Bones Learn To Listen When Silence Speaks by Ryn Miles 197

Chapter 197 

Aurelia thought for a moment, then said, “I guess so.” 

After all, Cassian had always been the one to clean up Tessa’s messes. 

The whole thing blew up fast, and the news spread like wildfire. 

Before Aurelia even clocked out, she got word from inside Honoria Capital. 

155 Vorwurs 

Because of the fireworks incident, Ascend Group’s stock kept falling, and Honoria Capital was getting dragged down with it. 

The shareholders were very unhappy about this. 

Cassian had no choice but to call an emergency shareholders‘ meeting. 

Word was, all the shareholders were demanding Tessa be held accountable for what happened. 

That could mean anything from her resigning to making a public statement. 

But Cassian wasn’t budging. He was taking all the heat from the shareholders himself. 

It was true love, no doubt about it. 

No one knew how long he could hold out. 

Aurelia was quite curious. 

The fallout from the fireworks incident kept snowballing, and word was Honoria Capital’s offices were blazing with lights around the clock. Everyone was working overtime to deal with the crisis. 

As for Tessa, the one at the heart of it all, she’d been hospitalized because she was unwell. 

The next day, when Aurelia took Mia to the hospital to get her ankle checked out, Mia was itching to see the chaos firsthand. 

But Aurelia held her back. 

Mia grumbled, “Why won’t you let me go? I just wanna watch Tessa crash and burn!” 

“I’ve got a meeting to rush back to! Come on, stop messing with me, okay?” Aurelia said. 

Mia groaned, “Why are you always in meetings? I’ve been here two days and you’ve spent both glued to work. You haven’t spent any time with me at all.” 

“I’ll hang out with you after the meeting,” Aurelia promised. 

‘Wait, didn’t she say the exact same thing yesterday?‘ Mia thought to herself. 

She was about to complain when Aurelia whipped out a black card and handed it over. “My assistant will take you shopping later. Buy whatever you want.” 

Mia instantly switched gears. “Deal! Go crush that meeting, Babe. I’m good on my own.”” 

The hospital lobby was packed with people coming and going. 

But Mia spotted Cassian in a heartbeat and tugged at Aurelia’s sleeve. “Look, it’s Cassian!” 

Aurelia followed her gaze. 

Cassian was there with a fruit basket and some nutritional supplements in his right hand, a bouquet of flowers cradled in his left. 

He was obviously here to visit Tessa. 

Just as Aurelia was about to look away, Cassian glanced her way. 

Their eyes met. 

Cassian paused, his gaze lingering on her, deep and unreadable. 

Then he gave her a slight nod, a quiet acknowledgment. 

Aurelia simply looked away, ignoring him completely. 

Cassian didn’t stick around either. He quickly left. 

Mia finally caught on, her face scrunched up in annoyance. “He’s here for Tessa, right? Fruit, supplements, flowers. Damn, he’s really putting in the effort!” 

“Where was he when you were stuck in that hospital bed, nearly dying?” 

“He didn’t even bother to show up, not even a single call! But now he’s strutting around to visit Tessa? Seriously, is he even human?” 

As Mia brought up the past, Aurelia felt like it was all so far away now. 

She even managed to joke, “Nope, he’s a mutt. Cassian the mutt.” 

Mia’s eyes grew teary as she watched Aurelia laugh. “Babe, you must’ve been really hurting back then, huh?” 

“It’s all in the past now,” Aurelia said. 

She didn’t look back, just kept walking forward, feeling lighter with every step. 

“But my heart still aches for you,” Mia said. 

‘I ache for the scars that don’t hurt anymore, Mia thought. 

Aurelia had no time to get sentimental. She glanced at her watch and said, “If I keep stalling, I’m gonna be late 

for my meeting.” 

“Go, get to your meeting.” Mia said. 

“And you?” Aurelia asked. 

Mia waved the black card with a grin. “Obviously, I’m going on a shopping spree! My foot’s pretty much healed, so walking a bit is no problem. Relax, I’ve got this.” 

Aurelia was really in a rush, so she just quickly reminded Mia about a couple things and hurried back to the office for her meeting. 

Mia didn’t leave the hospital right away. Instead, she doubled back and wandered the halls for a bit. 

Eventually, she figured out which room Tessa was staying in. 

Then she pulled out her phone, hopped onto Twitter with her alt account, and jumped into the trending fireworks thread: [I know where the person in charge of the fireworks event is.] 

‘Trying to find some peace?‘ 

‘No way!‘ Mia thought. 

Inside the hospital room, Tessa was feeling very down. 

She couldn’t understand why just setting off fireworks caused such a stir. 

And she really didn’t get how the whole thing could turn into such a mess. 

She knew the Honoria Capital shareholders were pressuring Cassian, even though he hadn’t told her anything. 

When Kyler called, she just let her phone ring out, not picking up. 

He shot her a text asking how she was, but she just ignored it. 

“Alright, quit beating yourself up. What matters now is whether Cassian’s gonna break off the engagement,” Alina said, trying to snap her out of it. “I just called him. He should be here any minute. Try to calm yourself down.” 

Before Tessa could even reply, Cassian showed up. 

“How are you holding up?” Cassian asked, worry clear in his voice as he walked in. 

Tessa shook her head. “I’m fine, really.” 

Alina let out a sigh. “She’s burning up with a 104–degree fever and still insists she’s fine. Good thing I caught it early. She wouldn’t let me tell you, said you’re already swamped and didn’t want to make things worse for you.” 

“Mom,” Tessa cut her off, not wanting her to go on. After all, Cassian was already overwhelmed. 

Cassian handed her the flowers. “Liam sent these. He’s busy with a business trip, so he didn’t come himself.” 

Tessa’s expression stayed cold. She didn’t even glance at the flowers, just said, “Just pass along my thanks.” 

It had been over thirty hours since everything went down, and Liam hadn’t even bothered to check in on her. 

That just proved he never really saw her as a friend. 

As for the flowers, they were just for show, nothing more. 

Even if he hadn’t been on a business trip, he probably wouldn’t have bothered to come see her anyway. 

But at least Liam bothered to put on a show. Some people, though, never cared about her at all. 

Just thinking about Gideon made Tessa’s eyes go even colder. 

Cassian had barely sat down when his phone started ringing nonstop. 

“Cassian, you should get back to work. I’m really fine,” Tessa said, trying to be considerate. 

“Just focus on getting better. I’ll check in on you after I finish up,” Cassian replied, clearly swamped. 

He shot Alina a quick nod and headed for the door. 

Just as he reached the doorway, Tessa called out, “Cassian.” 

Cassian stopped and turned back to her. “Mm?” 

Tessa clenched her hand on the blanket, digging her nails in. After a long pause, she finally blurted out, “Are we still engaged?” 

Cassian’s answer was firm. “Of course. Don’t worry about it. Just rest up.” 

After he left, Tessa let out a long, relieved sigh. 

Alina sighed too. “Guess Cassian really does care about you.” 

For the first time, it really hit Tessa. She actually mattered to Cassian. 

Her heart finally dropped back where it belonged. 

“I was really worried before, but now it turns out I was stressing for nothing. Benjamin’s another story, though. That could get tricky,” Alina said. 

She’d been hoping Tessa could really prove herself with the Dreamscape project, so maybe Benjamin would actually start to respect her. 

But after this mess, Benjamin was even less likely to pay attention to Tessa. 

“But honestly, don’t let it get to you. As long as Cassian’s on your side, none of that stuff matters. Benjamin’s not in great health anyway. He’s not gonna be around much longer,” Alina added.