Here you go the last chapter of her replacement ..

*************

"Ready to enjoy your summer?" Coltrane asked.

"As ready as I could ever be" Cassandra said not knowing where they were exactly heading to. The only thing he said is that they are going to a family house and spend the summer in a vintage way which she did not understand at all.

"I thought you were going to invite Veronica and Xavier," Cassandra said as she took a seat in the car.

"No, I want this to be only about ourselves," Coltrane  shrugged.

"Where is Cameron?" She asked.

"He has a summer boot camp. I asked him to come but he wanted to enjoy his summer with his friends" Coltrane said.

"This is the place where I spent my childhood" Coltrane said as they reached a large gate.

"Good evening Master Mayor" The guard greeted them and opened the gate.

"This is my wife, guard" Coltrane introduced her.

"Good evening Mistress Mayor" the guard greeted them.

"Good evening. You can call me..." Coltrane just drives away before she can say anything.

"Well that was rude" she glared at him.

"It does not work like that," Coltrane shrugged.

"Do you think I did not try to stop them from calling me master? That just does not work with them. It's a waste of time so I decided to save your time" He said. She rolled her eyes not believing him at all. She will try and see for herself if this is a waste of time.

But everything slipped from her mind as she looked at the huge mansion.

"Welcome home Master Mayor" the butler was already waiting for them.

"Wait what butler? What the..?" She stared at him. Coltrane laughed at her reaction.

"This is my wife and your new mistress, Charlie" he said before dragging him inside. 

The inside is as beautiful as ever with dark brown wooden furniture and classic vintage decoration.

"This is our room but if you don't want to stay in the same room then I can ask Charlie to open another room" Coltrane said awkwardly which almost came out mechanically.

"It's fine" Cassandra shrugged, her shoulder not bothered at all or just good at hiding it.

"Take a bath and freshen up. Then we can go for a hike" He said excitedly. She just stares at him as if he has lost his mind.

"No"

"Oh! Come on, we are in the hilly region. We need to go hiking and have a night out under the stars" Coltrane said almost pleasingly.

"Absolutely not even if this is your idea of romantic night out. I am not into astronomy" She rolled her eyes.

"What can I do to convince you?" Coltrane asked.

She smirked, "this does not seem good" He whispered.

"I want your uptight staff to call me by my name" Coltrane stared at her shocked.

"That's not possible you know" He groaned. 

"That's a challenge, if you can do that I will watch those stupid same looking stars with you" she shrugged her shoulder.

"If I win this challenge I will give you a lecture on astronomy" He said threatening her.

"Do so, I will just ignore" she yawned. Opening her bag and rushed to the bathroom.

When she came out Flynn was nowhere to be found. She went to bed directly. 

The next time she woke up it was already night.

"Dinner time Cas" Coltrane said, he seems to be working on a laptop. She looked at him suspiciously, he was too relaxed for the worked up man he was a few hours ago.

She washed her face and walked down, "Mistress Cassandra" the maid bowed her head.

"Ready for the astronomy class. I win this challenge" Flynn whispered. She stilled for a while.

"You cheated" She yelled, shocking everyone in the house. No one, literally no one ever shouted on Master Mayor.

"How so?" He asked, cocking his eyebrow.

"They are using title" 

"You said call you by your name. You never said that there will be no title" She glared at him.

"You know what I mean?" She spatted.

"No I don't," Coltrane shrugged.

"I won, now I get a starry date with a lovely astronomy lecture, '' he said.

"No you don't, You cheat" She glared at him fuming.

"I win this baby you need to accept that"

"I am not doing to accept this" 

"Are you doing back on your words?' He asked.

"Yes"

"You can't do that"

"I will" she turned her face away and walked straight at the farthest seat from him.

"You are breaking the promise," Coltrane said.

"I am not" she snapped.

"I did not take you for a cheat"

"I did not. I just find a loophole" Coltrane pointed only to get a coldest glare she could muster up.

"Why don't we come to a middle ground?" He asked, sighing.

"I take you on that date without any astronomy class and then we will do something you want" she thought about it for a while.

"Not bad Flynn" she nodded her head.

"I am a businessman after all," Coltrane said, standing up straight to the nearest seat. She just stared at him. 

After their dinner they went straight to bed this time both of them waiting for the other to speak.

