Chapter 215: Guilty Cassie
The bartender paused and nodded to the other bartender lady at the far end.
"I have what you need."
Thirty seconds later, muffled grunts and moans echoed from the service area.
6 p.m.
After a long, stressful afternoon, Miles sealed a hot jacuzzi bath and then lay on the bed with the AC on chill mode.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Leisurely inputting a series of codes, the door opened with a beep sound and Miles stepped inside.
"Home," Miles muttered, turning around to give the interior a quick scan. He noticed Cassie already staring at him with a small bowl of recently made popcorn, judging by the lingering aroma in the air.
"Welcome," she said after giving his appearance a quick scan, then turned back to the wide TV. Tapping the resume button, she dropped the remote and sunk her fingers into the fluffy popcorn. But just as she brought it to her lips, she paused.
"Oh, there’s some leftovers in the kitchen. It was kinda too much, so I thought I should leave some for whoever got up first," she said out loud.
"Hehehe, how cute. Wait, Phine isn’t back yet?" he asked, just as Cassie was about to rebut him for laughing.
"Hmm."
Cassie chewed the popcorn in her mouth before replying.
"Well... you know how she is. She always likes to hang out anywhere that isn’t home. Probably with her fashion-obsessed friends..." Cassie paused with a mischievous smile, "...or maybe at her boyfriend’s."
She sneakily glanced behind her at Miles, who halted in his tracks but then realized her mischievous tone.
"Don’t you have anything to do? You know they say an idle mind gives way to many bad thoughts," he said with a voice as wise as an old man’s while grabbing the big bowl filled with popcorn. He sneered. "So much for leftovers. You screwed up your measurement and left a bigger portion. Here I was wondering how fucking well you’ve grown on me."
Hearing Miles curse her with a sneer, Cassie chose not to reply and merely watched the ongoing drama on the screen.
"Well, more for me."
Shutting his pretentious mouth, Miles scooped a handful as he climbed the stairs, leaving behind a crunchy sound.
Upon entering his room, Miles did just what he wished for: a deep, hot bath in the bathtub and sleep under the cool temperature.
8 p.m.
Miles opened his drowsy eyes after a constant knock on the door.
’Damn, who the fuck is that?’
Stretching his limbs while yawning, a glint of irritation appeared in Miles’s eyes as he set his feet on the ground. With his upper build still bare, he lazily walked toward the door.
"Can’t I sleep in peace?" he muttered as he opened the door with a click sound.
Just as he raised his eyes to look at the person pounding on his door, the other person seemed to have caught his words and rebutted the moment she saw him.
"Do you want to die?" Josephine rolled her eyes with a slight frown, apparently angered by his words.
Miles stared at her with a speechless expression, not knowing what to say.
"Hmmmphh, perhaps you’ll get all the peace you want while sleeping, right? Get down, dinner is ready and we are all waiting for you."
She turned back without saying another word, but Miles caught a glimpse of her red knuckles.
’Oh fuck.’
He thought, realizing he fucked up and understanding the reason for Josephine’s paranoia.
’She must have been knocking for a while now, probably worried that something happened to me, and then she heard me say that. Gotta apologize.’
With this thought, Miles put on his shirt and joined the rest of the family at the dining table.
"What’s wrong, Miles? Cassie said you’ve been in your room since you got back from school."
Just as he sat down and quickly poured himself a glass of water, Hannah brought her palm to his head to check his forehead under the three girls’ gaze.
’Ehn?’
Miles thought Cassie was purposely setting him up and wanted to rebut her lie, when he recalled his part-time job was a secret. He quickly switched to acting, meeting Josephine’s complicated gaze.
"Oh well, the exam is in two days. Got swarmed in revision and had a little fever. Don’t worry, I made sure I had a good rest so I’m good now."
"Oh." Also sensing his temperature was okay, Hannah withdrew her hand in understanding.
