The Royal Contract

"Anytime you are ready." Marcus shifted his position so that he was facing her. He was indeed handsome, just like his friend, Alex. But she already had enough of good-looking men.

Once this was over, she was moving on and taking a break from relationships. Pursuing after Troy was out of the question, Cassie could not face him anymore after what she had done.

"You are probably aware of my past and my association with Nick. Lately, I realized that I made a mistake of letting Nick use my anger to ruin the Hamilton family." She began to explain her participation with Nick's plans to ruin Ethan, his family, and his businesses.

"But what Nick did not foresee was your sudden appearance in the picture. He already had set up an elaborate plan to ruin Ethan and Dani. But you showed up and ruined everything." Cassie continued to narrate to him.

"Does he still have a new ammunition against the Hamilton family?" Alex had to know if he should prepare for another problem where Nick was concerned." Alex asked her.

"Yes, he still has many things under his belt that he could use against Ethan. Most of them came from me." She informed him of the possible arsenal that Nick could still use at them at any moment.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you turning your back on Nick?" Alex had to be sure that she was not playing him and Nick at the same time.

He had to know if she was genuinely remorseful of her past actions and would like to reform. Or, she was using them to get what she wanted, which was revenge against Dani and her father?

"Because I already lost the one person that I truly cared about because of my obsession to get even with Ethan. He made me realize that there was more to life than this." Cassie could still see the disappointment in Troy's eyes.

If she could find a way to turn back time, she would have stopped her insanity and moved on with Troy long before she found herself lost in her anger.

But there was no way to return to the past and change what was already over and done. All she could do now was remedy her situation and correct what she could to alleviate her sins.

"We will need some proof of your claims. We could not simply take your word for it." Alex could see some sense of some of the things she revealed to him. But without concrete evidence, it would still be a high risk that he was not comfortable taking at face value.

"Of course. I knew that you would be asking for it. I will send it to you as soon as I can arrange it." 

She already had prepared it, but she opted not to bring it today to him. In case things did not work out. She would still need her leverage against Nick.

"Then, we are looking forward to seeing what else you want to offer. In exchange for all of this, what do you want?" Alex knew that information like this did not come free. 

"I am already a rich woman. Money is not my objective here. But I want to be able to start fresh without always looking behind my shoulder. I know Nick would come after me after he realized that I betrayed him." Cassie explained to him.

She knew Nick would not take her betrayal lightly, and he would probably retaliate to get back at her. She needed Alex to guarantee her safety against him.

"Let me handle that." Alex understood what she was asking of him. He could provide her protection as long as all her information did check out.

"For what is it worth. Can you tell Dani that I am truly sorry for all the things I did to her?" She had screwed her despite being a good friend to her. It was one of the things she regretted losing in this lifetime.

In a way, she felt like she saved Dani from the clutches of Nick when she sent those incriminating photos of her and Nick to Ethan. Her intentions might not be as pure then, but it did stop her wedding from Nick.

At least she prevented Dani from a life of misery if she ended up marrying him. Nick was not a man for a good-hearted girl like Dani. Nick was a monster who never learned how to love.

"I'm sure Dani will be glad to hear that you have a change of heart. Regarding your request for assistance from us. I will make sure that you will be safe to start over again." Alex answered her.

He might still have some reservations about Cassie's revelations, but he could see the sincerity in her eyes when she told him about how sorry she was for her wrongdoings.

"Well, I won't take much of your time. I will make sure to keep in touch." Cassie stood from her chair and shook their hands.

She was aware she made the right choice of coming to Alex and shifting her alliance. She could not keep up being the villain in their story. She was not as bad as Nick or his new partner.

As far as she was concerned, they both could rot in hell, but they were not taking her along with them. She had enough of this life, and she was running away as far as she could.

"Thanks for coming to us about this." Alex showed her to the door as she promised to send her evidence.

"What do you think?" Marcus asked Alex as soon as he returned to his seat.

Marcus was a good reader of people. Based on his observation, he thought that she might be telling them the truth.

"I think we should wait for the proof before we jump into any conclusion." Alex pointed out. "She might be telling us the truth, but we still needed all the information to be black and white and not just hearsay." 

Although, it was already a big help to get a glimpse of Nick's plans. They could already use some of the things Cassie told them if they were sure of its reliability.

However, he could not see any reason for her to make up a story like this. She had nothing to gain and more to lose. Unless again, Nick had put her up to this.. It was all a trap.