Cassandra stepped out of her bathroom, steam flowing out in her wake as she rubbed a towel over her wet hair. She and her mother arrived early in the evening the previous day, and it felt good to spend the night in her bed. As she passed by her bed, walking to the wardrobe, she noticed breakfast sitting on a tray, waiting for her. She pulled on a clean shirt and walked back to the bed, sitting on the mattress before picking her laptop from the bedside table. She flipped the laptop open and immediately dialled him, waiting patiently, as she ate, for him to answer.

"Morning."

She tipped her head at him as a response, her hands were busy with the breakfast plate in front of her. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Good." He sounded tired, his words aside, looked tired as well, but she didn't mention it. If he refused to say it, then he wasn't going to talk about it; he didn't want to talk about it.

"Discussed the contract yesterday, and he called up to say he agrees with the time and place, money and all that. Should be arriving in the city early tomorrow morning."

Cassandra flashed him a brilliant smile before she took a sip of her freshly squeezed pineapple juice. She was happy he would be returning soon and even happier that the deal didn't fall through any more loopholes. There were more trips planned in the future, hopefully with less drama, but they did well for their first contract. A good start was always a prefered beginning; it encouraged confidence in future endeavours.

"Do you want me to come over and get you when you arrive at the airport, or do you want to visit me at home?"

Something caught his eye, and he looked above the laptop for a second. The sound of knocking also made her look up until she realised it was from his end. After a short second, he looked back at her with a weary nod.

"No need to come for me; I'll stop by my house first then, if I don't pass out from exhaustion, come visit you afterwards. Hey, I have thought of something while you were gone."

"Oh really!" she dropped the fork in interest, giving him her full attention. "Feel free to share whatever is on your mind."

"We haven't had a formal dinner with my mom. If we weren't an obvious couple, I would think it's alright to not meet her, but the whole city knows about us; she knows about us. If it's okay with you, maybe a simple dinner at my place so we can talk, introduce ourselves, newly, to one another?"

The last mother she agreed to meet on the terms of dating ended up at her feet when her son had decided to leave her at the altar. She trusted Harrison wasn't trying to rush things between them, but it meant a lot to him, and she didn't see any reason not to. As he already mentioned, it wasn't like they were a secret to his mom.

"I have met your mother on many occasions, but never as your girlfriend. I don't know, I wouldn't want things to be awkward, not really good with icebreakers." She sighed, toiling with the tips of her hair as she spoke. "When you get back, we'll discuss it and figure out what to do."

"Sure. When I get back."

Harrison placed a palm over his chest, rubbing the spot mindlessly as he trailed off. The hand on his chest moved in small circles, and she followed the movement even when he didn't say anything.

"What's wrong with you?"

His eyes shot back, and he waved his hands at her, "Not sure why, but my chest just been heavy the past few days, that's about it. Look, forget that for a while and tell me how you are. I know Shantel has gotten your head bleeding by now."

"Haven't spoken to her since I got back, only a text here and there, but nothing wild. Haven't told her about the shooting either, but Julia does know, and she gave me an earful. My mom has a way of delivering news scarily, freaked Julia out before she even saw me."

"No matter how the news was delivered, it would have freaked her out all the same." He leaned back on the headboard, threading his finger through his hair. "Anything special planned for today?"

"Not really. I'll stop by the office later, but aside from that, I'll be staying home most of the time."

"Can't believe it. Cassandra Hernández, resting."

"Get over yourself."

"Can't"

She laughed and picked her fork up. "You look like you could use some sleep. I'll get out of your hair and strongly suggest you try and get some shut-eye. Don't think you know this, but you look terrible."

"Thanks, I look better than I feel then. I'll leave you to breakfast. See you later."

"Okay."

Cassandra folded the tray and laid it on the table after she stood from the bed. She dragged on a pair of shorts and combed her wet curls out over her shoulders. Her urge to stay home wasn't because she suddenly wanted to relax, but because she felt like she needed a few more days of recovery. The aftermath of the shooting seemed to amplify after she sat for hours on that plane. Nothing she did took her mind off it. She didn't want to return to work with half a brain, so she took a day off to get herself in order.