"So, which side do you prefer?" Coltrane asked her, staring at the bed.

"Middle... I mean anywhere" She said awkwardly.

"This is the first time we are going to share a bed in literal sense" Cassandra said jumping on the bed. He smiled, when she patted the bed beside her. 

He fall down on the bed. There was silence.

"I know I was being unreasonable," She said softly.

"I like when you are like that. It almost reminds me how we used to fight all the time" He chuckled before turning to her. She was staring upward when she felt his hand around her waist as he pulled her closer. He pressed a kiss against her cheeks.

"Good night love" Coltrane said letting her go and slowly drifted off to peaceful slumber. She stared at him for a while. Only to notice how he unconsciously makes himself comfortable around her. He put his head on her shoulder while his other hand draped over her waist. His breath fanned over her collar bone. She can hear his heart beat which slowly pulled her to sleep even though she already slept in the afternoon.

The next morning when she woke up Coltrane was already up because he was nowhere to be found. When she asked the butler he said, and she quote, "Master left for the forest this morning"

Cassandra spent most of the time wandering around the house which was giving her a lot of ideas for her assignments and that is what she did.

Coltrane came back in the afternoon asking her to get ready for their camp out. And wow did he outdid himself?

 It was beautiful even though she was not interested in this at all. She appreciated it.

"It's beautiful, if you don't add which star is which" Cassandra said sarcastically. He just rolled his eyes and stared at the stars. Only to feel someone breathing on his cheeks. Before he could turn around she pressed her lips on his cheek.

Coltrane turned to her, smiling softly before invading her pace.

"I would have loved it if you kissed me" Coltrane pressed his lips against her  and she immediately kissed back.

"Here" He pressed his forehead against her.

"I can do that but you would blush" she rolled her eyes.

"Nice try to hide your own blush" Coltrane chuckled. After that it was silence. 

"Let's go back," Coltrane said.

Cassandra did not want to admit it that their summer vacation vanished in a blink of an eye. They enjoyed swimming, hiking, playing hide and seek.

They went to the camp, enjoying the hilly views. It was pleasant out of people's view and the serenity was beautiful. The fact that they are used to sleeping in the same bed adopting each other's habits.

Slowly the summer vacation ended and they were back to the house, back to regular life. Coltrane still visited her after college but it was not the same.

One evening....

It's been over six months since they started dating.

"You seem tense, What is it?" Cassandra asked as they were seated in their spot at the cafe.

Coltrane was staring outside for a while and he seemed absent minded. Which is not something he does when he is with her.

"Did something happen?" She worried when he did not reply to her question.

"I am wandering..." Coltrane turned to stare at her. He seems unsure or may be afraid of her answer.

"Will you like to move ...?" He rubbed his neck. Cassandra raised her eyebrows getting what he was trying to say.

"Are you asking me to move in?" She asked. His eyes snapped as he stared at her.

"Yes. Would you?"

"Will I get to share your room?" She asked grinning.

"Yes..No I mean" He said immediately.

"I was kidding," she laughed.

"Stop being temping" he groaned. She chuckled.

"I will love to move in," she smiled. He sighed in relief.

"You can decorate it however you want," Coltrane said. She shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't care how it looks" 

"Whatever you choose," He said.

"So, when will you move in?" Coltrane asked.

"Who knows" She smirked. Only to see his face fall as he glared at her. She laughed.

Even though she said who knows. She moved to his house in a week. And she noticed that his room had changed slightly since the last time she saw it, which was almost 3 years ago. His room was black from walls to bed sheets and without any furniture except the couch he used when she was here in this room.

"Wow, what a disaster?" She said.

"I told you that you can decorate it any way you like," He said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I thought it was because.." She put her hand on her hips.

"You did not mention it at all" Cassandra glared at him when he pinched her nose.

"We can decorate it together," Coltrane said.

Cassandra stared at the room.

"I am going to change some of the walls into grey colour you know in a strip or pattern way, that will brighten up the room a lot and I will keep the grey with a deep undertone so it still has a deeper under tone color. And I am going to change your bed shirts with grey colour while keeping the blanket black when you put your back on bed to sleep you can only see the blanket that will make you feel familiar and comfortable . Oh! we are going to buy some black coloured furniture. Give it a contrast of black and grey. That way the change will not be too much but subtle. How does that sound?" She asked him. He was too fascinated by her to answer.

