The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

It was one thing for Annalise to reason with Casper, but for him to actually listen to her at all and stop his advances was shocking!

Jessica was so infuriated she nearly threw her phone on the ground. She took deep breaths and cursed Casper for foiling her plans. She had gone to great lengths to set up Annalise just so she could gain destructive evidence against her. But Casper hadn't defiled Annalise at all!

Swallowing her rage, Jessica paced around the room. A long while later, she calmed down and called Casper. "Casper!" she growled.

Casper was buried in work when he received Jessica's call. Although Zane had wired him the start-up money, he dared not hire a full team for fear that his business would fail. He didn't want to waste the resources Zane had given him. As such, he chose to be hands-on with the work.

Upon hearing Jessica's incensed voice, Casper knew what to expect from this call. He kept his composure as he replied, "Yes?"

Jessica had tried hard to keep up her pleasant image before him. On the off-chance that he could pull himself together and become wealthy again, he might still want her back.

But after seeing the video he'd sent her, she knew she could no longer keep up the pretenses. "You useless piece of shit! I gave you the perfect opportunity, and you messed it up!"

When Casper heard this, he knew she must have watched the video. His heart cracked all the same as she hurled abuse at him. It must be because this was the first time she had called him such hurtful names. Thankfully, he held his ground and kept his mouth shut.

Jessica continued seething, "I had the perfect plan to ruin Annalise's life and make her disappear from the Internet forever. I was about to get rid of my archnemesis, and you screwed up my trump card!"

"So?" Casper drawled, though breathing became difficult as he listened to her hysterics.

Jessica didn't even blink as she snapped, "You have two choices now! Either you kidnap Zane's daughter and lure Annalise out so you can finish the job, or do nothing!" Casper asked, "What's the price?"

Jessica slowed her speech when she heard his unruffled tone. "If you do this for me, I'll still keep in touch with you. If you aren't willing to make the sacrifice, I'll cut you off."

She was confident that Casper still

loved her and that his love knew no bounds. As long as she promised to keep in touch with him, he would do anything for her. She was certain he would say yes. en

Casper's heart was close to shattering as he ground out, "In that case... I hope you'll be happy without me."

Life without Jessica would be

strange, but he had a job now. Asnoveldrama

long as he poured himself into his work, he would move on from Jessica one day. At least, that was what he told himself.

The pain of cutting ties threatened to break him, but at the same time, he felt a surge of relief.

Jessica couldn't believe what she had just heard. "What was that? I didn't catch what you said. Could you repeat that?"

Casper enunciated, "I will not hurt another woman just because you ask me to."