All the stress she’d been carrying these past few days finally boiled over with his rejection. Cassian frowned. “I’m not joking. Can we focus on the issue at hand?”

Sonia let out a bitter laugh. “You really want to have this conversation standing in my doorway?”

He’s so protective of that woman now that he won’t even be alone in a room with me, Cassian noticed she was only wearing a robe, which wasn’t appropriate for a public hallway conversation. Plus, she was a public figure. So he stepped inside. Jenny saw this and quietly retreated, giving them privacy. A man and woman alone together—surely something will happen. Men are visual creatures, after all.

Sonia’s beautiful, innocent-looking, with a great body, and they used to have chemistry. This has to be the perfect setup for things to heat up. Jenny figured Cassian was just being stubborn because Sonia had gone away for training, so he’d found some random woman to make her jealous. Once Sonia sweet-talked him a little, that other woman would be history. With Cassian’s protection, everything would work out perfectly. Jenny felt relieved thinking about it. But her calculations were completely wrong.

After entering, Cassian left the door open and called to Jenny. “You’re her manager—you should handle this properly. Come in and let’s discuss the best approach.” Sonia’s face went blank, speechless. Was Cassian really that oblivious, or was he deliberately avoiding being alone with her? She’d been planning to…

“Cassian, this is pretty sensitive. Maybe Jenny shouldn’t…”

“If she can’t handle a basic crisis like this, I’d suggest you find a new manager,” Cassian said coolly.

“Fine, then just leave. Why did you even come? I’ll handle my own problems,” Sonia snapped, throwing a tantrum. She was acting like a girlfriend having a fight with her boyfriend. Usually, when she acted like this, Cassian would give in and comfort her. But now he just frowned deeper, clearly annoyed.

Jenny panicked. Shit, he’s actually pissed.

“Sonia, don’t say things you don’t mean! Mr. Rhodes rushed over the second he heard you were in trouble. Don’t be ridiculous. He’s right—I’ll handle this situation.”

She shot Sonia a warning look, signaling her to back down. This was not the time to pick a fight with Cassian—it would only push him further away. Sonia bit her lip and swallowed her anger. She’d make that bitch Anastasia pay for every bit of humiliation she was suffering.

After a moment, she finally spoke quietly. “I’ve been feeling like someone’s been watching me for days. Today… today they followed me all the way to my building…”

Cassian’s expression darkened as he turned to Jenny. “Did you call the police?”

Jenny nodded quickly. “Yes, they said they’d increase patrols in the area, but they haven’t caught anyone yet.”

Cassian nodded and pulled out his phone to make a call. “Philips, arrange for two bodyguards immediately. Twenty-four-hour protection for Sonia.” His assistant’s respectful voice came through the phone. “Yes, Mr. Rhodes. I’ll arrange it right away.”

After hanging up, Cassian looked at Sonia with calm authority. “Don’t go out alone for the next few days. Wait until the bodyguards arrive. If anything else happens, contact Philips directly.” Meaning Philips would be handling this from now on. Sonia bit her lip, disappointment and resentment flashing in her eyes.