She didn't want to just disappear into the Caribbean and live her life on the beach. It sounded nice for a while, but she knew she'd get bored. She needed something to do. Something to give her life meaning that wasn't made out of daiquiris.
The apartment echoed with empty loneliness without Wyatt. She suddenly felt like a guest here for the first time during her stay. The silence was a weight on her soul.
She dressed and left the apartment. She went to the only place that she felt like she belonged. Work.
The reporters were still at the hotel. There were fewer of them now, but she still went in through the back to avoid them.
Her office was unchanged, yet it felt cold and empty. It was apparent someone had been in here working while she was away, yet it looked the same. The thought that she'd become such a corporate shill that anyone could replace her without changing things hurt.
She sat at her desk, trying to come up with a plan. She went to look for her manager's notes and found they weren't where she kept them. They were probably at the front desk where Corporate wanted them, she realized.
Where she couldn't get them because the reporters would see her.
She sighed, sliding down her chair and pouting.
“What are you doing here?” Lenny stood in the doorway, his round features unhappy.
“I just wanted to get some paperwork done,” Cassie explained. “I know I'm on leave, but the monthly reports are due.”
“The reports are done,” Lenny replied. “They were due yesterday. You shouldn't be here.”
“I need to do something,” Cassie explained.
“You can't be here,” Lenny repeated. “Especially after what you've done.”
“What I've done?” Cassie asked, confused. “I haven't done anything.”
“You brought a philandering man into our hotel,” Lenny hissed. “You've damaged the brand. Do you know the phone calls I've been getting from Corporate about you?”
Cassie stared at him. “I literally have no idea what you're talking about.”
“Wyatt Landers. I'm sure you thought seducing him into staying here would improve your career, but Corporate does not want the StarTree brand to be a place where people go to cheat on their spouses!”
“Spouses? Cheating? What in the world are you talking about?” Cassie stopped slouching in her chair.
“Wyatt Landers was happily engaged to another woman,” Lenny informed her. “But I'm sure you knew that. You would have had to in order to get him to stay here. His fiancee lives in town. Why else would he stay in our hotel and not with her?”
“Wyatt isn't engaged to anyone,” Cassie informed him, shaking her head. “He's never been engaged.”
“Tell that to his fiancee.” Lenny shook his head in disgust. “You're a homewrecker.”
A terrible suspicion started to form in the pit of Cassie's stomach.
“Did this fiancee just suddenly appear yesterday?” Cassie asked. “A pretty blonde woman? Local? Named Lorna?”
“You do know about her!” Lenny exclaimed, pointing a finger. “You knew, and you brought him here!”
Rage flared up hot and white. Cassie seriously considered finding out how much hiring a hit man to take out Lorna would cost. At this point, she had a feeling Wyatt would help her pay for it.
“She was never his fiancee, Lenny. She made it up.”
“There's a picture of them kissing at a restaurant,” Lenny informed her. “It doesn't look like it was made up. Here, I'll show you. Turn on the computer. I was just reading about it.”
Cassie turned on the monitor of the computer in front of her. It hummed to life and flickered to show a gossip website. Front and center was a picture of Lorna with her arms wrapped around Wyatt and her lips plastered to his.
Cassie thought she might be sick. She read the headline, her eyes going wide with shock:
Abandoned Fiancee of Billionaire Reveals All! Read the shocking story of how a local businesswoman, Lorna Frankson realized that the love of her life was being stolen away in the Caribbean!