With a plan in mind, Cassidy immediately hops on her motorcycle and zooms out of that place.

Before she could pass through the gates, though, she had to convince the two security guards there to keep her departure a secret. They didn’t agree at first, but with much persuasion and a touch of her womanly charms, she eventually got them on her side.

​​

“Tell them I didn’t go out and that I’m just probably around here. This will be quick, I promise. I’ll treat you guys to something nice once I come back, so make sure to keep the fact that I left to yourselves, alright~?” was what Cassidy asked them while spreading a lovely and endearing smile that made them combust on the spot. 

Now that she is driving down the road, she takes a moment to reflect on those guards’ flustered reactions. 

It does make her feel like she’s just using bribery to think so, but she guesses that employees like them are quite easy to persuade if she pushes the right buttons. Rewards are the best tools to motivate people, after all. As for her, though, it’s not really like she’s going to use her wealth to buy their favors.

Rather, it can be a potential mean to get people on her side. 

“Oh, Cecilia, Cecilia~” Cassidy cooed with a sing-song voice, recalling how she found out the head maid’s dirty little secrets earlier. 

“Before I get bossman to fire you or something, let’s make a good use of you for the meantime. Hopefully, you don’t mind~ You did do me tons of favors in the past, after all – or so you mentioned in your mini monologue earlier.”

Even without her memories, she has seen enough of this family’s twisted side – just enough for her to think that there’s a darker one and that what she saw so far was only the tip of the iceberg. That’s why she thought that staying as that well-behaved and compliant wife that everyone kept saying that she was before wouldn’t do her any good.

It’s not like she’s still pursuing her husband, anyway. She no longer has any reason to be at the mercy of those who didn’t show her mercy in the past. 

“Actually, this is a good opportunity for me to plan how exactly I’ll cut my ties with this household. Bossman said that he had a reason why he didn’t agree to divorce me. Since he did not want to tell me anything about it and apparently, it’s not some public info that I could get my hands on just by asking anyone, I would have to search for the answer from his relatives…” Cassidy thought with a deeply ponderous expression.

“What’s more, I have to be aware of what Maleficent and her minions are up to at the very least. I can’t have them making me dance on the palms of their hands all the time.”

Indeed, she didn’t have to wait for her memories to come back for her to take action. 

She may not know what happened for the past five years or what would occur in the future, but she’s not going to let other people dictate her present for her. In one way or another, she needs to be grounded on her resolve to lead a life that she wants for herself. 

If the way to survive is to play their games, then she will do so – but that is if and only if she can afford to take a step or two ahead of them, which she is more than determined to do.

—

More than half an hour passed, and at long last, Gertrude arrived at where Cassidy was currently staying in. 

“Good day to you, Madam,” Cecile greeted upon meeting her at the front entrance of the mansion along with the other maids.

“Hmmm…  This mansion is too lavish for that woman. Why would my son choose such a place?” Gertrude mumbled to no one in particular as she went ahead inside and scanned around her surroundings, as stony-faced as ever all the while. 

“I have prepared tea and some savories for you, Madam. Please, wait a moment as I call on Ma’am Cassidy,” the head maid chimed in again to which she simply waved her hand dismissively. 

With that, the other maids simply lead her to the lounge while she kindly excuses herself and head upstairs. On her way there, she couldn’t help but smirk to herself, entertaining her own mischievous thoughts by wondering what kind of public humiliation would be playing a moment later. 

“What will they do to her this time, I wonder? Pour her a cold bucket of water, spill a hot cup of tea on her head or make her do all of our household chores? As far as I recall, the last one I witnessed was with that hot curling iron…” Cecile mused silently, snickering disdainfully all the while. 

“Seriously, though, that woman’s being treated worse than the maids. It’s quite satisfying to watch someone of her level suffering much more than a slave.”

While still having this train of thoughts, she soon reached the door to Cassidy’s bedroom.

She braced herself for a few seconds and tried to muster a genuinely bewildered expression. This way, she would appear like she just found out that her door had been locked from the outside this whole time.

It would do good to pretend innocent so that her lie would be more believable to Gertrude and the others even if Cassidy refused to believe it. Besides, she’s all on her own in this mansion. Everyone here is on her side since it’s Irish who has sent them.   

“Good thing that my mistress is an actress. I got to pick up a technique or two from her~”

Then, she knocked.

At least four times, she knocked and called for her.

Cecile thought for sure that Cassidy would come banging on the door now that someone was here to get her out. But when she still hadn’t responded, she guessed that she just fell asleep while waiting around or she was in the bathroom. With that, she finally decided to unlock the door and enter the bedroom –

But only to find it completely empty.

“H-Huh?”

Her eyes bulged wide open in flummox while her mouth gaped. There’s no sign of any presence here, and after she rushed to search in the walk-in closet and the bathroom, she proved just that. Thoroughly baffled and anxious, she could only stay frozen still in the middle of the place as she tried to take her absence in.

“She’s… not here?” Cecile breathed out vehemently, her mind’s already in panic despite her thunderstruck state.

That’s when her eyes suddenly dart to the balcony. 

She then feels a lot more perturbed out of nowhere. Her heart sinks just like how the message does in her head.  It doesn’t take a genius to piece two and two together. 

“B-But this is the second floor! Just how in the… When did that woman become so sneaky…?!” Cecile bolted out exasperatedly before sprinting to the balcony and taking a look below.

“That goddamn bitch… Now, I’m the one in trouble.” 

—

It’s already more than five minutes since Cecile left to get Cassidy, but Gertrude was still waiting by herself in the lounge.

The maids served her everything she might want to have while she waited, but she barely touched them. She does enjoy the tea, though. Since that head maid was the one who brewed it and she had been working for her daughter for years, she already memorized the recipe of her favorite taste.

“What a shame that I’ve got a daughter-in-law who did an awful job at it… A mere maid is even better than her in something as small as this. Perhaps, she should first learn how to be a maid in order to get things right,” Gertrude scoffed condescendingly before silently recalling what she’s going to do with Cassidy from this point on.

Of course, she will start their conversation later by bringing up what she did last night at the party.

It definitely caused quite a commotion, especially after Cassidy left the scene just like that. Everyone there witnessed how she clearly disregarded the fact that the entire family was there. It should be expected that she’d come and greet her in-laws at the very least. But then, she just went ahead and ignored them. 

What’s more, her attire that time stood out like a sore thumb. Gertrude was greatly displeased and vexed that an impudent woman like her would haughtily walk across the venue as if it’s some sort of a runway. That brazen and presumptuous kind of person doesn’t deserve to stand alongside her son, much less be his partner. 

“She’s really getting harder and harder to control with that annoying amnesia of hers. Only if Adrian would agree to divorce… Well, not that I can do much at this point. He already took over the conglomerate and would be needing a heir soon…” Gertrude muttered with a miffed sigh before propping her chin over the back of her hand and narrowing her gaze schemingly.

“In this case, I should just discipline that woman all over again.”