The Unwanted Bride: Claimed by the Billionaire - Chapter 43: Chapter 43

Cassie’s Pov
Travous’s voice brought me out of my thoughts. “Pardon my reaction, Cassie. I was shocked because we thought he was never going to settle down. Thank you for making him realize marriage can be such a beautiful thing. And it’s good to meet you.” He stretched out a hand to me and I smiled, returning the shake.
“Happy Birthady! And good to meet you too.”
“Thank you. You look gorgeous by the way.” He said to me, then turned to Shawn. “Aren’t you a lucky thing?”
“Thank you,” I responded with a nervous chuckle, finding it hard to believe a mogul was complimenting me.
“I know I am. That’s why I’m not going to let anyone take her away from me.”
“I should probably introduce her to Mary,” Travous said, then his eyes went searching the crowd for the person bearing that name. Shawn leaned close to me and stole a kiss from me. My eyes went wide.
“We are in the public,” I said looking at his lips for any trace of evidence but there was none.
He smiled. “So?”
“Be good!” I warned.
“I will think about it.”
A woman in a knee-length white dress finally approached us. “Shawn darling!”
Shawn let go of me to return her hug. “Oh, is she….?” Her smile got bigger when she sighted me. She pulled away from the hug with Shawn. Shawn nodded then she initiated a hug with me. Despite how confused I was, I returned the hug along with a polite smile.
“Oh my, you are even more beautiful than I imagined you to be.” I haven’t met Mary before but I promise you that her happiness was contagious, her hug was warm, it gave me that motherly feeling and that caused my eyes to get itchy with tears.
But why was she hugging me with so much love?
“Am I missing something?” Travous stared in between Shawn and his wife with creased brows.
“Oh, Shawn sent a massive gift for you on behalf of himself and his wife. I was the happiest when I read the note and I couldn’t be happier that he brought her to your party.” Mary said to her husband after pulling away from the hug. She didn’t let go of my hand.
“That’s better. I was about to get mad at you for not informing me about the marriage.”
Mary chuckled. “We need to respect people’s privacy. Everyone likes to do things their own way.”
“You are so pretty. Thank you for making our boy believe in love again.” Mary said to me.
Believe in love again? Did his ex brek his heart.
“Thank you.” I smiled, not knowing what else to say.
“I need to go and welcome some of my friends. Feel free to have whatever you want. I will be right back to check up on you.” Mary said. She gave my hand a light squeeze, then excused herself.
A waiter was passing with glasses of champagne. Shawn stopped him, reached for two glasses, then handed me one.
“If you are chanced, I would like to introduce you to my business partners from Italy.” Travous voiced out amidst the soft music playing in the background.
Shawn nodded, and then he turned to me. “Don’t be afraid, I’ll be right back. Text me if you need me.” He whispered in my ear, stole a kiss from me then went with Travous.
My eyes met with some ladies seated opposite where I stood. The one in the middle smiled at me while the other two looked pissed. I had no idea why so I decided to ignore.
“I hope Shawn doesn’t take long,” I mumbled, taking a seat. It was a table of four chairs. I occupy myself with my drink while staring randomly at people until I got distracted.
“I had to stare countless times just to ensure that it’s you.”
“Kelvin!” I called out his name in relief. I was almost going crazy staying alone and managing looks from people.
“I see that someone is happy to see me.” He chuckled, then occupied the chair beside me.
Despite me being seated, he took a glance at me from head to toe.
“What? Do I have something on my dress?” I asked, wondering if that was why those ladies wouldn’t stop looking at me from earlier.
He scoffed, “My brother really hit the jackpot.”
I arched my brow at Kelvin.
“You look breathtaking.”
My cheeks started to heat up. “Not you too!” I mumbled, trying to hide my blush.
“Oh, I guess a lot of people have told you that. Then why are you finding it so hard to believe?”
I shrugged, then took a sip of my champagne.
“You’ve got what other women would kill for. You don’t have to be humble about it. Especially in an event like this. I’m sure you’ve been getting strange looks.”
I sighed. “You have no idea.”
“Shawn told me your Dad would be here but I had no idea I would be seeing you tonight. Is Kayla going to come too?” I asked, even though I knew the answer. She already made it clear to me that she wasn’t a fan of events like this.
“Kay would rather shoot me in the head than be here with us. Dad should be here soon.”
“Please don’t tell me Shawn abandoned you here?”
I shook my head. “Don Travous wants to introduce him to his partners from Italy. He said he would be right back.”
“You made the right decision staying back here.”
I chuckled, “Why?”
“Those business talks can be boring.”
“Isn’t that your calling too?”
Kelvin shook his head, “Not really.”
“Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. I just felt you must be involved in the family business.”
“You’ve got nothing to be sorry about. You are family so you are entitled to all the tea.” He grinned.
I chuckled, sitting my almost empty glass of Champagne on the table. “Stop making it sound like we are gossiping.”
“Yeah, we can. Especially if it’s about my asshole brother.”
I frowned, “Don’t call him that.”
“Okay……..” He stared at me suspiciously. “The last time I saw you, you wanted to murder him but here you are defending him.” Kelvin teased.
Yeah, things have changed since then I think but I wasn’t going to say that out loud to him. I could feel my cheeks burning up once more and I tried to hide my blush. “Yeah, Shawn is an asshole but I am the only one entitled to call him that. Not you.”
“Ohhhhh! Possessive much hun!” Kev teased.
“Not really,” I mumbled, not knowing exactly what to say.
“I have no idea what the hell has happened over the past few days but it feels so good to see you without a dangerous look. I have no idea what Shawn has been doing but I would tell him to keep up the good work.”
“No. Don’t say anything to him.” I mumbled immediately. Yeah, the craziness between Shawn and I had decreased in the past few days but I didn’t want to jump to a conclusion yet.
“It’s fine. I won’t say anything to him. But I’m glad to see you smile.”
“What’s there not to smile about? The drink is good and I’m seated beside someone I’m familiar with.”
“I think we both know what we are talking about but it’s fine. I can’t wait for Tessa to be here. I think you both will get along well.”
I smiled. I have never felt like a part of my own family but the love shown to me by Shawn and his people was overwhelming. They saw me as part of their family while I was still trying to adjust to my reality.
“Your girl?”
Kelvin nodded. She will text me when she’s outside.”
“Do you want me to get you something to eat?” He asked. I was about to respond when a voice came through.
“You bitch!!!! What the hell are you doing here?”