That evening, all four of them had dinner at the resort’s main restaurant. Everyone seemed to be having a great time. Cassian was super attentive to Anastasia – even while deep in business talk with Mr. Potter, he kept checking on her and making sure she had everything she wanted. When Anastasia mentioned wanting to try the fish, Cassian carefully picked out all the bones for her first.

Feeling his thoughtfulness, Anastasia’s heart melted a little. She turned to give him this really soft smile and whispered, “You’re the best.”

Mrs. Potter caught the whole exchange and grinned. “You two are seriously relationship goals. I’m so jealous!”

Mr. Potter nodded along. “Absolutely. Mr. Rhodes, you’ve got it all figured out – successful career, beautiful wife. Living the dream, man.”

Cassian smiled but kept his eyes on Anastasia. “Yeah, I’m pretty damn lucky.”

His straightforward comment made Anastasia blush hard, and she quickly took a sip of her wine to hide her embarrassment.

It was honestly a really fun dinner. Cassian and Mr. Potter were getting deep into business stuff – market trends, policy changes, development strategies. Both guys clearly knew their stuff, and even though Anastasia wasn’t following every detail, she couldn’t help being impressed by how smart Cassian and Mr. Potter were. People who build empires really aren’t messing around.

Seeing how absorbed they were in their conversation, Anastasia hung out quietly for a while, but eventually got bored and needed to use the bathroom. After the restroom, Anastasia noticed this cute little garden area and wandered over to get some air. Suddenly she saw Mr. Potter walking toward her. He’d obviously had way too much wine – he was stumbling and looked like he might face-plant any second.

Anastasia hesitated, not sure if she should help. Probably not appropriate, considering…

Mr. Potter spotted her pretty quickly, his eyes immediately locking onto her. “Mrs. Rhodes! What a coincidence running into you out here.”

Anastasia nodded politely. “Oh hey! I was just about to head back inside.”

Something about the way Mr. Potter was staring at her felt super off. It was making her seriously uncomfortable. Probably just being paranoid.

Not wanting to stick around, Anastasia started walking away right after speaking. But as she passed by Mr. Potter, he suddenly grabbed her hand. “Mrs. Rhodes, what perfume are you wearing? It smells incredible…”

Anastasia jerked back in shock and yanked her hand away, stepping back as her expression went ice-cold. “Mr. Potter, back off.”

Mr. Potter had been testing the waters with his drunk act, but he hadn’t expected her to react so strongly. This was Cassian Rhodes’ wife, after all. But damn, this woman was exactly his type. Gorgeous in this natural, effortless way – not some overdone Instagram model. Anastasia had the kind of face that was just easy to look at, and her personality was captivating too.

Mr. Potter seemed caught off guard by her directness and paused before putting on this slimy smile. “Mrs. Rhodes, don’t get the wrong idea. I just thought your fragrance was really unique and wanted to know what brand…”

Mr. Potter was clearly a total sleazeball who had mastered the art of bullshitting his way out of insinuations. After years climbing the corporate ladder, he’d gotten really good at smooth-talking his way through anything.