Cassie’s POV
Dylan was already waiting in his car when I hurried to finish getting ready. I slipped into a black gown with a high slit that showed just enough leg, paired it with golden heels and a matching purse. Kate stood behind me, carefully adjusting the wig on my head.
"You’re good to go," she said softly.
I turned to look at her. "Are you sure you won’t come with me?."
She shook her head. "No. It’s a double date. I have no business being there."
"I’d prefer if you came," I said, a little more serious now. "It’s going to be crazy, and I really need you as my backbone."
Kate gave me a small smile. "Trust me, you’ll be fine. Aren’t you the one dealing with Damien every single day? This is a piece of cake."
I narrowed my eyes playfully. "I promise you, if it’s not... I won’t be happy with you."
"You’ll be fine," she muttered while retouching the fabric of my dress. "You look magnificent. He’ll be so dumbfounded when he sees you that he won’t even want to be a pain in the ass."
I laughed. "Damien? He’d rather chew stones."
I walked toward the car. Dylan stepped out immediately and opened the door for me like the gentleman he always was. Classic Dylan.
I slid into the passenger seat and waited for him to walk around to the driver’s side. That was when I heard a familiar voice from the back seat.
"Hello, Kate."
I froze. I would recognize that voice anywhere—even in my dreams. I turned slowly.
Damien.
He was sitting there casually, as if he belonged in that car.
"Damien... I didn’t see you back there," I said, forcing my voice to stay calm. "Aren’t you supposed to come with Cece?"
"She’s not feeling too well," he replied. "I would have loved it if she came, but she couldn’t."
I knew he was lying. The only reason he was here was to humiliate me—and probably expose me to his brother.
"That’s sad," I said carefully. "I wish she could have come. But shouldn’t you be at home with her? She’s your date, and she’s not even here."
I didn’t bother hiding the fact that I didn’t want him there. Because I didn’t.
Damien raised an eyebrow. "Kate. Don’t you want me here?"
He asked the question like he didn’t already know the answer.
I turned to Dylan. "I thought you were picking me up alone."
Dylan glanced at me and laughed lightly. "He insisted on coming with me. Said his car was bad and he had to get it repaired."
"But you have a lot of cars," I muttered before I could stop myself. The moment the words left my mouth, I realized my mistake.
Damien’s eyes sharpened. "How do you know I have more than one car?"
I forced a casual shrug. "I guessed. You work in a very big company, so it makes sense that you’d have more than one. I mean... even Dylan doesn’t have that many."
"Unfortunately," Damien said smoothly, "all my cars broke down at the same time. All of them."
What a ridiculous lie.
I looked at Dylan. "I hope you didn’t buy that."
Dylan just smiled as he started the car. "No. I just let him ride with us. I think his pride won’t let him admit he didn’t want to come alone."
Damien leaned forward slightly. "Besides, have you forgotten why I asked for this? I want to know more about the woman my brother is about to date."
"Why?" I asked.
"Yes, Damien. Why?" Dylan added, his tone cooler now. "I’d love to know. Because the last girlfriend of mine you got to know... you ended up fucking her while we were still dating."
The air in the car turned heavy.
"That’s not the reason," Damien said quickly. "And I didn’t just fuck your girlfriend. There’s more to it, but you never wanted to hear me out."
"There’s nothing more to know," Dylan replied flatly. "I already know everything there is to know."
Silence settled over us. The tension was thick enough to cut. I had managed to shut Damien up for now, but I knew it wouldn’t last. He always found a way to keep pushing.
After a moment, Dylan’s voice softened. "Have I told you how good you look?" He carefully rested his hand on my exposed thigh.
I could feel Damien’s eyes on us through the side-view mirror. His gaze followed Dylan’s hand as it moved higher. The longer it stayed there, the more furious he looked.
He suddenly coughed—hard.
Dylan removed his hand and glanced back. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Damien replied, his eyes still locked on me. "Something just got stuck in my throat. Pass me the water beside you."
Dylan handed him the bottle without taking his eyes off the road. I almost laughed. Damien acted so tough all the time, but right now he looked like a big baby trapped in a boss’s body.
Finally, we arrived at the restaurant—a large, expensive five-star place. Dylan kept his hand on mine as we walked inside. Damien followed behind us, and I could almost feel him wishing he could rip Dylan’s hand away.