"That's a wonderful idea," Coltrane smiled.

"I will leave the interior designing and a post for interior designer in my company to you my lady" He said. Cassandra blinked her eyes when his words registered.

"Are you offering me a job?" She asked.

"Only if you are interested," Coltrane said.

Cassandra looked down, "I don't want a job because you know me"

"Love as much as I love you trust me I take my empire seriously after I worked my ass off since I was 19. Have I ever offered you a job before today?" He asked her seriously. 

"No," she said, confused.

"I did it after I heard you talk about  renovating our room. How you want to make it unique without any drastic change taking care of my comfort zone. And I am impressed by it. Not many designers think like that when the other party already said that they don't care what you do to their place. But deep down they care. So, I want a wonderful employee for my company," he said truthfully, even explaining to her himself.

"I will think about it," she smiled.

After that everything started changing slowly with their waking up routine to going back to sleep. They enjoy each other's company , occasionally bickering and kissing .Slowly days turn to weeks and weeks turn to month as they get more comfortable with each other.

Cassandra became busy with her studies and internship while in her final year. Coltrane was already busy at work.

Everything started to fall in places. Slowly sharing personal space becomes a norm to them.

****************

1 year later..

"How was your result?" Coltrane asked after entering the house, he was still dressed in his office suit. Cameron was sitting in front of Cassandra and doing his homework, Cassandra was busy staring at her laptop thinking deeply. 

"She did great," Cameron said, giving him thumbs up when Cassandra did not reply.

"Then what happened to her?" He asked Cam to just shake his head.

"Can you guys stop talking like I am not even sitting here?" Cassandra said.

"Sure I will be back" Coltrane walked inside their room to freshen up and when he returned back to the living room. She was still sitting on the couch staring at her laptop. Coltrane sighed walking behind her to peep on her laptop. 

"A farewell party?" He said. She shut the laptop. 

"It's nothing. Do you want some food?" Cassandra asked.

"Nope not now" He took a sit beside her and pulled her on his lap. 

"Can't you two stop being like this?" Cameron groaned. 

"Let me go Flynn" She struggled. This is not something new, so to some extent she is habituated to this but that does not mean she will not struggle and give him a hard time.

"Why don't we go to this party?" 

"No I don't ... We?" She asked, giving him a confused look. 

"Yeah! It's a college farewell. We can take outsider's as partners. So we are going. Is it tomorrow?" 

"I don't want to," She said. 

"We are going. We did not get to do this . So, why not now?" Coltrane said pressing a kiss on her cheeks. 

"Let go shopping. Cameron?" 

"Do I get a say in this?" Cassandra asked as they both ignored her.

"Sure," Cameron said, jumping up. 

"I will get ready," Cameron walked out. 

"Is not it stupid I am 7 years older then them" she looked down. 

"Does it matter and trust me I will make it better with my charms?" He said grinning. 

Cassandra rolled her eyes, "Let me go I need to get ready" 

"Okay" he let her go. 

They drive to a shopping mall with a high end boutique having lots  of designer dresses.

"Cam, buy whatever you want but make sure to buy a boot shoe for the bootcamp" Coltrane warned him as he walked away.

Cassandra chose a few dresses. In the middle of this Coltrane and Cameron vanished for half an hour leaving her alone. But that did not bother her at all. 

"Are you done?"  Coltrane asked her.

"Yes?" She raised her eyebrows. They seemed oddly suspicious.

"Do I need to know something?" She asked Cameron who just shrugged his shoulder.

"Nope nothing" Coltrane denied.

"Why don't we eat fast food?" The moment he suggested that they all agreed. Slowly this trip to the mall became a fun outing as they went to the arcade after that challenging each other to various games. Slowly the day passed away.

*******************

Cassandra was nervous as she entered the building. Everyone was looking at them. All these years she was a loner after Xavier and Veronica. Going to college and returning as first as she could not bothering to make friends or anything as a matter of fact. It is not like they tried either and she ignored them. They also keep their distance. She rolled her eyes at her own thoughts.

'Let's get this over with. Well at least her view is good' she looked at Coltrane who seems as composed as ever.