Although Miles was fucking her and was secretly the daddy who spanked her ass, he was still her son—one she loved dearly beyond parental love. Her motherly love wasn’t an act either.
"Exam in two days? How long have you guys been doing revision?" she asked.
"Twelve hours ago?" Miles answered, seemingly asking himself with a subtle glance at Josephine.
"Twelve hours? And you guys are having an exam in two days? How incompetent of the staff there. And now they are putting pressure on the students."
Hannah criticized the school system, understanding as somebody who managed a huge corporate structure where the fault came from. She wanted to dig her fork into the pasta on her plate but paused, casting a loving gaze at Miles.
"If you don’t like it there, I can find a more luxurious school out there with an optimized learning structure. With your smart ass, you’ll probably get into Oxford, Cambridge, and the likes of the Ivy League. But no pressure, it’s totally up to you—even if you don’t want to go to college," Hannah said dismissively, not caring much about the prestige of attending such places, but rather her son’s choice.
"I’ll think about it."
Miles nodded, stabbing a chicken lap. The huge, uncultured bite he took made the girls lean back. Miles grinned and savagely continued with it.
Just as everyone began to eat, Cassie paused, suddenly realizing something.
"Come to think of it. If you guys are having exams, isn’t Phine’s prom night going to be this Saturday night?"
Everyone paused and glanced at Josephine. Hannah had a look of realization, and her voice turned serious.
"Oh no, baby, why didn’t you tell me?" she asked.
Josephine raised her head to meet their stature, then forced a smile.
"Well, I planned on telling you guys. It wasn’t just now." She gave Cassie the eye, knowing she had made it sound like she was keeping something so important from her family.
"Well, my bad." Cassie propped her tongue out and smirked.
"Say no more. When you’re ready, let’s go shopping for your dream dress," Hannah beamed, and Josephine nodded happily.
But just as everyone was about to continue eating, Josephine revealed an enlightened look and glared at Cassie.
"Cassie, don’t you have a ballet competition coming up?"
Now it was Cassie’s turn to freeze, knowing she didn’t intend on telling Hannah, despite Hannah dropping her off at school.
Like a mother hen stretching its feathers, Hannah’s frown deepened as she glared at Cassie, who guiltily avoided her gaze.
"Is that true?" Hannah asked in a stern voice, her brows furrowed with a mix of a saddened look.
"...Yes, but mom, I can explain," Cassie quickly said, but Hannah shook her head in dejection, her shoulders lowering.
"You don’t have to explain because I already know who you are. You’re probably thinking, ’I don’t want to be a burden to mom.’ So you think not telling me something that important is cool?"
However, Hannah’s voice softened, a regrettable look in her eyes. Cassie lowered her gaze, looking down with a deep sense of guilt in her heart.
"I’m sorry," she muttered, but there was no response.
A moment later, Hannah spoke again, this time totally suppressing her emotions.
"When is it?" she asked.
Cassie bit her lip, her usually carefree, solitary, and mischievous temperament completely gone.
"Sunday night. Its location was just recently changed to Paris, with two pairs selected to partake."
A gloomy silence fell. Even Miles was affected but stayed still, knowing better than to interfere.
"So were you going to... were you going to run or something?" Hannah blurted out, but then she shook her head and commenced to take a forkful of spaghetti, chewing it to vent her anger before taking a deep breath.
"We will all go to Paris then. As soon as Phine is done with her prom night, we’ll go on a week-long summer holiday," Hannah declared with no room for negotiation, and resumed eating.
Everyone stayed in place, including Miles, only he was still chewing the chicken meat in his mouth.
Cassie exchanged a furious glare with Josephine, who then propped out her tongue, making it clear she had won this battle after being provoked.
After about two seconds, Miles smirked at the two girls with a wink at Deb and took another bite of the chicken.
"Will you stop biting that and eat your food instead?" Unable to bear Miles’s insistent chewing sound, Josephine snapped, and the solemn atmosphere quickly dispersed.
"The chicken is also part of the food, right?"
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