The Devil's Favourite Obsession

”Why are we even talking about that topic right now?” Cixi muttered, her cheeks still burning. ”We are in a hospital.”

She already knew she was going to regret even acknowledging it.

And the devil purely shamelessly grinned, which resembled the man who had never once lost sleep over making someone uncomfortable and had no intention of starting. ”Because I crave to undo you every time I see you.”

Cassian’s eyes pinned Cixi at once. Their eyes were locked for a longer period.

She had successfully managed to retort back at everyone in the Palace, but somehow, she couldn’t manage to do the same with Cassian.

He always found a way to unravel her, often in the most unexpected manner. Now he confessed what he craved. Is this a sign—he is falling in love with her?... Or—not!

Before a word could escape Cixi’s lips, the door swung open.

The doctor entered first, followed by the nurse, and their timing could not have been more merciful for Cixi. She felt relieved.

The doctor glanced between them briefly before he addressed Cassian directly for the first time since the visit began. ”The results will be ready in two hours, Mr Crown. In the meantime, Miss McLore is free to leave. Mr Michael Crown is waiting outside to escort her.”

Cixi nodded at the doctor.

However, before leaving, she turned to Cassian.

She meant to give him a quick glance and nothing more, the kind of look you give someone when you are about to walk through a door and expect to see them again soon.

But something pulled at her chest the moment her eyes met his. It was the uninvited ache of separating from someone.

Her lips parted to say goodbye, but no words came.

Cassian noticed the subtle sadness in her eyes. Just as he always observed every reaction of hers.

”Don’t fall in love with me, Cixi McLore.” He uttered those words in a casual tone, yet Cixi felt they were the cruelest thing he had ever said.

Cixi fake scoffed, ”I am more worried about you. I don’t know when your obsession will turn into love,” Cixi shot back, trying to regain her footing.

”I would burn down the whole earth if I ever fell in love with you.” His reply was calm and unwavering, which caused Cixi to question whether falling in love with her was truly so dreadful that he would punish the entire world for it.

Would she ever be free from this curse? Doubt seeped into her mind...

Doctor and nurse, although they were intrigued, kept a professional face.

Cixi dragged her gaze away from Cassian and left the room.

Michael stood by the window wall in the corridor, his hands clasped behind his back, watching the patients and people below.

”The doctor said I can go,” Cixi informed him.

Michael straightened and turned. ”The car is downstairs. I will—”

”I will take the bus to work,” Cixi interrupted him, smiling.

”Miss McLore, I can—”

”Thank you, Mr Crown. But I would prefer to take a taxi from here.”

She gave him a small, polite nod and walked toward the lifts before he could convince her.

Back in the examination room, Cassian sat in the chair the doctor had vacated. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a cigarette.

The doctor’s office, equipped with medical instruments that were meant to be smoke-free, became a scene of disregard when Cassian lit a cigarette. He had little concern for the rules or anything else in the world, except for two people who mattered to him the most.

As he exhaled, the doctor opened the window and stepped out, followed by the nurse, leaving him alone in the haze.

The smoke curled upward toward the ceiling tiles as Cassian leaned back, crossed one leg over the other, and turned his head toward the window.

From here, he could see the hospital entrance below. Michael’s black car sat idling near the front. A moment later, Michael appeared, slid into the driver’s seat, and the car pulled away from the curb. It merged into traffic and moved east toward the Palace.

*

*

*

The taxi ride back to the Palace passed in restless silence.

Cixi sat near the window while replaying every strange conversation from today inside her head.

A younger sister. She had a younger sister.

Cassian had said it so casually, yet ever since hearing it, she couldn’t stop imagining what that girl looked like. More like her father...

She has a family... A real family.... Will they accept her?... Will they be happy to see her?

Did she truly resemble their mother?

How would her mother feel once she knows her daughter is alive and living a independent life...?

Were they living peacefully somewhere while Cixi spent her life surviving one disaster after another?

And why exactly did Cassian know so much about her family in the first place?

How could her father owe him? How?

Nothing about him ever came with simple answers. The more she learned, the more tangled everything became.

By the time the taxi finally passed through the Palace gates, Cixi already had a headache forming.

She paid the driver before quietly stepping out. The trip to the Palace and to her workplace was getting expensive...

Once she entered the Palace, it looked calmer. Most servants moved silently through the halls.

Cixi adjusted the scarf, hiding her blonde hair, before making her way toward the private lift leading to Cassian’s floor.

The lift doors opened, and she stepped into the corridor. Dimly lit and quiet.

She walked toward the living area, already rehearsing the dinner in her head. She was sure she would be called to dinner today because the result would show that she is pregnant with Cassian’s child and that she has stocks in their company.

Thinking of stocks Cassian had transferred to her name, a smile appeared on her face.

Cixi pushed open the double doors to Cassian’s living room.

And stopped there when she saw a woman standing near the centre of the room.

A tall, elegant, slim, and beautiful woman standing and glancing around the room.

Long blonde hair cascaded down her back in soft waves, while an expensive black dress hugged her figure perfectly. She looked like the kind of woman magazines would place on luxury covers beside billionaires and private yachts.

The woman turned at the sound of footsteps. And the moment her eyes landed on Cixi, visible displeasure crossed her face immediately.

Not confusion, but a displeasure.