Eighteen Again: The CEO's Wife was a Delinquent

On his way back home, Adrian remains immersed in his thoughts and concerns for what is about to go down tonight.

It is now or never - not only because he had already dragged on his silence for too long, but also because it had been difficult to approach Cassidy these days. This may not be noticeable to other people, but he can tell that she is putting her distance in more than one way.

He had taken note of her skepticism and unease whenever he was getting too caught up in his romanticizing, but for some reason, she never pushed him away despite it all.

’She seems to be merely pretending to be fine by playing along, though...’ Adrian quietly brooded as he listlessly stared out to the tinted window of the car that he was riding on at the moment.

’I’m not sure what hurts more - watching her pretend like that all the time or being the receiving end of her apathy.’

Even then, he hasn’t ran out of things to do.

That’s why he is working hard to balance everything out - his duty as the head of the family, his clandestine undertakings of hunting certain evildoers down, and his role as a husband. Things have been busier than ever before, but he is more than willing to carry them out with the best of his abilities.

’At any rate, I have to tell her that I finally remember everything. Though I’m still afraid of how she will respond or if it will only make things worse between us, she deserves to know.’

With that in mind, Adrian braces himself for what seems like a thousandth time, steeling his resolve to see this through.

---

"But you promised that you would spend time with me tonight, didn’t you?"

Cassidy went to a still, caught off guard at how Adrian really went and used that against her.

They met up at the entrance of the mansion by coincidence - with her heading out, and him going in. It seemed like her luck had turned rotten all of the sudden. She was not intending to get caught like this.

Apparently, Cassidy has been as busy as Adrian these past few days, though she is more furtive about it than him. She has been going out to meet certain individuals - not without sneaking in secret and making Cecile cover for her and make up lies, of course. They can’t alarm the other houseworkers that she’s been going in and out of the place, especially Mia and Anthony.

Tonight, she was about to go out once more, but much to her surprise and dismay, her husband returned home much earlier than usual. It was also kind of her fault that she forgot her promise to spend dinner with him - which she absentmindedly made the other day as another way to play along.

"By the way, Anthony told me that my sisters paid you a visit earlier today. He said that I should know the rest of the story from you, though..." Adrian brought up all of the sudden, making Cassidy flinch a bit in surprise.

"Did Irish and Olivia bother you?

As he asked that, both his tone and expression darkened.

For a second there, she almost believed what Olivia said about him going against his own family for her sake. The way his gaze narrowed menacingly had sent shivers running down her spine. She wonders how he will react if she tells him about what kind of drama has gone down. But for now, she will have to handle the matter at hand.

It’s awkward stalling around the entrance with the maids and menservants overhearing their conversation - they should take this somewhere else.

"Wipe that scowl off. I’ll go have dinner with you," Cassidy finally said after keeping silent for a long moment, making Adrian brighten up in a matter of seconds.

"Well then, let us talk about everything there."

"Sure."

Ever since their trip to the aquarium park, they had not really done this kind of bonding together.

This would be the first in a while - and he hoped that it would not be the last one. He tried to express that thought by setting up not just any ordinary dinner. This one had been in his mind for some time. He wanted to make sure that every dinner spent with her would be a special one.

That being said, Adrian took Cassidy to the aquarium that he had striven to complete within less than a month.

The grandiose conservatory ends up to be a masterpiece. It is rich in ornamental glamour and unparalleled opulence, displaying an extravagant collection that rivals a real aquarium park. There is a candlelit dinner table in the middle of what seems to be a waterfall display, surrounding the two of them like how it will appear if they are underwater.

Cassidy is more than stunned if anything.

It is her first time seeing this place, after all. She was aware that Adrian still saw through the construction of this place even though she told him not to bother, but she never really went to take a look at it until now.

"Did you like it? It’s my first time seeing this too. As I thought, it would turn out great," Adrian started as he settled down at the opposite side of the table, sitting across her.

"It’s amazing. I can’t believe that something as amazing as this can exist," Cassidy mused out loud while she continued to behold the place in awe and wonder, much to his delight.

"I’m glad to see you’re enjoying it."

"I told you that you didn’t have to do this, though."

"But I still want to. It ends up to be worth it, anyway."

Because of this stubbornness of his, she is starting to feel burdened by her lies.

When he said he wanted to, she didn’t doubt that he genuinely did. Perhaps, it would have been better if he remained indifferent towards her. She was already prepared to move on, and she was hoping that he would also be once she finished confessing everything she had been through in the hands of his relatives.

This is now or never - before she leaves in only a few weeks, he needs to know even at least the gist of the truth.

"Hey, listen...." Cassidy chimed in again, looking away as she began.

"I slapped your sister."

"Huh?" Adrian blurted out, struck dumbfounded.

"I slapped Ofelia so hard that she cried."

From that point on, she went ahead and told him what kind of war was going on in his family this entire time.

He stayed speechless and unmoving, but going by how much he paled, he only seemed to be keeping it all in. She’s not sure how he’s faring so far, but she only continues to disclose the fact that she has been abused behind his back for the past years. With that, she also kind of spilled that she finally recovered her memories, though only a small amount of them.

She said what happened earlier as well - about how his sisters went there to apologize, and how she responded to them.

"Cassidy..." Adrian breathed out shakily after hearing everything, suddenly feeling a massive headache that should have been enough for him to have a breakdown at that very second.

"I understand, Cassidy. But before I say anything to that, may I also confess something while I still can? I don’t think I can hold on any longer, and I don’t want to drag this on anymore."

"Yes. Of course..." Cassidy weakly replied with a weary expression, clenching her fists together and bracing herself for whatever it was he was going to say.

"I’ll listen."

At this point, he could barely explain things without hurting so much.

He was already suspecting that something was going on with her and his family, but he never knew that it would be so bad that he felt like the biggest dummy for not noticing before. She may have not told him a detailed explanation of the abuse, but what he heard was enough to make him snap. It only fueled the burning wrath that he was feeling towards his grandfather - now, his sisters and mother had to join in the picture.

Adrian feels like bursting out and going out of control at that very moment, but he knows that this is not the right time and setting.

What he learned was all the more reason why he needed to tell Cassidy his side of the story. If he loses track of his main goal tonight, he is afraid that it will be too late the moment he opens his eyes on the next morning. Everything is already as messed up as it is - yet he knows that they will never be able to get to the bottom of this if he doesn’t mess it up even more by confessing the whole story.

"Y-You... l-lost your memories...?" Cassidy stammered out in aghast shock, paling so much as she found everything beyond her ability to understand overnight.

"A-And that’s why... y-you weren’t able to remember me?"

"Forgive me..." Adrian muttered breathlessly, stooping his head low and screwing his eyes shut.

"I know it’s a lot to take in, but please believe me when I tell you that I’m sorry for everything. I’m prepared to suffer the consequences even though I didn’t mean to forget about all of it, and I promise I’ll make it alright again. I know that I still treated you so harshly this entire time. But please, Cassidy, if you’d only let me-"

At that second, Adrian had to cut himself off as he found Cassidy losing her balance and fainting out of nowhere, much to his dread and horror.