Cixi did not waste a second. She immediately wrote down the sixth clause.

Once everything had been added, they both signed the documents.

Cassian glanced over the pages one last time before setting them aside.

"The lawyer will prepare the revised copies," he informed her. "Then we shall sign them again."

And Cixi agreed to that.

A sense of relief washed over her. At last, she had secured his kiss for herself. She no longer needed to run after other women whom Cassian kissed to change their sexual orientation and make them fall in love with her. Now she could focus on Cassian.

Only on him.

On making him fall in love with her!

Cassian’s voice broke through the chain of her thoughts. "I shall drop you at the cafe," he said, rising to his feet with effortless grace, "and in the meantime, you may begin planning how you intend to enter Crown Residence."

Cixi looked up at him immediately and rose from the couch.

"I gave you three days," Cassian announced.

"Three days?" she repeated.

"Yes."

Her eyes widened in confusion. "But that is too short!"

"The three days are, in fact, quite generous, Little Lamb. Do you know why? Because if I had given you even one day, you would have pulled off the impossible, just like so many who thrive on the thrill of the last-minute rush. They stress themselves to the brink, sacrificing sleep and food, just to deliver at the eleventh hour," Cassian said coolly.

"Are you calling me a deadline junkie?"

"How dare I?" A playful smile plastered itself across his face. Cixi gritted her teeth, seeing how he always taunted her.

*

*

*

It was already half past nine by the time Cixi reached the cafe for work.

During the entire one-hour drive, Cassian had kept turning his head towards her, watching her for so long that it had begun to unsettle her nerves.

Meanwhile, Cixi had kept her eyes fixed on the window as if the passing streets outside were suddenly the most fascinating thing in the world. Mark had sat in the front passenger seat beside the driver, silent as always.

The moment she stepped out of the car, she shook her head faintly, still trying to rid herself of the strange ride and that journey.

Who looked at someone so directly for an entire hour?

She cursed Cassian at first and then cursed the Grim Reaper all over again for throwing her into this curse without even leaving behind a proper manual with dos and don’ts.

As soon as she entered Warm Land Caeé, she stopped short in surprise, seeing that the place was already full.

Yes, the morning hours were always busy. Customers usually came for takeaway coffee and a quick breakfast before work, while the crowd that wanted to sit and eat properly came closer to noon. But for the cafe to be this full at half past nine felt unusual.

Every server looked like they were working themselves to the bone.

Cixi hurried inside towards the lockers and quickly put her bag away. Then she pulled on her apron, tied it around herself, and stepped back out, searching for Amanda so she could find out whether she would be serving customers or staying behind the counter.

But the sight that greeted her made her blink in shock.

Amanda was sitting with a customer.

And not just any customer—but the gangster...

She immediately looked for Lily, who was on service duty. She stood waiting near the counter for a coffee order to be finished.

Cixi walked straight to her and lowered her voice. "What was he doing here?"

Lily followed her gaze, then looked away again with the weariness of someone already done with the day. "I had been asking myself the same question since morning."

Cixi’s brows flew up. "Since morning?"

"Yes," Lily replied with a sigh. "He had been here since the cafe opened at seven."

Cixi’s mouth fell open. "He was the one who danced with you, right?" she asked, just to be sure.

Lily sighed again. "Yes. Him. Zoyar..."

"You remembered his name?" Cixi asked, almost teasingly. That earned her a short glare.

"We should stay away from gangsters," Lily muttered under her breath. "Including you. Look at him now. He is following me around like some creep. He has no shame. Even after I made it very clear that we would never meet again."

Cixi let out a soft giggle. "Maybe he was here for Amanda. Look at how he was laughing with her. No wonder Amanda agreed to my request so easily."

Lily looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Why were you late?"

"I was with Cassian."

Lily stared at her in sheer disbelief. "I thought you told me he was your fake fiancé. So what was he doing in your apartment so early in the morning?"

Then something dawned on her, and she turned fully towards Cixi. "Don’t tell me he spent the whole night with you?" Another expression of shock crossed Lily’s face. "Did you guys—?"

"Nothing happened," Cixi said quickly in defence. "I lost consciousness, and he was taking care of me."

By the time she uttered the last few words, her voice had already begun to trail off. And a playful gleam entered Lily’s eyes at once. "Taking care of you?" she repeated with a grin.

"And look, he was here for you," Cixi shot back, immediately turning the attack onto Lily. That shut her up at once.

"Let us not talk about them," Lily declared, and Cixi nodded.

At that moment, the person behind the counter finished making Lily’s coffee and boba tea order and handed them to her.

Before leaving, Lily leaned closer and informed her, "Your duty is cleaning today." Lily then glanced towards Amanda, who was laughing and showing off in front of Zoyar. "Bitch," she murmured softly. "Because you were late, she was punishing you differently."

"You are right. She is a bitch." Cixi narrowed her eyes at Amanda. "If I ever ran a cafe, I would especially hire her as manager just so I could make her do all the cleaning work," Cixi whispered back.

"Amen to that!" And the two of them began to giggle softly.

Cixi worked until half past seven that day.

Once her shift ended, she took the bus back.

She pulled out her phone, unlocked it, and typed a message.

"Are you free to meet tomorrow?"

She sent it to Emily, hoping Emily would agree. Otherwise, she would have had to come up with a different plan, which she had not even devised yet.

After slipping her phone back into her purse, she turned her head to look outside. To her horror, her eyes landed on Silvia, Kevin, Rony, and the others as they were heading inside a shopping mall.

Suddenly, Rony’s gaze lifted towards the bus, and their eyes met.

Cixi ducked immediately. But it was too late.

Rony kept watching the bus as it moved, then checked the time and the bus number before turning and following his friends.