Chapter 38

Every single person in that ballroom was staring at Anastasia, their faces lit up with pure amazement. This woman was absolutely breathtaking. She moved like royalty—elegant, stunning, and completely in a league of her own. Jasper and Valeria, standing across the room, turned to look, and their jaws practically hit the floor. Because Cassian Rhodes’ mystery date was Anastasia.

What the actual fuck? When did Anastasia hook up with Cassian? And here they were, making their public debut together. Cassian was notorious for keeping a low profile—he barely showed up to these things. But tonight, he was here. With a date. This was breaking news territory.

Jasper’s face darkened as his eyes ping-ponged between Anastasia and Cassian, his brain working overtime trying to process this. Anastasia had always been gorgeous, but tonight she looked like a completely different person—like she’d leveled up overnight. Jasper was trying to figure out how the hell Anastasia had gotten close to someone like Cassian. The guy was practically untouchable—people had been trying to get into his circle for years. How did she pull that off? They’d literally just broken up, and she already had someone new?

That seemed awfully convenient. Or maybe she’d been working this angle the whole time, just waiting for the right moment to trade up. That thought made Jasper’s blood boil. Valeria caught his expression and felt her stomach drop. She could see Jasper couldn’t stop staring at Anastasia, and it was eating her alive.

Valeria forced a sweet smile and said, “Wow, look at my sister go. She really knows how to land on her feet.”

Jasper didn’t even acknowledge her. When he saw Anastasia and Cassian heading in their direction, Jasper started to step forward, but then realized they were walking past him like he didn’t exist. Anastasia had definitely seen Jasper and Valeria.

Seeing them together was exactly what she’d expected. As far as she was concerned, Jasper was just some guy she used to date—completely irrelevant now. Anastasia smiled gracefully, her arm linked through Cassian’s, as they glided past toward the main ballroom. Jasper watched them go, his hands balled up so tight his knuckles went white.

Joanne Hale had been gossiping with her girlfriends when she heard all the buzz at the entrance and came over to check it out. Joanne and Valeria had gotten pretty close recently. They were around the same age and had tons in common, so they’d clicked right away. Joanne slipped up beside them and whispered, “Val, is that Anastasia? What’s she doing here?”

Valeria’s face brightened when she saw Joanne. She kept her voice low. “Yeah, that’s her. I’m as shocked as you are. Anastasia literally just dumped Jasper and she’s already got someone new. Talk about fast work! I guess that’s just how she operates.”

Joanne’s expression turned nasty. “I had no idea she was such a player. She dumps my brother and immediately shows up with another guy? That bitch was probably cheating the whole time. She made my brother look like a complete fool. I’m gonna rip her apart.”

Valeria was practically glowing inside. Joanne had zero impulse control—she went from calm to nuclear in about three seconds. Sure enough, Joanne was already marching toward Anastasia before she’d even finished talking. Valeria made a half-hearted attempt to stop her, but Joanne wasn’t listening. A little smile tugged at Valeria’s lips. With Joanne about to cause a scene, this evening was about to get very entertaining. Joanne had no idea she was being played like a fiddle. Joanne strode right up and called out to Cassian.