Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 199: Weakness Detected

Chapter 199: Weakness Detected

Say what you would about Cassandra Haven. And she knew for a fact that a lot of people had a lot of things to say about her. Some called her the best mother. That one went to Derek. Some called her a fierce businesswoman. That one was for the people that she had worked with. Not only in the past, but also recently.

Even if she was no longer as involved in that side of things as she used to be, her business skills were still as sharp as ever.

Along with the praises. There were also many, less than polite things that she was called.

Others called her a venomous snake of a witch, who should have been stoned or burned at the stake. Some even said that she should be returned to the dark ages where she belonged. That one was how her brother-in-law described her. But since Cassandra made it a point, to not take anything that Sebastian Haven said seriously.

She was not bothered by that. Why would she be bothered by the opinion of a low-life worm? But that was not the point. The point was that many different people described her in a lot of varying ways.

But in all of the descriptions that she had gotten from other people. Cassandra Haven had never once in her life been called slow on the uptake, or not the brightest bulb in the box or not the sharpest tool in the shed.

No one had ever called her stupid before. And that was for one very simple reason.

Cassandra Haven was not stupid.

In fact, she was quite the opposite of stupid. She was a very intelligent woman. And that was not her just being full of herself, and thinking that just because she came from money. That made her smarter than other people or better than them.

No, Cassandra really was intelligent. Her IQ was through the roof. And not only that, she also had emotional intelligence. One had to be a lot of things as a woman in order to survive in the society that she lived in.

So her intelligence had been something that Cassandra had relied on greatly over the years. She had always made sure to keep her mind sharp. To make sure that very little ever managed to catch her off guard. After all, in the world that she lived in, if you were caught off guard, then you were in serious trouble.

Rich people, especially rich people from old money were very cutthroat. They did not do well with seeing weakness in somebody. Weakness had to be exploited immediately because if you did not, such an opportunity might never show up again. So Cassandra was always looking out for weakness.

Not only in herself( so that she could take it out) but in others as well. And that others included her son. But Derek, unlike other people, was lucky. Whenever Cassandra was looking for weaknesses in his armor, and she found them. Her instinct was not to attack him.

To make sure that he went down and went down as hard as possible.

Instead, whenever Cassandra saw weaknesses in her son that could be used against him by a potential enemy. Her instinct was to protect. She remembered the first time when Derek had gone off to university.

When the semester had ended. He had come home with a girl, his eyes starstruck and full of love. Her son had really thought that his brief fling with that girl had a chance of going anywhere. He would never know, but Cassandra, within a day of the couple having arrived at the manor had caught the girl lifting up plates and looking beneath them. Clearly trying to see if they were expensive. Just that small incident had been enough for Cassandra to read the girl’s character and act swiftly. The next day, the little harlot had been packing her things and leaving.

Derek had been upset with his mother at first. But then when within a week the girl had moved on to the next heir. Her son had come to her with an apology and a thank you. Both which Cassandra had graciously accepted. She was a mother after all. It was her job to spot such things.

After that, Derek had not really shown much interest in dating. In fact he had not even shown much interest in any girl, now that Cassandra thought of it. But that did not bother her. She knew that when the time came, her son would settle down and produce an heir.

She was really aching for grand babies, but she was not going to rush him.

But the grandbabies were not the cause of Cassandra’s sudden worry over her son. Something was different about Derek. At first, Cassandra had tried to ignore it. After all, all of the changes that she had been noticing had been positive.

The dark lines that her son often tried to hide had been gone. Cassandra had long been of the opinion that Derek worked too hard. That he got too little sleep focusing on finishing work projects, and those lines had been a sign of it. But Derek had always assured her that he was taking care of himself.

So when the lines had disappeared, she had taken it to mean that he had finally actually started taking care of himself, when it came to get him more sleep, instead of just saying the words and not going through with it.

Then she had noticed things like his appetite improving, and also the way he seemed to move with more confidence.

His steps, more grounded and less cautious. Almost like somebody who had been moving around with a lot of pain who was suddenly free from it all. Those had been good changes, and so Cassandra had not tried to find the source. The little sweep she had done at his penthouse had not been in depth, so it did not count. What ever it was that Derek had been struggling with, it was clearly something that Derek had under control.

But it seemed that she had made a mistake in not digging further. The first time that her suspicions had started to go through the roof. Derek had blown her off. She had called him on Thursday night, asking him to come spend Friday night at the manor so that the two of them could catch up.

But he had flat out refused, telling her no. He had cited work as a reason, and Cassandra had let it go. But then the next time, he had come to the manor on Tuesday.

And then on Wednesday he had left without saying goodbye.

His reason, the one that he gave over the phone, being that he was going out for the night. But when Cassandra had used her contacts to check, there had been nothing. No one had seen him going into any of the exclusive clubs in the city.

That had been weeks ago, and now it was Thursday evening. And rather than spending the night at the manor like Cassandra had expected her son would do, he was leaving again. As she stood on one of the balconies, watching the lights of Derek’s car fade into the distance.

The older woman narrowed her eyes. Something was going on, and whatever it was she had to figure it out. The longer she stayed in the dark the more trouble it was likely to cause. If it was nothing to worry about. Then she would back off, no problem.

But if it was something that could be taken as a weakness in her son and exploited. Then she needed to find it and end it quick.

She would not let her son be caught in a trap.

This chapter is updated by freew(e)bnovel.(c)om