Eighteen Again: The CEO's Wife was a Delinquent

Adrian needed a few more seconds to completely take in what’s happening.

With his eyes as wide as an owl’s, he just continues to stare at the screen of his phone. His video chat with Cassidy is now displaying a heated dance competition between her two bodyguards.

The scene appears comical with their fierce expressions. Yet at the same time, it looks astonishing with how their crazy dance moves are stirring up the large audience that they have gathered.

"Woahhh... Look at em’ go..." Edward suddenly chimed in from beside him, his head slightly nodding along with the beat of the music that’s coming from his brother’s phone.

"Your bodyguards can compete in the next international dance contest."

Adrian only gives him a look for a moment, a bit taken aback to find him enjoying this madness.

As he was about to comment on this with a flat look on his face, he suddenly heard Cassidy laughing lightheartedly. The melodious tune of her genuine expression of mirth got him swerving his head back to the screen. That’s when he saw her cheering for her bodyguards along with the applauding crowd.

Right then, Adrian found himself heaving a sigh of relief.

He thought for sure that his wife would come saying that the security’s too stiff or she felt like a prisoner the whole time. She did say something along those lines back when they got trapped in the middle of the road yesterday. But then, it seemed like she’s able to have fun with her new bodyguards in the end.

"How surprising, Adrian..." Edward started again out of nowhere, making him turn to look back at him.

"I was expecting that you’re gonna blow a fuse and scold her. This kind of fun had never been in your vocabulary before, after all. Seems like you’ve really softened up."

"I don’t know about softening up or whatnot, and I might still blow a fuse if something bad ends up happening because of this, but..." Adrian trailed off before facing ahead again and spreading a ghost of a smile.

"As long as she’s enjoying what she’s doing without putting herself in danger, I’ll take it as a good kind of fun."

"You might as well be saying that your wife’s finally teaching you what fun means."

"You’re making me look like the very definition of boredom, Edward."

"Not really. You’re just impassive and apathetic most of the time."

"Well, that’s hard to do with Cassidy around."

Edward falls silent at this, still not used to hearing Adrian call his wife by her first name. With how unrelenting he was in calling her by her maiden name back then, it now almost felt like he’s saying another woman’s name.

But then again, his ’Eleanor’ and his ’Cassidy’ really seem like two different women. With her memories gone, she acts like an entirely new person. The way she treats her husband is so different from before, which then makes him wonder one certain thing.

"Adrian..." Edward called out again, turning serious all of the sudden.

"If you don’t mind me asking, how are you two, by the way? Does she not really see you the same way as before?"

"If you’re asking if she’s still holding feelings for me... Well, I think she doesn’t. She even said I’m not his type the first time she saw me," Adrian replied enigmatically, his lips curving into an inscrutable frown.

"Oh."

Now, that’s quite off-the-bat.

Edward didn’t expect that - the fact that Cassidy wasn’t actually interested in him despite being so head-over-heels in love with him prior to her amnesia. That rises the question on why her adult version fell in love with Adrian in the first place. If it’s not for his wealth, intelligence and good looks, he doesn’t know what made her want to earn his affection so much.

"His... personality... perhaps?" Edward quietly wondered before mustering a dumbfounded look.

"As far as I know, he’s always cold towards women - or at least, those who’re persistently pursuing him. He’s a bit of a sadist, I admit. Then, is the past Cassidy... a m-masochist...? I-I don’t really think so."

While he is having this train of thoughts, he darts his eyes back to his brother and peers at him through the corners of his eyes. He’s now having a conversation with his wife again, reminding her not to get so caught up in their playtime that she’d forget about her surroundings.

Right then, Edward catches sight of his sister-in-law beaming ebulliently. Cassidy appears really charming with such a genuine, bubbly smile on her face - a sight he finds hard to tear his gaze off of. Perhaps, it’s because he’s finally seeing what Hugo had seen on her last night.

Indeed, she looks as warm as the sunshine.

---

Cassidy and her four bodyguards returned home around noon that day.

Though they didn’t want to admit it through their facial expressions, she knew that they ended up having as much fun as her. It turns out that it’s not actually that hard to know if they’re having a good time or not. They may have not shown it on their faces, but their actions already said it all.

"What a blast...!" Cassidy enthused blithely as she flopped onto the sofa in the living room and threw her arms up in the air.

"I hadn’t felt this overjoyed in a while. As I thought, having people around makes things all the merrier!"

Her bodyguards had just left a minute ago after putting all of her shopping bags upstairs, and she made sure to express her gratitude to them for keeping her company the whole time. They’re fun people despite their strictness, so she hoped she could have them as her bodyguards again next time.

"I see you have arrived now, Ma’am Cassidy."

At someone’s sudden call, Cassidy straightens up from her seat and looks at their direction. Without her realizing it, the maids have already gathered at the side of the living room. Their uncalled-for arrival caught her off guard, especially since it’s giving her the impression that something big is up.

The person who spoke up out of nowhere seemed to be the head maid.

That’s judging by how she appears a little older than the rest of them and how her mien comes out to be somewhat condescending. She is a woman in her thirty’s - with her chocolate brown hair neatly braided all the way to the small of her back and her sharp blue eyes staring at her enigmatically.

"Oh, hi there. Didn’t see you guys coming..." Cassidy greeted casually until she suddenly realized something odd.

"Uhhh... Wait a sec. You guys... You’re not the same maids I met yesterday when I first got here, right?"

As soon as she realized that, she suddenly had a strange feeling.

Again, she knew for sure that they’re not the houseworkers who welcomed her last night when she arrived. She can’t recognize any of these people’s faces at all. Secondly, if they indeed prove themselves to be a new batch of maids, then there’s all the more reason to sense something strange.

After all, she didn’t hear any prior notice about this from Adrian even though they had that phone call earlier nor did she see any reason for them to switch places with the first ones.

"I am Cecile, Ma’am Cassidy. You already met me before you had the accident. We’ll be the ones looking after this place starting today. There had been a reassignment, and we were told to watch over you as well," the head maid chimed in again, a hint of complacency laced in her voice.

"Watch over me? Why do you need to do that to a grown-up...?" was what Cassidy was thinking of at the moment but just chose to keep the thought to herself for the meantime.

"With that said, Ma’am... May I know where you went off to?"

As Cecile asked this sternly, her eyes narrowed at her in a somewhat domineering way, taking her aback once more. The air she’s giving off betrays the amicable smile on her face. There’s something about her that doesn’t settle well with her.

She’s different from their head maid back at home. While Mia’s straightforward and candid, Cecile is a little mysterious and guarded.

"Say, Cecile... Who reassigned you exactly? If it’s my husband, then you would’ve already known where I went," Cassidy questioned while crossing her arms and tilting her head a bit.

"It was arranged by Ma’am Irish, and would just later be approved by the President as it was done with such a short notice," Cecile answered as if rebutting what she had in mind.

"Ma’am Irish...?"

"She is one of the President’s elder sisters. Actually, she came here earlier to see you, but you weren’t around. Since she’s his sibling and someone who used to aid you in managing the household back when you still had your memories, our reassignment was told to be as good as approved by him."

Cassidy takes a moment to let her words sink in and tries to recall anything that she knows about this Irish, but all the while, she can’t get rid of the feeling that Cecile and the others have come for something more than handling the household chores around here.