are all seated in the living room as an uncomfortable silence settles between us, there is a thick tension in the air as each of us is lost in his or her thoughts. I glance at Sasha who is sitting on my lap with her head resting on my shoulder. There are bags under her red eyes and she looks so exhausted, I feel so mad at Cassie right now, she's the reason why everyone is like this, she's the fucking reason why Sasha is like this. The news that Cassie was the one who disfigured Ash's face came like a shock to all of us, the cunning bitch even stabbed herself just to confuse us all.

"I can't believe this." Ashley chokes out with tears in her eyes.

I know how she feels, she finds it quite unbelievable that Cassie is capable of doing such a thing, she was her best friend for years.

"I was her target, not you," Sasha mutters sadly.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" She huffs. "She couldn't accept the fact that Jace chose you over her and she was mad, even though she doesn't love him."

"This is all my fault." My dad sighs, he throws his head to the back till it's resting on the chair. "I shouldn't have allowed Cassie's mother to convince me to create the marriage contract. I only wanted to help her then, her company was about to go bankrupt, and merging her company with ours was the only solution I could think of. So..."

My mother cuts in. "We gave her the condition that if you agree to get married to her daughter by the time you clock twenty-three, the merger will continue but if you disagree, it will be nullified." I see her squeezing my dad's hand in assurance.

"It is not your fault dad, you had no idea she was going to become desperate." I utter soothingly. Knowing my dad, I'm sure he will keep on blaming himself for what happened.

"Only God knows where she's hiding," Ashley says.

"She can't hide for long, that I'm sure of," I mumble. "We are still going to sue Jane for forging my signature." I say with my eyes locked on my dad's who nods in affirmation.

My gaze lands on my mom who is staring at Sasha with a strange expression on her face and I wrap my arm around her possessively. She should get used to this because maid or no maid, I love Sasha and I'm not leaving her anytime soon.

I rush out of the bathroom with a white towel wrapped around my chest while tying another towel around my head. I take a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves as I walk to the closet to look for something to wear. I'm back at Jefferson's residence and today is my first day at school, I mean Clayton University.

After ransacking my closet for a while, I eventually selected a white tank top with black pants. I just finished dressing up when I heard a knock on the door, that must be Ashley. We had the arrangement to leave together in her car.

"Hold on a sec, I am almost done," I yell while putting on my white sneakers hastily.

I turn to look at myself in the mirror, satisfied with what I saw, I pick up my backpack and my phone then rushes to open the door. I am surprised to see that it's actually Jace standing there and not Ash.

"Where is Ash?" I ask curiously while Jace pulls me in for a hug.

"I asked her to leave without you." He says with a shrug and places a soft kiss on my lips.

"W-What? Why?" I ask while putting my phone inside my backpack.

"I'm dropping you off in school." He mutters with a smirk plastered on his face.

He looks so hot dressed in a black Armani suit with his jet black hair styled to the back neatly, he has a briefcase in one hand and his car keys in the other hand. He is my handsome CEO, he is mine.

"Love what you see?" His voice snaps me out of my reverie.

Oh no, he didn't just catch me ogling him, did he? A deep blush makes its way to my cheeks.

"Sasha, do you know that...seeing you shy like that always turns me on." He whispers in my ear while I'm standing there gaping at him like a fish. Did he just say that?

"W-we need to get going...or we will both be late." I stammer.

"I'm the boss, I never get late."

"I mean 'or I will be late' then." I scowl at him.

"Your first class is starting by 8 and it's just a few minutes to 7." He replies with a smirk.

"W-Whatever." I huff and throw him a glare "Wait, how did you know?"

"Well..." He drawls while pulling me close to himself with his hand around my waist.

Realization dawns on me. "Of course, Ashley told you."

"You got it." He gives me an irresistible boyish grin, I had no choice but to smile back.

"Jace...we need to get going." I try to push him away but he wouldn't bulge.

"You're forgetting something." He tightens his arm around my waist and pushes me more closer till I'm flushed against him.

"What?" I ask even though I already know what he's talking about.

"Are you kidding me?" He asks with an adorable pout.

He is not getting a morning kiss. I smirk at him and he raises a perfectly arched eyebrow as if he is suspecting that I'm up to something. I pretend to look at something over his shoulder and my eyes widen in fake terror.

"What is it, Sasha?" He asks with a concerned look replacing his earlier smile.

"Oh my god, J-Jace." I point at something behind him.

He removes his arm from my waist, turns around, and pushes me behind him as if to shield me from whatever it is. A warm feeling I can't explain settles in my stomach at his action that I almost forget to bolt.

I burst into a peal of uncontrollable laughter when I see the look on his face after he realized that he has been tricked, it was so cute. I sprint out of the house with him hot on my heels.

"Did you just trick me?" He asks in disbelief.

I ran to his car and settled into the passenger seat, he joins me in the car and starts the ignition while ignoring me. Aww, someone is mad.

"Jace?" I call with a pout but he didn't answer me. I see his lips twitch like he is holding back a smile.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Come and have your kiss now."

He turns to look at me, mutters something under his breath with a scoff, and turns away, his total concentration on the road ahead of him. I gave up when he wouldn't talk to me and turn to face the other side. When he got to my school, he parks his car and wait for me to get down.

"Jace?" I try again sullenly but he is still ignoring me.

Fine! I place my hands on each side of his cheeks softly and turn his head till he's looking directly into my eyes, I close my eyes and press my lips against his. I trust him, he did waste time as he pull me closer and take over the kiss. I try to withdraw when Jace started trailing kisses down my neck but he isn't having it, he's now sucking and nibbling at the skin on my neck with urgency.

"Jace...Stop." I protest but it comes out like a moan.

He pulls back while trying to hold back the victorious smile making its way to his lips. "I will come to pick you up later. Okay?"

I nod and let him place a peck on my forehead before stepping out of the car with my legs feeling like jelly.