This is supposed to be a farewell party. So why the heck do they need to choose, the king and queen of the night which will be selected through vote and they can ask any one to dance and the opposite party cannot refuse. Well as if Cassandra rolled her eyes.

"Oh please what the fuck is this?" She groaned or said out loud as Coltrane chuckled.

"Can you vote separately?" The announcer said.

She rolled her eyes. It's not like she knows anyone's name except Coltrane. A soft smile spread across her lips, she always wanted to vote for him like this for once. After putting it in the valet box. 

"So whose name did you right?" Coltrane asked after putting his own vote. 

"Blank page" She said looking away. 

"At least write my name," Coltrane said, almost pouting.

"That would be stupid no one would vote for you anyway" Cassandra replied.

"I don't want anyone to vote for me. Only you will suffice" 

"Okay fine I did vote for you. Happy?" She snapped.

"I know I peeked," He chuckled. Cassandra flushed as she glared at him.

Then her eyes landed on the girls who were looking at them. She rolled her eyes.

Everyone already knows who he is? Then why are they staring? 

"Anyways you will never win.."

"The king is Coltrane Mayor" 

She gasped and looked at Coltrane who gave her a smug smile before walking to the stage, "You were saying something love?" She glared at him.

"The Queen is Emily Hamilton"

Cassandra bit her lips as the host congratulated them. 

"So Who would you like to ask for a dance? Mr. Mayor" Coltrane looked at her extending his hand. 

"Will you dance with me Mrs.Mayor?" He was smiling softly.

"No" she flat out rejected him.

"Hey! At least consider it" Coltrane said.

Cassandra looked at him as if he was joking, "You know I can't dance right. The last thing you would want is hole in your new shoes along with your foot" she rolled her eyes. Everyone chuckled and laughed at her jokes.

'I am not joking though' she thought to herself. 

"You can put as much hole as you want in my shoes and foot" He chuckled.

"I don't find it romantic at all," she said.

"I was not trying to be romantic at all" He still held his hand.

"I can't dance," she shook her head stubbornly. Coltrane put his hand down in disappointment. She feels almost bad for turning him down. 

"Well?" The host laughed nervously when Coltrane walked down the stage and kneel in front of her. 

"What??" She gasped. 

"Will you give me the honor of dancing with you even if you put thousands of holes in my leg and I can see tomorrow through it?" He asked, extending his hand. She laughed as everyone around them cheered for her to accept it. 

"Sure" Cassandra thought he gave up but this. She sighed giving him her hand. He pressed a kiss she tried not to blush, tried is the key word. 

"And now who would you like to dance with Ms. Hamilton?" 

The girl blushed a little, "Can I dance with you Mr. Mayor?" 

"Sure, after I dance with her" He pulled her closer to him. 

"Sorry for this but she might change her mind" Coltrane dragged her as she deliberately put her shoes over his. He groaned.

"You were saying something," she whispered. 

"Nothing love" they danced. After that Coltrane took Emily to dance while she mingled with everyone and danced and drinked. Some brave guy even asked her to dance which she accepted.

This was a fun way more than she intended to have.

*****************

"Where are we going?" Cassandra asked as they took another turn.

He went straight to a restaurant.

"Why are we here?" She asked as they entered and went straight to the top floor.

The waitress already bought a champagne bottle.

"Are you here to celebrate or something else?" She asked.

"Both, I guess," Coltrane said, pouring himself a glass of wine before bringing a velvet box out of his pocket.

Cassandra blinked her eyes, getting what he said.

"So, Are you going to tell me how much you love me?" Cassandra asked, staring at the box of rings Coltrane presented. 

"No" 

"So, Are not you going down on your knees?" " She asked again, smiling this time. Coltrane chuckled. 

"You are going to be a beautiful wife, so will you marry me?" Cassandra said melodramatically almost mimicking by going down on her knees.

"Or Is this supposed to be I love you marry me and make me the happiest man alive?" She asked, smiling softly. 

"Well is not it getting cheesier as seconds passed by?" Coltrane asked as he took a sip of his wine rolling his eyes.

Cassandra shrugged her shoulder before trying again, "You are the love of my life, I might die without you so do me the honor and marry me please?" She raised her eyebrows as he smiled softly. 

"That might be true but still no" she rolled her eyes and called the waitress and ordered something.

