Kate Cassidy was presumed in a “hostage” situation before Liam Payne died in a Buenos Aires hotel.
The statement came from a friend of Cassidy, who told the New York Post Wednesday that the influencer agonised over her decision before eventually flying back to Miami.
Cassidy, 25, allegedly told her pal she was worried Payne might resort to drug abuse if she left but had to make the hard choice after spending over two weeks away from home.
“She can’t leave, or else who knows what will happen? And if she leaves, what will he do?” the friend recalled Cassidy worrying.
“But she has other responsibilities, other things that she’s supposed to be doing. So she finally had to make a decision.”
The couple had originally planned to stay in Buenos Aires for a few days to attend Niall Horan’s concert. At least Cassidy did not see it getting extended.
“They’re in Argentina and it’s like a hostage situation,” the insider recalled of their concerns at the time.
“So she tells him she wants to leave, this is after a week. He begs her to stay,” they continued. “She keeps extending her trip, a day, two days. And he just wants her to stay, stay, stay.”
With most people holding Cassidy accountable for leaving the One Direction alum in a vulnerable position, her friend insisted it wasn’t a simple decision.
“I get what people are saying, that she should just stay with her rich famous boyfriend,” the source continued, “but she wanted to be home in her own bed with her dog. She wanted to come home. So eventually she says she’s going home.”
Cassidy kept a low profile in the week since Payne’s death until Wednesday when the influencer posted a lengthy tribute to her late boyfriend.
Cassidy poured her heart out to her social media followers, sharing that her “heart is shattered in ways [she] can’t put into words.”
She called Payne her “best friend” and the “love of [her] life” and also claimed the couple was discussing marriage.
“I keep your note close, even though you told me not to look at it. It said, ‘Me and Kate to marry within a year/ engaged & together forever 444.’”
Cassidy’s carousel also included a picture of the handwritten note Payne gave her along with several selfies of the couple taken over two years of dating.