Frankly My Dear, All's Fair in Love and War

22. Queen Dethroned

The photo didn't last 24 hours, which mean Cassie was safe. At least, for now.

Sometimes, her mind rewinded the words Tyra had whispered to her and she shuddered. 'But I'm going to marry him and you will not get in my way.'

Cassie knew an empty threat when she heard one, but Tyra wasn't trying to threaten her. She was willing to fight tooth and nail for that.

And that was why she didn't know why this news came into her timeline.

'The Royal Couple Breaks it Off!'

The news was stamped at 23:30, and Cassie only took notice the next morning. It unnerved her. Neither Tyra or Desmond had contacted her, which only made it worse. She had a long sleep and she never felt good whenever her sleep lasted longer than the minimum five hours. She always felt like she was missing on something.

The dread engulfed her. Cassie put on one of her unaltered uniforms, because she had a feeling that there would be no good on appearing flashy today. She checked her phone one more time. Still no messages, even from Lucas. She skipped breakfast and called her chaffeur.

And that's when her chest dropped.

Because Tyra's MINI was in front of her gate.

The queen herself was inside, but she rolled the window down when she spotted her. Tyra's make up looked like it was put in a hurry, and she thanked the universe for that last unaltered uniform. She tried to put a spring on her step as she approached Tyra.

"Hey," she smiled.

Tyra didn't smile. She never did smile much whenever there wasn't an audience. "Get in."

Five minutes they sat side by side, and not a single words between them, which proved that there something horribly wrong had happened in the background. Tyra was quiet, but she wasn't this quiet. She was bossy and she was never out of words. Cassie snuck a glance towards the other girl; her eyes were slightly puffy and there was a slight tremor on her fingers.

She nearly offered to drive when Tyra finally spoke. "It's not because of that photo."

She didn't provide context, but Cassie didn't want to play dumb. She knew what Tyra meant. The breakup happened and Cassie had nothing to do with it.

"He just didn't want me anymore," Tyra added, quietly.

Cassie kept her eyes strictly on the road, because she knew that Tyra wouldn't want to be seen right now. It was common courtesy. Tyra had put on and maintained such a strong image for years, she wouldn't like having a witness to a weak moment.

"Don't say sorry," Tyra said. "I'll fucking kill you if you do."

"Never crossed my mind," Cassie said in her most even voice.

"He lets me control how the news spread. I can say whatever I want regarding why it happened. We agreed that I'm the one doing the dumping. Fucking bastard," Tyra hissed. "He thinks he's such a gentleman for doing that."

"So yeah, I decided I dump him because he lets you grope him. There was something going on, or about to go on, between you two." She said. "That's what people are going to know."

Cassie still contemplated how she was going to react to this. Would a mock-concern insult Tyra? Or maybe she was expecting some sympathy? No, scratch that. She would bite her head off if Cassie say as little as 'are you okay?'.

Still, she needed to know if she would be safe.

"Are your friends-"

"Desmond breaks up with girls all the time. Nobody is going to kill you, if that's what you're worried about."