Eighteen Again: The CEO's Wife was a Delinquent

Cassidy stares at Adrian for what seems like a long time.

Overflowing with gratitude, she then smiles at him and pulls him in an embrace. He was a bit surprised by how she tugged him towards her out of nowhere. Nonetheless, he happily returned the hug. 

"Thank you. This is wonderful," she told him, grinning.

After expressing her thanks to her husband, she went for her nephews next. All three of them were ecstatic to embrace her back. While Damien and Joshua pulled away a moment later, Hugo continued to cling to her and refused to let go.

"But I missed Aunty! Can I hold onto her for a little bit longer?" he whined when his brothers attempted to scold him.

Cassidy smiles at this, flattered to see how much she means to these kids. She would've just carried Hugo if she could, but since she just got discharged from the hospital, she could only let him hold her hand in the meantime. 

"You can be my escort if you want, Hugo."

"With pleasure, Aunty."       

And with that, the party begins. 

Cassidy is hugged and greeted by everyone else, too. She formally introduces Adrian to her pseudo-siblings who all seem to be quite taken by him. Edward also made acquaintances with them along with Irish and Olivia. 

After all of that is over, Adrian lets his wife go to mingle and catch up with her family. He slips towards the electronics panel and announces, "Now, you all are very lucky to have been granted special access to the Millicent's estate. Let me tell you that this is no ordinary place, and to prove that, we will celebrate Cassidy's recovery with a small trip down memory lane. It appears that my nephews and their special little friend have prepared some photos to showcase, and they will now be displayed on the walls."

"Wait, what? On the walls?" Cassidy echoed, baffled. 

Her husband grins down at her before flipping a switch on the electronics panel. That's when the walls spring to life, emitting light and displaying images. There are lots of photos of Cassidy with her old and new family.

There's her at the beach, at the arcade, and at the side of the road with her motorcycle. Going by how happy she looked in each one of them, it was noticeable that all of her pictures as an adult were only taken recently. 

Then, there were those when she's younger. She thought for sure that her pictures with her pseudo-siblings were burned in the fire, so she was astonished to see that they were able to revive some of them. It shows just how much they worked hard to prepare all of these. 

Like her, the guests are all in awe at the sight of the moving pictures that were blown up to fill the walls. 'It's Millicent's technology,' Adrian thought proudly to himself. It's a kind of tech that allows the projection of images onto a surface without the need for an external source.

"It's like the walls are TVs!" Hugo exclaimed enthusiastically from beside Cassidy. He then rushes over to Adrian and waddles up to him, tugging on his pants and chirping, "It's so cool, Uncle Bossman! Can you show me what button you pressed? How does it light up like that?"

Adrian laughs and entertains Hugo. Cassidy notices this and smiles.

Later, when Bryan brings out the cake, Adrian sits by the piano at the center of the room and begins playing. Once more, Cassidy is blown away by yet another surprise. She can hear Asher talking with Charles and Edward, telling them how he's such a show-off and everything.

"I thought we're supposed to take the spotlight here? Who brought that damn piano?" 

Adrian plays a few pieces on the piano while everyone piles heaps of cake onto their plates - some coming up to sit next to him and watch him play. Cassidy also came eventually after finishing her fifth round of chocolate cake.

"You actually know how to play…?" she asked, and he nodded.

"That's cool!" 

She then sits next to him and asks him to play one more. He laughs, stretching his fingers just for show. 

"Alright. But after this, Asher apparently got a playlist of your favorite songs to blast through the speakers."

His hands fall on the keys then, and he plays a soft, romantic melody. She watches him, enchanted. When the last note is hit, he smiles at her before giving Asher their go-signal.

The beat to a song vibrates through the whole building, and Cassidy is swept away by her enthusiastic nephews before she has a chance to tell Adrian what a magnificent pianist he is.

---

The sun soon sets, and the party is in full swing.

The adults talk by the lounge while the children dance and play in the middle of a makeshift space for a dancefloor. Damien sits at the corner near the piano, contented to see everyone having fun. A song ends, and another one begins. Then, he hears a certain someone's excited squeal from across the room. 

Damien watches, amused, as Aira pushes past the crowd to make her way to him. With her hand stretched out, she offered, "Dance with me, Damien!"

"Oh, no, I'm not so good at-"

But she has already grabbed his hand. She then pulls him out of his chair and onto the dance floor. 

"You just have to sway! Like this!"

He blushes when she starts swaying her hips to the beat of the music. Her hands grasp his and lift them up so she could spin around in his arms. 

"You see? Easy."

From across the floor, Joshua and Hugo are snickering at them. But Aira and Damien take no heed.

"I-I don't think I can do it."

He has never danced such a dance before. Dancing is a freeing activity - one meant for letting loose and expressing oneself. He is not used to any of those things, so he does not know how to dance, and with her in front of him, encouraging him, his muscles feel stiff while his feet seem permanently glued to the floor.

"This is my favorite song!" she enthused, her beaming smile glowing under the warm, mellow lights. 

Seeing Damien's hesitant look, she twirls away from him, just a little out of reach, and holds out her hand. Then, Aira begins singing - and so he does.

Dancing with her is thrilling, he soon learns. She's such a huge ball of energy – like his aunt, never seeming to tire or run out of fuel. As she spins in and out of his personal space, guiding his whole body to the rhythm of the music, he is entranced, and he feels himself falling deeper and deeper into a hole.

And that's fine with Damien. 

He wants to hit rock bottom.

His shoulders relax a little more, and his feet take wider steps. The two of them dance around each other. It seems the whole room has melted away. Sweat starts beading down his forehead, dripping past his neck. He laughs a little when his feet wobble and he nearly trips. Her arms are always there, though, steadying him, keeping him moving, never letting him fall. 

He then grins down at Aira - at the way she's never so far from his embrace, and dancing with her feels like losing himself to the wind. It feels like what Damien felt before when he'd let his mind rest and his soul swing free in the midst of a storm.

The night wears on and on. Suddenly, he becomes so aware of the lights, of the music, and of Aira who still hasn't run out of energy - who still hasn't grown tired of leading him through the songs. And then, he's struck. 

So struck by the notion that Damien really does like this girl and he wants to be with her. 

THIS CHAPTER UPLOAD FIRST AT NOVELBIN.COM