Entering in to the room once more, this time around though on her feet and not on all fours. Cassandra had already made up her mind that if she was indeed the supposed bride, she would rather remain a spinster all her life than marry someone who would treat het like she was filth.
Leonard was back in the room and was sitting at the same position as earlier which was by the window, not bothering to glance in her direction and no one had entered the room . The lady from earlier glanced up to look at her when she entered and adjusted her glasses on her face before crossing her legs and sighed like she was already tired.
"I see you are okay now" the same older man from earlier said with a kind smile on his face , whom by now she guessed was Leonard's father_which was a right guess.
"Yes, I would like to know why I am here Sir" she said.
"Well,…" he began.
It was just as she had thought she had indeed been kidnapped so as to get married to Leonard but why her? She didn't know, she was from a rich family like them and had nothing to offer them. So why was it her?
"I have understood all you said Sir, but why me, I'm not from a rich family and I have nothing to offer to you, so why me?" She asked voicing her thoughts.
But he just gave her a kind smile and said to her "I'm afraid I can't tell you that dear, that wasn't part of our agreement". He said looking at her with pity in his eyes.
'An agreement? but with who?' She thought but regardless it didn't matter to get as she had already made up her mind not to marry into this family.
"I'm not interested in this deal Sir, and I'm definitely not interested in your Son or even getting married to him or anyone in your family " she said.
'What a liar' she said to herself as she was definitely interested in his son. 'Well, you can't blame me as he as so handsome, which red blooded straight female wouldn't be?' she defended. 'But that's all there is to it, I'm definitely not interested in marrying a person like him who doesn't know how to treat a woman nicely' she thought.
"I think you would want to rethink your decision dear, as you would stand to benefit from this deal Miss Cassandra " the lady who had been quiet all along finally spoke up.
"And how is that so?" Cassandra asked confused.
"A little while ago, after your disappearance your younger brother, Benjamin , took matters into his hands and went to the family house of the Stevedores and beat up their eldest child while accusing him of your disappearance Cassandra, their eldest son was very badly beaten up and his currently in a critical condition in the hospital. The family has charged your brother for attempted murder and slander and as it stands, he's stands to face some years in prison for his actions " the lady explained lightly like she was talking about the weather.
Cassandra was in a daze when she heard this, she knew her brother Benjamin was someone who was hard to control whenever he lost his temper. She didn't want her only sibling in jail but she wouldn't believe the woman's words so easily.
As if the lady knew what she was thinking she took out her phone and passed it to Cassandra who collected it with shaky hands.
On the screen was a video of her younger brother Benjamin playing, he was in a cell was banging on the cell demanding to be let out , after banging for a while and no one came to release him, he sat down on the floor looking tired and helpless while muttering her name. He looked like was near tears, he looked nothing like the handsome young charming and carefree boy whom she was used to seeing and seeing this brought tears to her own eyes.
"This is all your fault!" She said to the woman with anger. "If you hadn't kidnapped me and brought me here then all this wouldn't have happened to him" she spat out.
"And unfortunate event I would say" the lady said agreeing with her.
"But, the deed has been done and you can still be of help to him if you really want to help him" she said.
"Thanks to the connections and power of the _____ the news about this little incident hasn't spread out and the Stevedores are nothing compared to the _____, so if you comply and sign the contract my dear with our intervention your brother will be released and everything will go back to normal like nothing ever happened " she said with a serious face.
"But if you don't then your brother, Benjamin would face jail time and I don't need to remind you what kind of family you come from,Miss Cassandra ."
Of course, Cassandra didn't need to be reminded of the type of family she came from because they were after all poor compared to the stevedores and the ________ and her beloved brother would have to spend his young years in jail which was something she didn't want for him. Growing up and her brother were very close and they shared all their secrets with each other, he had often gotten angry and beaten up the people who had called her 'fat' or 'obese' or anything offensive. He had even gotten into fights with members of gangs who dared to bully her, he was seemingly fearless whenever it was something that had to do with her, if one didn't know better they would think that he was the elder brother.
He had been her only protector until she met Antonio some years later even though that didn't affect the closeness of their relationship.
Her eyes sparkled as she thought of the Denwoods, she was sure that they would come to Benjamin's aid but then dimmed as she knew that though the Denwoods were powerful they didn't have as much influence as the _________ who were very powerful in the business world and even the underground world, the ____ were indeed known for their power and influence worldwide and they were also known as a family not to be messed with . She knew that the Denwoods couldn't even be compared to the ___________ in any way.
She wondered how her poor father would take this news not only was one of his children missing now the other one was on the verge of facing jail time.
Although she had decided not to sign the documents she couldn't bear the thought of her younger brother whom she loved having to spend his years in jail because of her. Sure, she didn't want to be married into a loveless marriage, were even the maids treated her as trash but she couldn't let her younger brother suffer because of her either
"I'll sign" it she said choosing her brother, but how I'm I sure you will keep your own part of the deal.
She said which made both the lady and Leonard's father smile.