When Love Finds Its Way Back (Cassienne and Dreston) novel Chapter 83

Chapter Eighty–Three: You Are Not Smart After All.

The tension in the conference room was tight enough to suffocate everyone in the room. The tantrum stayed between Dreston, Tina and Cassienne. No one was speaking now. The matter had taken a new turn and Dreston wanted answers.

Then, suddenly, the door opened.

Steve, Dreston’s assistant, stepped inside quietly, his polished shoes didn’t even make a sound. He offered a brief nod as he entered, his calm presence cutting through the charged atmosphere. Somehow, his arrival eased the pressure in the room.

“I need to speak to you, sir,” Steve said, his voice respectful, but urgent.

Dreston turned to him. “Go on.”

“Alone, sir.”

Dreston narrowed his eyes, immediately sensing the urgency beneath Steve’s composed tone. He shifted his gaze to the two women. Cassienne seated, composed as ever, and Tina still standing, her arms wrapped tightly around herself as if holding her dignity together by sheer force.

Dreston rose from his chair. Whatever Steve had to say must be important enough to interrupt this mess.

“I’ll be in my office,” he said to Cassienne.

She acknowledged him with a simple nod, not sparing him more than a glance. Then Dreston turned to Tina.

“We’ll continue this conversation later.‘

Without waiting for a response, he walked out, Steve followed closely behind him. The door shut softly behind them, but the silence it left behind was too stifling.

For a few seconds, neither of the women spoke.

Then Tina let out a deep breath and dropped back into her seat. Cassienne’s eyes followed her calmly, missing nothing. Tina gathered her tablet, her files, her phone. It was cleared that she was done with the situation.

When she was done packing, she stood again, heading for the door.

“I don’t think we’re done here,” Cassienne said quietly.

Cassienne’s words stopped Tina immediately.

She turned slowly, throwing Cassienne a glare hard enough to cut her shut. But Cassienne remained seated, she was more relaxed, almost unsettlingly calm. Whatever uncertainty she’d carried earlier was gone. She already had her answers.

“I don’t have anything to say to you,” Tina snapped. “If you’ll excuse me.”

She took another step forward. Only to be stopped by Cassienne’s next words.

“Do you think I’m stupid enough not to know that you were the one who attacked me at the club?”

Tina froze. Now she has been caught. But still, she wasn’t giving anything away.

Just for a second, her body betrayed her. She flinched. There was a hitch in her breathing. But she recovered quickly, lifting her chin like everything was fine.

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“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Cassienne stood up immediately. The calm smile on her face was gone in an instant. She moved around the table with slow, deliberate steps, her heels echoing against the floor as she closed the distance between them. Tina instinctively stepped back, but Cassienne was already in front of her.

Cassienne’s eyes dropped straight to Tina’s left wrist. To the blue plastic band.

Before Tina could react, Cassienne grabbed her wrist and twisted it upward, forcing it into the light.

“What are you doing?” Tina cried, trying to pull free.

She struggled, but Cassienne’s grip was unyielding. It was too strong and deliberate. Tina felt the pressure immediately. If she fought harder, it would hurt. Cassienne didn’t care.

“This band,” Cassienne said coldly, lifting her gaze to Tina’s face. “You made a mistake, you know? You left evidence. You are not smart after all.”

Tina swallowed hard but said nothing.

“Do you really think you could get away with this?” Cassienne continued. “Do you think attacking me from behind made you powerful?”

Still, Tina remained silent, her eyes darting nervously, her other hand instinctively trying to shield the band.

“If I wanted,” Cassienne went on, her voice calm but more serious now. “I could have you arrested for assault charges. It wouldn’t be difficult, you know.”

Tina’s breathing grew shallow now. She’s been caught and she can’t deny it anymore.

“But I won’t,” Cassienne said, releasing her wrist at last. “Because at the end of it all, all I would get is an apology from you. And that is something I don’t want.”

She turned away as if the matter was finished.

“But not after this.”

Before Tina could process what Cassienne meant, Cassienne turned back, and fast.

The slap came hard and was delivered with the back of Cassienne’s hand. Tina didn’t even see it coming. Her head snapped to the side, her balance faltering.

Before she could recover, another slap landed on the opposite cheek, this one was stronger than the first one. The sound echoed in the room.

Then a kick followed, right on her stomach.

Cassienne’s flat shoe drove into Tina’s stomach with a hard kick, knocking the air out of her lungs. Tina collapsed to the floor, her body hitting hard, her head striking the ground with a dull thud.

A broken sound escaped Tina’s lips–half gasp, half cry. Cassienne felt no regret. She only felt satisfaction.

She crouched down slowly, grabbed a fistful of Tina’s hair, and pulled her head up, forcing Tina to look at her.

“I am not weak,” Cassienne said, her voice low and steady. “I am just patient.”

Tina’s eyes were wide with shock, tears blurring her vision.

“I hate violence Tina,” Cassienne continued. “It’s not my style. But don’t ever think that means I’m someone you

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