Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 328: Witnesses

Chapter 328: Witnesses

Cassandra Haven appreciated honest people. They were hard to come by. The same could not be said about her relationship with the truth. Cassandra knew that it made no sense, but she could not help it.

As much as she loved honesty. Cassandra hated the truth because the truth was a horrible, unforgiving thing, and it had this nasty habit of always coming out no matter how much time you spent trying to keep your secrets buried. Trying to make sure that the most painful moments in your life stayed in your past by not talking about them, or acknowledging them in any way.

That was currently what was happening to Cassandra, and she wanted to be anywhere but in that restaurant looking at her son and at Emily Molson.

"They were murdered weren’t they?" Her son had just said. Heart clenching in pain, Cassandra wanted to kick herself for raising such an intelligent and perceptive young man.

She and Jane had been dancing around the issue. But he had gotten straight to the point. Saying the words that Cassandra had been actively avoiding for years now. It was not a question that Cassandra could answer without a bit of liquid courage in her.

So she reached for the bottle of wine in the middle of the table and opened it, pouring for herself and for Jane. That done, Cassandra picked up her own glass and took a huge gulp. Her un-ladylike behavior, earning her a raised brow from her son. But she did not care. Lifting the glass and drinking some more wine. She put it down and when she spoke, she chose her words carefully.

It might have been old news to her and Jane. But this would be the first time that their children were hearing this, so she had to be tactful.

"Officially it was an accident, a car accident. Your father was driving, and the car went over the bridge and into the waters below,"

"We never found out any other details. Things like when the two of them had met, or how they came to be in the car together at that exact moment. But at the end of the day they died together,"

Reaching for her wine the same time that Jane did, the two of them finished off their glasses and then put them down. Going back to staring at their children.

"Everything that you have just described, sounds like an ordinary car accident that could happen to anyone. But judging from your reactions when Derek asked if our dads had been murdered, there’s more to the story,"

"What made the two of you believe that, it was due to foul play?Instead of just a normal accident?" Emily’s voice was wavering but she still managed to get her point across, leaning heavily on Derek. Her son’s arm thrown over her shoulders, his hand brushing against the side of her arm repeatedly, like he was using her as an anchor.

"My Jasper had always been a careful driver, and even on the night of the accident, the witnesses said that he was not going too fast. Not only that, the toxicology report came back showing that he had been sober. But at the scene of the accident, there were skid marks, not from him, but from another car,"

"The police investigating it at the time had theorized that maybe somebody had come driving towards them and then flared their lights at the last instant. Blinding your dad briefly, causing him to lose control of the car, and crash into the bridge,"

"The police had tried questioning the witnesses back then. But they had been unable to come up with anything concrete. By then news of my Jasper’s death had spread, and people wanted answers,"

"If I had said that the CEO of Haven Group died in a car accident. That it looked to be a possible homicide, the press would have had a field day. Not only that, I also had Haven Group to think of. People depended on your father for guidance, and with him gone, I knew that I had to take his place,"

"Not only that, I also had you to think about. So lying about your father’s exact cause of death was the most logical choice. And that was what I did. And it is a decision that I have never regretted,"

Cassandra said. For a moment there was silence, and then Derek spoke, his voice had been reduced to a cold hiss.

"Do you mean to tell me that, my father, your husband, died and you were more worried about the company, and what people would think. You put your reputation above finding out what had happened to the man that you claim was the love of your life,"

His rage was not at all misplaced. It was something that Cassandra had thought of herself many times over the years. It was only right that her son think of her the same way as well.

" Have you no shame, mother? How could you choose material things over father? How could you-"

"Stop it!" Derek’s tirade was cut off by Jane’s authoritative command.

"Do not speak to your mother that way. You were not there. You do not understand what she went through. Have you not wondered why we only knew each other by our first names despite the fact that we could have easily asked each other’s last names?" Jane said. And Derek cooled down somewhat at that. Some of his rage leaving him as he latched on to the anomaly.

"We did not share our last names because we did not have time to. We were too busy trying to help the police question the witnesses. And by the time that all was said and done,"

"We cut off the tiny thread that had bound our fates together, because we realized that we would only bring each other pain if we stayed in contact. So do not talk to your mother like that. You do not know the sacrifices that she made," Jane admonished.

"I apologize mother," He said, then he went silent, and Emily spoke up.

"You said that there were witnesses back then. The case of our father’s deaths has been cold a long time. Reopening it now will not cause as much damage as it would have in the past,"

"Why don’t we do it now? Focus all of our attention on the witnesses. Get them to crack and tell us what they know," Emily said.

"Yes, Emily is right. Let us reopen this case and solve it. We cannot let this drag on," Derek voiced his agreement, and Cassandra’s heart broke.

"That will not be possible Derek. We tried to question the witnesses back then but it did not yield any results, and it won’t now,"

"Why? Are they dead?" Derek asked and Cassandra shook her head.

"No,"

"Good. If they are still alive then they can be questioned. If we have to beat the truth out of them, then we will do it," Jane tried to curb his enthusiasm.

"Listen to your mother Derek. Questioning the witnesses will not bring you any answers,"

"Why not?" Emily asked and next to Cassandra, Jane let out a shaky breath.

"Because we are looking at the witnesses right now. Our husbands did not just die together in a car accident. They were actually in a car accident with the two of you. You were the only survivors, and the only witnesses. You just don’t remember it,"