Destroyer

22

Four years later

"Daddy!" Jason sighed and turned to his other side, pretending to sleep and trying to hide his smile. "Dad, wake up, we'll be late!" he muttered something, continuing to tease his daughter who was already bouncing on his shoulders. "C'mon, Dad!" her enthusiastic voice echoed in the great bedroom.

"Daddy!" his daughter sat on his waist and pulled the covers hard. "Okay, okay" Jason rolled over on his back, hugged his daughter and started tickling her. "Come on dad, we're going to be late" she giggled and started rolling on the bed, trying to get away from her father's tickling attack. "I'm up, I'm up, here I am awake" he sat up in bed and stretched, yawning and looking at the clock.

"Casey, princess, it's 5:30 in the morning!" he looked at her sharply and she blinked, her eyes filled with tears and he immediately regretted his tone. "Sorry princess, come here" she climbed into his lap and he hugged her tightly. "You've become a real actress, you know?" he teased her and she smiled. His heart skipped a beat like it always did when Casey smiled, she showed so much to Cassidy.

"Can we have pancakes for breakfast?" Jason snapped out of his memories and smiled. "Of course, princess, we have enough time" he winked at her and got up from the bed without letting go of his daughter. "And maybe mom's favorites?" Jason stopped for a moment and brushed back his daughter's light brown hair, kissing her forehead. "Of course, princess" he replied, trying not to let Casey notice the pain in his voice.

"So" he placed his daughter on the kitchen counter and began to pull out the pancake ingredients as she kicked her feet in the air and hummed a nursery rhyme that Jason used to hum to her before falling asleep as a baby. "Daddy?" he turned slightly and grunted. "Do you think mom would like my new dress?" his hands froze in mid-motion and his whole body stiffened. "I'm sure she'd fall in love with her, princess" he murmured and turned away again, starting the pancake mix so his daughter wouldn't see the pain that always crossed his face at the mention of Cassidy.

"Daddy?" he grunted again, unable to trust his voice. "Will you help me down?" he turned and looked at her questioningly. "I want to start getting ready for the first day of school while you make breakfast" Casey explained and he smiled at her enthusiasm, helping her down and looking after her as she ran from the kitchen to her room.Jason began mixing the ingredients, trying to suppress the pain and the urge to break down and cry.

Casey Mallory was born on October 29, ten days after Cassidy was shot and fell into a coma. Jason refused to give up and stayed strong for his daughter. After Anthony survived, Jason made sure that he disappeared from the country and their lives, alive, despite everything he had done to them. It was his gift to his daughter's grandfather, as well as Jason's punishment for not taking action against his father before he got to Cassidy and his daughter.

Jason sold the apartment, he didn't want anything to remind him of the moment he lost the love of his life, nor did he want his daughter to live between walls, between which she was deprived of a mother's love, just because her grandfather never swallowed his jealousy. In the absence of Anthony's poisonous presence, Jason appointed a deputy general manager so that he could stay at home with his newborn daughter, although he did not fail to keep an eye on the company and all its dealings. Leyla sent him full reports of everything every day.

The next thing Jason did was to give up everything illegal. That was the hard part, but somehow he managed it, and even though he now had to be in a mansion, constantly surrounded by heavy security and his daughter moving around with bodyguards, he didn't regret it for a second. He was sure Cassidy would be proud of his decision. Casey deserved a peaceful life too, and his dark dealings weren't going to give her that.

So with the help of Maya and Peter, who are now married and have a two-year-old daughter, as well as Christina and Trevor, their son Damon had branded Casey as his future wife, something Jason was still swallowing, he was able to raise Casey and today was her first day at school. He wasn't sure exactly how he should feel about this, it was hard for him that Casey wouldn't be with him all day, but he was proud of her and her desire to follow in her mother's footsteps and study to be a designer.