Chapter 177

Cassian noticed Anastasia staring and put down his tablet, turning to face her. He took her hand and squeezed it gently. “What’s on your mind?”

Anastasia hesitated. “You think… Grandfather might be getting older, but he’s still crazy sharp. Do you think he saw through what I did back there? That she could totally swim but had faked being helpless while basically trying to drown Yuria.”

She’d caught that split second when Grandfather’s eyes had gone laser-focused on her. She was pretty sure he’d called her bluff.

Cassian squeezed her hand reassuringly. She was right – Grandfather had absolutely seen through her performance. Even though Anastasia had played it pretty convincingly, the old man was nobody’s fool.

When Cassian stayed quiet, Anastasia’s heart sank. Oh fuck, I am so dead.

Reading her panic, Cassian said, “Look, it’s totally fine. If Grandfather didn’t say anything in the moment, that means he’s cool with it. We just never mention it again.”

Anastasia made a small noise of agreement, but she was still freaking out. What if Grandfather thought she was some kind of manipulative psycho?

Guessing her worries, Cassian said, “Honestly, I could tell Grandfather really likes you. In our family, we respect people who can handle themselves. We like smart, strong people – not pushovers.”

Anastasia blinked, then broke into a smile. So basically Cassian was saying she was smart and badass?

Seeing her smile made Cassian grin too.

They got to the hospital pretty fast.

When Lancey stepped out of her car, she had this whole entourage carrying what looked like half of Whole Foods‘ supplement section. The whole production was so ridiculously extra that Anastasia automatically tried to blend into the background.

Cassian was totally used to this kind of spectacle, but he knew Anastasia wasn’t into the whole dog-and-pony show, so he quietly hung back with her, keeping some distance from the chaos.

Anastasia could tell he was doing it for her and shot him a grateful look.

Sensing her gaze, Cassian turned and gave her one of those private smiles that was just for her.

When they finally got to Elisabeth’s room, the place looked like a health store had exploded. You could barely move without tripping over something.

There was laughter coming from inside – Elisabeth’s refined chuckle mixing with Lancey and Richard’s voices. The vibe was surprisingly chill.

Anastasia felt herself relaxing. She glanced at Cassian, who smiled and said, “See? Told you it’d be fine.”

Anastasia smiled back, and they walked in together, still holding hands.

Garthan had spotted Anastasia coming down the hallway and was about to go say hi. But when he saw her and Cassian walking together like that, totally in sync, he stopped dead in his tracks.

Garthan let out this bitter laugh and turned around.

When Cassian and Anastasia walked into the room, the conversation paused for like half a second. Then everyone started laughing again.

Lancey gave them a knowing look. “We were wondering where you two ran off to!” Obviously went to have some alone time.

Elisabeth chuckled warmly. “Young love – it’s beautiful.”

Even though Anastasia’s marriage had been pretty sudden, seeing how her new in-laws had dropped everything to rush over when they heard about the accident, bringing all these thoughtful gifts and treating her with such genuine respect, Elisabeth was actually really impressed.

Lancey was practically glowing. “You kids should go explore the hospital or grab some coffee. We’re having a great time here with Elisabeth.”

“Are you sure we should-”

“Go, go! Shoo!”

Lancey basically pushed them back out the door.