Tempting my Billionaire

Through Old Memories

★Nathan★

It had been almost two weeks since I brought pizza to Cassandra’s office, and she had been careful ever since. Not distant exactly, but cautious, like she was rebuilding the space between us that I had unknowingly stepped across. At first, I told myself it didn’t bother me. That we were colleagues, nothing more. But the truth was, I noticed everything she did. The small things most people would have missed. The way she tapped her pen when she was thinking, the quiet sighs when she thought no one was listening, and the calm determination that made her impossible to ignore. And every time she looked at me, even for a moment, I felt something shift. I needed to understand it.

I wanted to know more.

And after another long week of meetings, deadlines, and late nights at the office, I found myself driving home with that thought still circling in my head. The city lights blurred across the windshield as I turned down the familiar road that led to my parents’ estate. My mother was in the kitchen when I arrived, arranging flowers in a vase.

“Nathan,” she said brightly when she saw me. “What a lovely surprise,”

“Surprise,” I said as I set my keys on the counter. She smiled and handed me a glass of water.

“Dinner will be ready in an hour. Timothy said he might stop by tomorrow for brunch,”

“Good to know,” I said before I took a sip of the water. My mother studied me for a moment, her expression curious.

“What brings you by?” she asked, and I hesitated. I didn’t want to bring it to anyone's attention, but it was bothering me.

“Actually, I was feeling a bit…nostalgic…and I was wondering if you still had all those old home videos?” my mother’s eyes lit up immediately.

“Oh! Yes! I do,” she exclaimed excitedly. Suddenly, I knew I had made a mistake. She stopped arranging the flowers and reached for her phone that had been lying on the kitchen counter. “We should make a night of it,”

“Mom—”

“It has been years since we watched them,” she said as she ignored me completely. “I think Vivienne would love this,” she walked out just as she made the call. I sighed softly as I set my glass down. I decided that if we were doing this, I wanted to be more comfortable. I headed upstairs to my old bedroom and changed from my suit to a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. By the time I got back downstairs, my mother had already gotten everything set up. I should have known better than to think I could bring up anything from the past without my mother turning it into an event. I got comfortable on the couch while my mother organized some snacks. Vivienne showed up a few minutes later, and within minutes, the videos were all lined up.

“How exciting,” Vivienne remarked as she grabbed a handful of popcorn just as the screen flickered to life with static before the first video began. It was a compilation of our first days of school through the years. The footage was grainy, but the memories were sharp. Timothy and I, both in matching navy blazers, grinning awkwardly as our mothers fussed over our ties. In another clip, we were older, in high school, then college, our smiles more confident, but our friendship exactly the same. And there, between all of it, was Cassandra. A little girl with long golden hair and curious eyes. In the early clips, she clung to her backpack and smiled shyly at the camera. Later, she waved proudly as Vivienne filmed her walking into the gates of her new school. My mother sighed softly.

“She was such a sweet child. So polite. Always tagging along after you and Timothy,” she said, and Vivienne smiled fondly.

“She admired them both, but especially Nathan,” I glanced at her, but she was focused on the screen. The next video began. Timothy and me playing basketball in our driveway. The camera shook as someone laughed behind it. Vivienne’s voice, teasing us about who would win. Cassandra’s laughter echoed faintly in the background.

“She used to sit on the steps and cheer for you two,” my mother said. “Even when she had no idea what was going on,” Vivienne chuckled, and I shifted in my seat. The third video started, and this one hit harder. It was a backyard scene, one of those lazy summer days that seemed to stretch forever. Timothy and I were kicking a ball around while Cassandra sat under the old oak tree, dolls scattered beside her. She was pretending to brush one’s hair, but her eyes were not on them. She was watching us. I leaned forward slightly, my focus narrowing.

“Look at her,” Vivienne said softly. “Even back then,” my mother nodded.

“She adored you, Nathan. You were her hero,” I felt a strange tightness in my chest.

“She was a child,” I said quietly.

“Of course,” Vivienne said, amused. “But children know what they like. She followed you everywhere. You and Timothy used to run from her, remember?” I remembered, except I also didn’t. The next clip played. Christmas morning. The living room was full of wrapping paper and laughter. Timothy and I unwrapped identical boxes, revealing the keys to our first cars. We shouted, hugged our parents, and grinned at the camera. In the corner of the frame, Cassandra stood beside the tree, her smile small but her eyes fixed on me. My mother chuckled.

“Vivienne and I used to joke about it,” she said. “We thought maybe one day the two of you would end up together,” I looked at her in surprise.

“You what?” I asked, and they both laughed.

“We were mothers with active imaginations. It was harmless fun,”

“More like wishful thinking,” my mother added. “You were such a gentleman with her, even when you were impatient. And she adored you so much. We thought it was sweet,” I sank back in my seat, unsure what to say. The screen flickered again, another summer, another backyard scene. Timothy and I were tossing a ball back and forth while Cassandra stood near the fence, begging to join.

“Please,” she said, her voice high and insistent. “Just once,” Timothy laughed.

“You cannot even catch, Cass!”

“Yes, I can!” she said as she stomped her foot. I watched as a younger me nodded as I smiled at her.

“All right. You can try once,” I said. Vivienne laughed beside me on the couch.

“She remembered that day for weeks. She told me that you let her play because you liked her,”

“She said that?” I asked. Vivienne nodded.

“Oh, yes. She was convinced of it. She even told me she was going to marry you one day,” she said, and my mother laughed warmly.

“She was so certain. You should have seen her face when she said it. We almost believed her,” I stared at the flickering screen, the laughter fading into static. There it was, the confirmation. Timothy hadn’t been exaggerating. It was real. The crush, the attention, the way she used to follow me around. It had all been there, hidden in plain sight. And now, years later, I finally saw it for what it was. The irony was not lost on me. I had spent weeks trying to figure out why Cassandra was so guarded with me. Why she refused to let me in. Maybe this was the reason. I had come here to understand the past, but all it had done was make the present more complicated.

★★★