The detective she hired to look into H.W had called her to inform her that there was a lot more to H.W's story. Cassandra didn't want to goad him for too much information because she wanted to see all the pictures and documents he acquired when he tells her what he found. Cassandra hoped he would clear her biggest doubt about Josephine's involvement with H.W's sudden arrival; it was one doubt that haunted her.

"Good morning, ma'am." A maid greeted as she walked down the stairs. "Your mother asked me to tell you that she went out. She would be back later in the day."

"Thank you. Has anyone called the house this morning looking for me?"

"No." The girl thought about it and shook her head again. "At least I didn't hear the phone ring at all today."

"Thank you. I'll be outside if you need anything."

She nodded and walked away while Cassandra settled her headphones over her ears. She sat down on the steps leading into the house, surfing through her messages and then falling down the rabbit hole of old pictures saved on her cloud. As she skipped past the photos she took in Himont, the older pictures began to drown her in nostalgia. She was falling farther and farther away from the real world and walking through the memories, not paying attention to her surroundings. She didn't hear the screaming that started in the house because the music playing over her ears was too loud.

"Miss Hernández!" Someone shook her shoulders, and she jumped, peeling the headphones off and looking around as more of them rushed down the stairs in haste. "The garden, the garden is on fire!"

Cassandra looked around, finally noticing the thick black smoke rising above a raging fire. Her body seemed frozen, she was unable to move for a moment, her mind not grasping that the garden was, truly, on fire. But it was.

She bolted down the stairs, following the few girls that had run out, rushing across the lawn towards the garden. She pushed a few of them away, walking forward with her hands on her head as she finally took in the extent of the flame.

"Call the fire department. Someone go get the hoses. Call someone." She screamed while she dug her phone out of her pocket to make some calls herself. The maids had scattered to do as she said, looking for a way to confine the fire before it consumed any more of the garden. The heat was scorching, burning up her skin as she stood close to the pool, watching her father's joy burn.

She hung up the phone after the fire department confirmed they were on their way.

A sob broke out of her, and she plastered her hand down over her mouth to hold it in. It was unbelievable to see one of her most treasured memories burning, the flames licking over the grass, the benches and the trees. The flowers were blackening, not only from soot, but the flames were turning more than a few of them to ash. There was nothing she could do but stand there and cry, waiting for help to come.

"Where are those hoses?" She screamed, turning around fast enough to see a hooded figure running towards her.

Cassandra stepped back, in panic, just before it slammed into her, knocking the wind out of her and then knocking her into the water. The water slapped against her back, as she was immediately swallowed, a hand banding around her hips as she struggled to getaway. She kicked around in the water, digging her fingers into the man's arm as she attempted to pull him off. Bubbles formed out of her mouth as she screamed into the water, her hands flailing around in panic. Her elbow caught his chin, and she swam up, heaving in a lung full of air before she was dragged in again.

"Help!" She gurgled out pathetically as the water swallowed her words.

She fought back, her hands catching in a few weeds. Her lungs and eyes were burning, and the man had managed to get a hand over her throat. She scratched him, tore at his face and neck, struggling and kicking, but nothing made him budge. She was losing air quickly, so she calmed herself, allowed her body to relax so her heated brain could think. Fortifying herself, she reached up his shoulders, felt around his face and dug her fingers into his eyes. She pushed her fingers until he opened his mouth in agony. The grip on her neck began to loosen, and she tried again to get away, still attacking with her fingers.

He swam up, planting a thick kick in her chest that sent her farther down the pond, her chest aching from the hit. She didn't know how long she spent at the base of the pond, but when she was able to move, she clawed her way out, the heat from the still blazing garden heating her chilled skin. A few of the maids saw her and rushed over to her side as she knelt on the grass, vomiting all the water she had swallowed. Some pulled her hair back, slapping down on her back as she coughed out in pain, bracing her arm around her stomach. It hurt to breathe.

"Where did he go?" She wheezed, looking around but seeing no one dressed like the person who attacked her. "Where did he go? Did you see him?"

"See who?"

"The man." She coughed, and one of them helped her to her feet. She began to walk her away from the fire while the others continued to attack the fire. "Call the police; there was someone here."

She struggled away from them, digging her phone out of her pocket, throwing it down to the floor in frustration when she confirmed that it was ruined. She finally sat on the floor, with Dylan rushing to drape some blankets over her. Frightened and worried, she watched the fire blaze.