Bound By A Broken Night novel Chapter 12

“This doesn’t sound like you at all.”

Cassidy lowered her gaze, hiding the faint curve of her smile.

“Wallace Plantation is my future children’s inheritance,” Zandrie said firmly. “So I’ve decided to focus on making it progressive again—just as it used to be.”

He drew in a breath, then continued with quiet resolve.

“Cassidy is willing to help me. So I want to give this a real try. Together, we’ll work for Wallace Plantation.”

He turned to his mother, eyes bright with hope and determination.

“What’s mine is hers as well, right, Mom?”

Zabrina’s face softened instantly.

“Of course, son,” she said without hesitation. “You are my only heir. Wallace Plantation is yours and now, it’s for your family.”

She turned to Cassidy, delight shining in her eyes.

“I never dreamed this day would come,” Zabrina murmured. “Thank you for giving my son direction. For helping him grow.”

She squeezed Cassidy’s hand affectionately.

The gesture made Cassidy’s chest tighten.

Zabrina Wallace’s trust–her unguarded gullibility only deepened the guilt simmering beneath Cassidy’s calm exterior.

“As I told Zandrie,” Cassidy said quietly, lifting her gaze, “I will help bring Wallace Plantation to greater heights.”

She paused, then added with quiet conviction, “I’ll make you proud of him.”

This time, there was no deception in her words.

“I’ll also help him earn his father’s favor,” she added, her smile sincere.

At the mention of Jefferson Holt, Zabrina’s face lit up with unmistakable excitement.

“Really?” she asked eagerly. “You will?”

Earning Jefferson Holt’s approval was every mistress’s unspoken dream. Zabrina was no exception.

“Yes, Mom,” Cassidy replied with a nod. “My goal is to have him recognized as Zandrie Wallace Holt.”

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She watched as Zabrina’s eyes shone, satisfaction and hope intertwining.

In that moment, Cassidy understood how fragile a woman could be when love was involved,

Zabrina Wallace was the perfect embodiment of it–willing to sacrifice pride, dignity, even herself, just to be seen by the man she loved.

Cassidy saw herself reflected there.

And it was… pathetic.

She was grateful she had awakened from that illusion long ago.

Her gaze shifted between mother and son, recognizing the painful truth they were all the same in their longing, their compromises, their hunger for validation.

Now that she had entered their lives, she would do more than deceive them.

She would help them reclaim their dignity. Just as she was slowly reclaiming her own.

She still had a long way to go–but unlike them, she had already taken her first real step forward.

They had already left Zabrina’s place, yet Cassidy’s thoughts still spiraled around their earlier

encounter.

She had left Bay City to find herself–never expecting to meet people who mirrored her own past so precisely. Seeing them was like looking into a reflection of who she once was, and it gave her a sharper, almost painful clarity about the woman she used to be.

“What’s next?” Zandrie asked, glancing at her when her silence stretched on.

Cassidy lifted her gaze, resolve settling in her eyes.

“Wallace Plantation,” she said calmly.

“We earn your father’s attention by transforming it into an indomitable industry–one the business world won’t be able to ignore.”

“You seem more eager to claim his name than I am,” Zandrie muttered, his tone unusually serious. When she first laid out the agreement, he hadn’t bothered to ask about her true purpose. He’d told himself he didn’t need to know—as long as she fulfilled everything she promised. After all, a beautiful, pregnant woman with a formidable bank account offering him exactly what he wanted didn’t invite questions.

Yet being around her had sparked something inconvenient.

Curiosity.

A woman like Cassidy didn’t make reckless moves. Every step she took was calculated, deliberate. And now, he was beginning to wonder what truly drove her.

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“Well,” she replied evenly, “as I’ve said before–I don’t just need wealth.”

She turned slightly toward him, her expression unwavering.

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