Done Hiding as Your Backup Plaything I'm Shining Golden as a Queen - Chapter 138: Chapter 138

Mara hung up the phone and headed straight to the hospital.
The wound on her forehead took three stitches, and the doctor warned her to keep it dry.
She nodded numbly, and as she walked out of the examination room, she spotted Cassian's Maybach parked not far from the hospital entrance.
The window was half-open, and Juliette was leaning against his shoulder, crying like a broken doll.
"Cassian, I was so wrong back then..." Her voice was choked with sobs. "I don't expect you to forgive me, but I had my reasons for leaving. My parents wouldn't let us be together—they forced me abroad, even took my phone away. It's not that I didn't want to find you..."
Cassian sat in silence, his profile cold and hard.
Mara stood at a distance, her feet feeling nailed to the ground.
"Then why are you back now?" Cassian finally spoke, his voice low.
Juliette lifted her face, tears streaming down her cheeks: "Because I could never forget you... I know you have Mara now, and I'm not asking for anything else. Just... please don't make me leave. Let me watch you from afar, that's all I need..."
Standing in the shadows, Mara watched as Cassian stayed silent for a long time before finally reaching out to wipe away Juliette's tears.
"I don't blame you," he said. "As for Mara... I just think of her as a sister. It's not what you think."
Juliette's eyes lit up, her tears turning to laughter: "Really?"
Cassian nodded.
Juliette burst into tears of joy, throwing herself into his arms again.
Mara let out a bitter laugh, turned around, and walked straight to the immigration office.
At the immigration office, the clerk handed her a form: "Your visa will be ready in two weeks."
Mara thanked him, and by the time she walked out, it was already dark.
She returned to Cassian's villa.
For the past three years, she'd lived here to take care of him more easily.
Once, she'd naively thought of this place as home. Her carefully chosen slippers still sat by the entrance, her succulents decorated the living room, and her handwritten "stomach-friendly recipes" were still taped to the kitchen wall.
Now, she had to erase these traces with her own hands.
While packing, she found a photo buried at the bottom of a drawer.
It was taken the day Cassian successfully completed his rehabilitation. He was actually smiling at the camera for once, and she stood beside him, her eyes curved like crescent moons from grinning so hard.
The edges of the photo had yellowed from being handled so many times.
Mara stared at the photo for a long while, then gently tossed it into the trash.
Some dreams were long overdue for waking up.
The next morning, Cassian called.
"I forgot my stomach medicine. Can you bring it to the office?" His voice was husky from sleep, his tone so natural it was as if nothing had happened the night before.
Mara was silent for two seconds: "Okay."
When she arrived at the company, the elevator doors opened just as Juliette was stepping out with an elegant food container.
"What a coincidence!" Juliette smiled brightly. "I brought Cassian lunch. Want to come up together?"
Mara said nothing and followed her into the office.
Cassian was reviewing documents. Seeing them enter together, his eyebrows rose slightly: "How'd you two end up coming together?"
"We ran into each other downstairs." Juliette smiled as she opened the food container, and the rich, smoky aroma immediately filled the air. "I made your favorite—buffalo wings!"
Mara's face went pale: "He has stomach problems. He can't eat spicy food."
Cassian glanced at her and picked up his fork: "Once in a while won't hurt."
He grabbed a wing slathered in bright red sauce and ate it without changing expression.
Mara gripped the stomach medicine in her bag so tightly her knuckles went white.
Soon enough, a thin layer of sweat appeared on Cassian's forehead, and his fingers holding the pen began to tremble slightly.
"Cassian? Are you feeling okay?" Juliette asked with concern.
"I'm fine." Cassian forced a smile. "I still have work to do. You two should head back."
Mara looked at him deeply, quietly placed the medicine on his desk, and left.
Downstairs, Mara couldn't help herself: "He has serious stomach problems. Maybe be more careful with the food next time."
Juliette suddenly laughed: "Mara, do you still not understand your place?"
"To Cassian, you're just a slightly special caregiver. That's why you need to remember all these details. But I'm different—he loves me, so I don't need to worry about any of that."
She leaned closer, her red lips curving upward: "Even if I gave him poison, he'd swallow it. Get it?"
Mara's fingertips trembled, her heart feeling like it was being torn apart.
She knew Juliette wasn't wrong.
It had taken her three years just to get Cassian to look at her twice.
And Juliette didn't have to do anything—he'd willingly swallow poison for her.