"Hello, my Rose."
Lilian froze at the door, her hand still on the knob. Those words, spoken in that smooth, confident voice, sent ice through her veins.
She firstly thought she wasn't seeing clearly but there she was: Cassandra Drayke, standing on her doorstep like she belonged there with a sweet smile on her lips, dressed in an expensive green suit that anybody would agree fitted her perfectly.
Fear gripped Lilian's chest for a moment. The instinct to cower like before, to bow her head and apologize for merely existing surged through her like muscle memory.
But then she remembered.
"To hell with the Drayke's family and their wealth and power!" A scoff escaped her lips as she cussed inwardly.
She wasn't that powerless maid anymore. She wasn't that girl who could be beaten and discarded. This body was different, this life was different.
And Cassandra didn't know who she really was. With those thoughts: Lilian snapped, her voice sharp enough to cut through anything;
"What are you doing here?"
Cassandra's eyes blinked, clearly taken aback by the hostility but her confidence didn't waver. Instead, the smile on her lips grew bigger, sweeter.
"I came to see you. You know, to talk about what happened at the hotel. You seemed terrified and ran off before we could talk." She said then took a step closer.
Lilian stood a step back instinctively, although her chin was lifted defiantly.
"You look ravishing..." Cassandra blurted out, her voice husky and low as her eyes wandered from Lilian's face down to her chest.
The woman had just gotten out of the shower and answered the door in nothing but a towel, her hair still dripping wet. She hadn't expected anyone, especially not this monster from her past.
But Cassandra wasn't looking at her like a monster would. Her eyes had darkened, pupils dilating as she moved even closer, her nose flaring slightly as she inhaled deeply.
"You smell like vanilla and strawberry... but sweeter now, fresh from the shower..." Cassandra's voice dropped lower, sounding rough.
As she said those words, Lilian could slightly feel a tug on her heart but her human's mind didn't understand that was the mate bond calling out to her.
The pull, however was strong as her mind and soul were blinded by hatred.
"Excuse me?" Lilian scrunched up her face in disgust.
"Those soft lips look succulent... Inviting... Kiss her already, you idiot!" Cassandra's wolf was impatient, jumping around in her head, wanting nothing other than getting intimate with their mate and properly claiming her this time.
Cassandra couldn't fight this temptation. She wanted to taste those lips again, make her scream her name however there was a but;
"Keep quiet! We're both having a hard time controlling the urge. Have you forgotten she's a human? I can't just grab her and..." Cassandra was inwardly telling her wolf why she was hesitant but Lilian's voice cut through her thoughts.
"Get out of my sight!" Lilian hissed, breaking whatever spell had been weaving between them.
She moved to slam the door but Cassandra's hand shot out, holding it open with inhuman strength.
"Wait! Tell me, did I do something wrong that night? I need to understand why..." She was saying but Lilian cut her off angrily.
"Listen carefully, whatever business you had with Rose Bennett no longer stands. Because the Rose Bennett you knew is no longer here." Lilian snapped at her, believing Cassandra had known and was close with the original Rose Bennett.
Cassandra's brows furrowed with confusion.
"What are you talking about? Hey, it seems there's a misunderstanding, my Rose..." Again, Cassandra wasn't allowed to finish her sentence.
"The Rose Bennett you're looking at now loathes you. So get lost!" Lilian's eyes blazed with uncontained fury.
Before Cassandra could respond, Lilian shoved her backward with surprising force and slammed the door shut.
Cassandra stood there, stunned, staring at the closed door like it had personally betrayed her.
"What the hell just happened?" She breathed out.
"You must have done something to her! Our mate hates us! She hates us and it's your fault!" Her wolf snarled inside her mind.
"How is this my fault?" Cassandra shot back internally, her hands clenching into fists.
"This is a woman I didn't even know until two nights ago at that club! How could I have possibly wronged her before that?"
"Then why does she look at you like you killed her family?" The wolf demanded.
Cassandra shook her head, wanting to argue further but her phone buzzed violently in her pocket. She yanked it out, seeing Lawrence's name flashing on the screen, she exhaled sharply before accepting the call.
"Speak!"
Cassandra listened for some seconds as Lawrence spoke from the other end, before she responded;
"And why are they still breathing the same air as we?" Cassandra's voice dropped to a deadly growl that made even Lawrence pause on the other end.
"Shouldn't they be buried six feet under by now?"
"I see you don't know what you are doing! I'm on my way to get the job done myself since you aren't capable!" She declared sharply then ended the call with a vicious jab of her finger.
Afterwards, she turned on her heel, heading back to her car.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Inside the house, Lilian had pressed herself against the door, her ear close to the wood.
She had heard everything Cassandra had said on phone.
Her chest heaved up and down as she gasped, her hands trembling slightly.
"The Cassandra Drayke I knew is still the same. Still ordering deaths like she is ordering coffee, still treating lives like they are disposable." She whispered to herself, her voice hollow.
A flicker of fear tried to surface but Lilian crushed it down ruthlessly.
She had died once already. What was there left to be afraid of? She shook her head sharply as if to shake off the fear.
"Even if I can't destroy her alone..." Lilian's mind began working, calculating, planning.
"I will join forces with her enemies. I will use every single person who wants her gone. Anything just to destroy her."
Her lips curved into a cold smile at that settlement.
"First thing: find an enemy of Cassandra Drayke."
She nodded to herself, already feeling the satisfaction of her genius plan taking shape.
~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, back outside, Cassandra's car roared to life as she drove out of the quiet neighborhood, her knuckles tightening on the steering wheel.
The rage inside her was building, mixing with the frustration of being rejected by her mate and the fury at the information that her personal assistant, Lawrence had given her.
"Are you ready to shed some blood today?" She asked her wolf, her voice eerily calm.
Her eyes flashed red in the rearview mirror as a predatory smirk spread across her face.
"Always." The wolf purred with dark satisfaction.
The morning sun hadn't even fully risen yet, but Cassandra Drayke was already driving toward violence.