Chapter 82

Anastasia’s chest tightened like a vise, but she kept her face perfectly blank. She wasn’t about to give Sonia the satisfaction of seeing her rattled.

“Sure,” she said, voice steady as a rock. “Let’s see what happens.”

Without another word, she turned to the sales associate. “Could you wrap these up, please?” She needed to get out of here before the suffocating tension made her do something stupid.

Sonia could only watch, furious, as Anastasia calmly paid for the cufflinks and walked away.

Bitch.

Sonia’s hands were shaking with rage as she watched Anastasia disappear around the corner.

Having gotten what they came for, Anastasia and Tamia decided to call it a day. The shopping mood was officially killed.

Meanwhile, after dropping Anastasia at the mall, Cassian had headed to meet Yinsen. His buddy had been trying to get him out for weeks, but Cassian kept blowing him off. These days, unless it was absolutely necessary for business, he made it home by dinner time. Mainly because if he didn’t, Anastasia would just grab whatever leftovers were in the fridge and call it a meal.

Yinsen had picked one of those high-end gentleman’s clubs—the kind that opened early on weekends for guys who wanted to play poker, get massages, and pretend they were still in their twenties.

Typical Yinsen move.

When Cassian walked in, Yinsen threw his arms wide like he was greeting royalty. “Holy shit, look who finally decided to grace us with his presence! The man, the myth, the legend!”

He dragged Cassian over to the best seat in their private room.

Cassian shot him a look that could have frozen hell over, and Yinsen immediately dialed it back.

“Okay, okay, I’ll chill,” Yinsen said, hands up in surrender.

The room was thick with cigar smoke; a handful of guys in expensive casual wear sprawled across leather chairs. Yinsen held out a Cuban to Cassian, who waved it off without hesitation.

“I quit.”

“You what now?” Yinsen nearly choked on his drink. “Did you just say you quit smoking?”

Cassian shrugged. “Problem with that?”

“Dude, what the hell happened to you? Did you have some kind of religious awakening or something?”

When Cassian didn’t answer, Yinsen’s eyes went wide. “Oh my God. It’s because of your wife, isn’t it?”

“She doesn’t like the smell,” Cassian said simply, but there was something in his voice—something softer than usual.

He remembered coming home from a client dinner reeking of cigars, and the way Anastasia had wrinkled her nose when he got close. That tiny reaction had been enough. He’d been careful ever since.

It wasn’t like he was chain-smoking anyway—just the occasional cigar at business functions. Quitting had been easier than he’d expected.

Yinsen stared at him like he’d grown a second head. His oldest friend—the guy who used to say marriage was for suckers—had completely fallen off the deep end.

The realization hit him like a truck. The most confirmed bachelor in their crew had gone and fallen in love. Hard.

11:48

Dumped Today, Married Tomorrow: My Overnight Wedding to a Tycoon 40.5%

Everyone else in the room looked equally shell-shocked.

“Jesus Christ, Cassian,” Yinsen muttered. “You’re completely whipped.”

“You know what?” Cassian’s mouth curved into the faintest smile. “Being married isn’t half bad.”

His mind drifted to the night before, and warmth spread through his chest. Yeah, definitely not bad at all.

The guys exchanged looks like they’d just witnessed the apocalypse.

Yinsen took a long drag of his cigar, trying to process this new reality. As he turned his head, something caught his eye—a reddish mark just visible above Cassian’s collar.

Well, I’ll be damned.

Yinsen bit back a grin. His boy had finally gotten some action.

Cassian didn’t stick around much longer after that revelation.

Chapter 83