Chapter 97: The Girl’s Name
Love was a funny thing, you did not plan for it, but it still came for you either way. As a child, back when she had been Cassandra Cooper, the woman who was now Cassandra Haven had not understood that.
She had been born into a wealthy and prominent family, and just as she had enjoyed all the money and status, her parents, being the practical, up front people that that they were, had made sure that she understood the cost of it all.
She would live a well pampered life, go to the best schools, and work in whatever industry she wanted, if she wanted to. But when it came to marriage, she would not have a choice in the matter. As a teenager, Cassandra had raged against the injustice of it. But then as an adult, with a few heartbreaks under her belt, she had come to realize that it might not be such a bad thing.
When her marriage to Jasper Haven, the then heir to Haven Group had been arranged, she had not resisted, and had gone into it with an open mind. At first they had been friendly to one another, just getting to know each other even though the rings on their fingers were often reserved for people who knew each other better.
And then, as time had gone on they had begun to warm to each other until one day, Jasper had been laughing at something that she had said and Cassandra had looked over at him, and thought, oh , I love this man. She had said it too, blurting it out and then instantly wishing that she had not. But then he had drawn her into the hottest kiss ever.
"It is only right for a wife to love her husband, because I love you too, Cassandra Haven," He had told her.
What had followed had been some of the best years of Cassandra’s life, their love continuing to grow even as the responsibilities of adulthood had piled on. When Derek had been born, Cassandra had thought that her world could not get any more perfect.
And then life, as though trying to balance out all of her years of unbelievable happiness, had brought her nothing but pain.
One moment Jasper was fine, and the next day her beloved husband was gone, dead without them even getting to say goodbye to each other. And then Cassandra had been a widow with a child who suddenly could not sleep at night.
The heartache of losing her husband, as well as the constant worry over the safety of her child was more than she had thought she could bear. But then along had come Sebastian Haven, trying to ruin the company his brother had worked so hard for. Cassandra had not even been able to properly grieve for a while. Too busy fighting her brother-in-law. But against all odds, she had made it through.
She had managed to run the company successfully, and Derek’s sleeping problem had resolved itself. Now Cassandra mostly sat back and watched things from a distance, getting involved in a few things here and there. Things like backing candidates that she wanted in political power and destroying those that would be a threat if given even the smallest shred of control.