Damien had booked the entire place for the evening. The restaurant was empty, cold, and strangely cozy. We sat at a table meant for four, even though there were only three of us.
I ordered food and a cocktail. Dylan did the same. Damien only asked for a simple juice and nothing else.
"Hope you like the food," Dylan said after a while.
"Yes," I replied. "It’s really nice."
Damien leaned back in his chair. "Dylan, have you ever wondered how similar Kate and Cassie are? For friends, they look so much alike. They look more like twins than we do."
I clenched my jaw under the table. Does he ever give up? He was always looking for a way to bring me down. If he wanted to expose me, he should just do it already.
Dylan shrugged. "I’ve thought about the same thing. I heard that the more time you spend with someone, the more you start to look alike."
Damien laughed. "That’s ridiculous. By that logic, I should look like Cassie since we work together and I see her every day."
"Can we just enjoy our food?" I said softly, trying to ignore the tantrum he kept throwing.
Dylan turned to his brother. "Damien, don’t you think you should call Cece and check how she’s doing? I know she’d love to know we’re thinking about her."
Damien glanced at his watch. "She should be sleeping by now. I’ll call her when I get home."
For the next few minutes, he stayed quiet—probably searching his mind for the next thing to say.
Then he looked at me. "Kate, what do you do for a living?"
He asked the question as if he didn’t already know the answer.
"My dad is Winswood, so I work with him," I replied. "But my supervisor is a complete pain in the ass. He loves making things difficult for me."
"Maybe he’s doing it because you’re incompetent," Damien fired back.
I met his eyes without flinching. "Incompetent? He’s the incompetent one. I heard everyone he’s ever supervised either resigns or stops showing up after the first day. That says a lot about him."
Dylan raised an eyebrow. "Why is he still working for your dad then?"
"Because his father is one of the biggest shareholders," I said. "So he has a seat he doesn’t deserve, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it."
Damien’s lips curled slightly. "That’s interesting. I’d love to meet this supervisor. He sounds like someone I’d get along with."
"You don’t have to meet him," I said coldly. "Just look in the mirror. He’s exactly like you."
Dylan looked between us, intrigued. "The way he is?"
"Yeah," I said. "They behave the same way."
Dylan leaned forward. "You know what’s funny? All of Damien’s assistants leave on the first day or resign. It’s crazy. Your friend Cassie is the only one who’s stayed... and her life doesn’t even look miserable."
My eyes met Damien’s across the table.
Dylan continued, almost thoughtfully. "Either she’s really good at what she does—because I think she once wanted to resign but he refused to let her—or he’s in love with her."
Damien scoffed. "In love with who?" He stole a glance at me. "No. She’s just... manageable compared to the rest."
"Manageable?" Dylan repeated. "I think that’s exactly why she wanted to resign."
I could see the suspicion starting to form in Dylan’s eyes. Damien and I were talking about ourselves right in front of him, and he was beginning to notice. But the idea that Damien could be in love with me? No. That was ridiculous. He didn’t have the patience—or the heart—for something like that.
Damien suddenly changed the subject. "Dylan, have you told her about the birthday party?"
Dylan turned to me with a smile. "No, not yet. Kate, I’m having a birthday party with my brother next month, and I’d love you to come as my date. You can bring Kate and Cassie too."
I blinked. "Kate?"
If he knew the truth, he wouldn’t be asking me to bring Cassie.
"Yes," Dylan said. "Your friend from the program."
"Oh... Kate," I said carefully. "How did you know her name was Kate?"
"People from the program kept calling her that. She lied to me about her name at first."
I forced a small laugh. "What did she tell you her name was?"
"Anita."
"Ah." I nodded. "The truth is she doesn’t like being called Kate. That’s probably why she lied."
Damien’s eyes narrowed. "That doesn’t make sense."
"It doesn’t have to make sense to you," I shot back.
Dylan started to speak—"You guys should st—" but before he could finish, his drink somehow tipped and poured all over him.
He stood up quickly. "I’ll be right back. I need to clean up."
The moment he left the table, the air between Damien and me changed.
He looked straight at me and said quietly, "I know who you are."
My heart stopped for a second.
"Me?" I asked, keeping my voice steady. "Who do you think I am?"
Damien’s eyes didn’t leave mine.
"Cassie," he said. "Cassie the imposter."