"Don't you want anything?" Cassandra asked to which Coltrane shook his head. Even though he can see she is nervous, she hides it well.

As her food arrived she ate her food silently. He was staring at her all while making her more nervous but she was good at hiding it. The anticipation of what he will ask makes her anticipate.

Without noticing she finished her food and patted her lips with the napkin suggesting that she was full. 

Coltrane stood up indicating her to remain in her position. He went down on his knees no not the typical way of proposing no. He went down both of his knees and looked at her. 

Before presenting her a ring her eyes wander to the box but then she stares at the ring he was holding. It was old, the shape and design was vintage . 

"This is my mother's ring. It was with me since the day she died. She asked me to keep it with myself as a reminder that she is always with me. I never thought of giving it to anyone. No one but.." he stared at her. 

"Will you make sure that it always stays with me?" Coltrane asked her, no not the over loaded romantic proposal neither sweet words. He just asked her to make sure that his mother's ring always stays with him. Romantic no.. but her heart beat increases. 

There were many thoughts running through her mind. She wanted to say something equivalent to what he proposed, I will, I do, off course but no nothing goes well with the way he proposed. 

Cassandra closed her eyes and held her hand in front of him. He slid the ring and it fit her ring finger perfectly. She opened her eyes and stared at the ring. 

"If this is the ring then what is that?" She asked. 

"Another ring for back up you know if you don't want to wear it. It's quite an old design even though the Jeweler did a good job of clearing it. And that ring is something I choose. After thinking a while I thought that I want to give you something that will make you stay with me forever so I did" 

"Can I open it?" Cassandra asked even though she wanted to say that his mother's ring is more than enough for her. It was more heart touching, more genuine than anything and any jewelry but she knows he understands more than her. 

"Of course this is for you too" he said, pouring both of them a glass of red wine as a celebration. 

She opened the box, "It is beautiful but not more than the one I am wearing" He grinned at her words. 

"I am glad that you think that way" 

Cassandra took the glass drinking slowly. Before standing up she went to him. He raised an eyebrow staring at her as she bent down pressing a kiss on his cheek and went back to her seat. He did not want to blush but his cheek flushed. As he cleared his throat trying to say something. 

"Well you did not let me scream saying I love you I will marry you and hug you while kissing your lips so I did this" She smirked but her heart was bursting with love. She can feel tears at the corner of her eyes which she blinked away.

"So what kind of wedding do you want?" Coltrane asked. Cassandra just stared at her ring, shrugging her shoulder.

"I don't know, never thought about it," she shrugged.

"Can I choose the place?" He asked.

"Sure" Cassandra looked at him.

"I want to get married at our school on any specific sunday. How does that sound?" she blinked her eyes and stared at him.

"Where did you get the idea from?" She asked.

"You said that those school days were the happiest memories of your life. You wished that we could go back to those days, where we laughed without faking it. You said that you always wished that it would have lasted longer. So, I want to add another happiest day to our school life" He said. Tears fill her eyes. She gulped.

"You remembered" Cassandra whispered.

"I do. I remember every word of it, line by line" 

"I love the idea" she said as a tear trailed down her cheek.

"Don't cry" he wiped her tears. 

"I want to make you happy," he said.

"Can you actually do that?" She asked seriously after calming down.

"Well I am Coltrane Flynn Mayor, I can do that if I want" He said proudly to which she rolled her eyes.

"You are not going to let it go?" She rolled her eyes.

"Never" he smirked. She laughed even though it annoyed her a bit.

"I don't want a big wedding but I want to have a school themed party. We are going to invite our school teachers and hold a session in our old class" Her eyes sparkled as she talked about that.

"Then we are going to have a blast not those traditional old school dancing on slow songs but just dance. Oh and I want everyone in school uniform. Can you do that?" Cassandra asked hopefully.

"Of course I will do anything as long as that can make you smile" he said and she smiled.

**************

Thank you for reading dear readers..

This has been a long journey with lots of heartbreak, pain and love. Thank you very much for your support. I really appreciate it. 

The next chapter will be an Epilogue.

Do share your thoughts and comments. I know I am not replying to any comments but I am busy writing it. Now that I am almost free I promise to reply. And if you have enquiries ask away.

Until next time.