n'Hmmm...? This is getting strange...'

nFor some reason, something is starting not to settle well with her. The closer she gets to the exit, the more she senses some sort of looming portent. It's as if there's a hidden intention among those gazes. Since she is already used to people's attention by this point, she is able to differentiate the kinds of looks they are giving.

n'No, it's not only that. I won't be reacting like this if I hadn't pointed it out first. This is not just any usual type of attention...' Cassidy pondered as she proceeded with her walk and pretended to be oblivious.

n'This could be the worst type of unwarranted attention.'

nRight then, she decided to take a brief glance at her side, and true enough, she noticed at least a couple of shady-looking men. Both of them were giving her the look that could only mean trouble. It's the kind that made her feel like she's under surveillance.

n'This might turn out to be bad. Maybe I should go back-'

n

"Ma'am Cassidy?

"

nThat's when Charles showed up before Cassidy all of the sudden, taking her aback.

nFor a moment, they only share the same surprised expression. She can see that he is a little confused. He was probably expecting that she won't be all on her own like this - which might indeed be a bad thing if her suspicions are correct.

nCassidy wants to hurry up and tell Charles about these sketchy onlookers, but she feels like she is going to pull a trigger once she announces that out of nowhere. There can be more than two of them surrounding them now.

nThat's why instead of letting her alarm and panic show through, Cassidy came up with an idea and decided to act normal.

n

"Hi there, Charlie~! You finally came! Too bad that you missed dinner. Did your paperwork consume too much of your time again?

" she greeted ebulliently before walking closer to him.

n

"Ummm... Ma'am Cassidy?

" he blurted out in bafflement.

n

"But anyway, it's been days since we last saw each other! I've missed hanging out with you!

"

nMuch to his nonplus, she rushes towards him and wraps her arms around his neck, hugging him.

nDespite his confusion, he just leans down when she pulls him closer. She is definitely being extra cheerful and friendly tonight. What's more, though he has only seen her apparel for less than a minute, she looks extra lovely - no, she looks extremely ravishing.

nCharles can't help but blush as he thinks about how Cassidy looks tonight. It doesn't help that she's greeting him with such a warm embrace too. She even appears more than eager to initiate physical contact that it makes the thing in his chest beat madly.

nThis might not be good for his heart.

n

"M-Ma'am Cassidy, w-what did I tell you about doing this kind of thing in public? People might get the wrong idea, you know,

" Charles gently chided but only to be caught off guard again when he felt her breathing in his ear.

n

"Sorry, Charlie... Don't make any reaction or sound for now. I have something urgent to tell you in secret. They might hear...

" Cassidy whispered in his ear as she squeezed him tighter.

n

"I think I'm being watched right now.

"

nAt that, he tries his hardest to control his expression despite how disconcerted he suddenly feels.

nHe also keeps himself from looking around them, deciding to play along and act oblivious like her. Instead, he takes a moment to let his senses do the work here. Eventually, he learns that these people she has mentioned are not really being discreet about it to begin with.

nThat's because Charles can already point out a few more suspicious individuals ahead of him even without scanning their sides. They keep glancing at their direction - more than twice. Not to mention, they don't seem to be interacting with the other customers around them.

nThey're just observing - with them as their subjects of interest.

n

"Cassidy... and Charles?

"

nUnbeknownst to the two, Adrian has just slipped out of the bar and found them hugging each other in the middle of the crowd.

nHe feels his breath hitching and his chest recoiling as soon as he spots them in that intimate position. Time and again, he found himself getting numb. He could not move an inch all of the sudden.

nFrom that distance, Adrian can see that they stand out like lovers who're doing some kind of public display of affection. At first, he deemed the scene as implausible. He thought that he only took it wrong. It's possible that his wife just happened to stumble and his secretary caught her on time.

nWithin that minute, probable scenarios like that have flashed through his mind.

nYet when Adrian saw Charles returning the embrace, all those thoughts left him.

nHe watched how he puts one of his hands on the back of her head and the other on her waist. He also watched how Cassidy nestled deeper in his arms as if she found it comforting and safe.

nRight then, Adrian begins to have an agonizing conflict of emotions.

nAt one hand, he remains tormented by the fact that she caught him with another woman. His desperation to clear the misunderstanding and make her believe him has intensified. She's probably affected by that more than he thought. That might be why she's now taking comfort in someone she's close to.

nOn the other hand, he can't help but be consumed by envy. He knew that he didn't have the right to feel that way in this situation. After all, he was just doing something similar earlier even though it was against his will. No matter what, he doesn't like this at all. He doesn't want her that near to any other man - not even his own secretary.

nPutting matters aside, Adrian can't keep himself from seething in jealousy -

nPerhaps, much too much that he ends up making a dark, hooded expression.

n

"Pardon me, Ma'am Cassidy. Let me use myself like a body shield for now. Things might go awry at any moment,

" Charles murmured near her ear as he nuzzled his nose in her hair, trying to get rid of his blush and calm his accelerating heartbeat at the same time.

n

"I-It's fine...

" Cassidy stammered out, shivering a bit as soon as his warm breath hit a sensitive spot on her skin.

n

"What should we do now, though?

"

n

"Stay close to me. I'll put my arm over your shoulders and lead you out of here.

"

n

"Sure.

"

nWith that, they finally decided to go with their plan and continued to act clueless.

nAfter pulling away from each other, Charles goes ahead and spreads his arm on her shoulders. Cassidy lets him escort her out of there, still faking a smile like earlier. They remain so close that there is barely any gap between them.

nSo far, their plan works out well. A few more steps and they'll be reaching the exit.

n

"Kyahhhhhhh...!!!

"

nThat's all until a loud scream pierces through the air out of nowhere -

nWhich is followed by the sound of blaring gunshots.

nIn just a very small span of time, chaos broke out. As the firing of bullets carries on, everyone makes a mad dash for it and sprints to different directions. They scatter around in horror and panic. Cries for help and screeches of aghast shock echo all over the place, turning the whole setting a lot more sinister.

nMost think that it's a terrorist's attack, but a certain few knows better.

n

"Shit...! They might be onto Sir Ray and the others!

" Charles exclaimed in trepidation, already realizing what the commotion could be all about.

n

"What?! Sir Ray?!

" Cassidy bolted out, completely horrified and perturbed.

n

"For now, let's get out of here-

"

n

"Cassidy!

"

nThat's when they suddenly heard Adrian calling out to them, making them turn back in flummox.

nAt that point, though, a flood of people is already running all the way to the exit. Everyone is in a panicked rush. Because of that, the three of them can barely make out where they are exactly. The crowd keeps blocking their ways and hurdling their sights -

nAnd soon enough, a wild stampede has been wreaked.

n

"Cassidy, go on! Go with Charles! I'll follow you two!

" he kept shouting at them, struggling to make his voice reach them despite the ear-piercing noise of the entire pandemonium.

nEven when Cassidy managed to hear it, she became hesitant when she saw how Adrian was practically getting swept further and further away by the ocean of people - consequently being dragged into the danger zone.

n