CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2

The woman’s question went unanswered for a solid ten seconds before her gaze shifted to the bags that Katrina was carrying and recognition flashed in her blue eyes.

“Oh, it’s you.” The woman scoffed and then sashayed back into the house, leaving the door open.

Without another word, Katrina carried her bags into the house with her heart set on quickly disappearing into her wing of the house.

Damon’s flings weren't new to her. He never hid it. He had several women at his beck and call, but this was the very first time he had brought one of them home. She didn’t know exactly how to react to it or if she even had the right to do so.

Whether he took his girlfriends to a hotel or brought them back to the house should make no difference to her. Her duty was to remain his quiet, submissive house wife.

Before she could make a run for it, Damon appeared in the huge living room, clearly surprised to see Katrina.

“Babe.” The woman spoke in a sultry voice, throwing herself into Damon’s arms instantly. Katrina looked away just as Damon wrapped his huge arms possessively around her waist but the image was already burned into her memory.

“You didn’t tell me she was coming.” The woman cast an accusatory glance towards Katrina like she had committed a grave offense by returning to her home.

If only, Katrina scolded herself silently in her head. If only she had sucked it up and waited one more day at the estate, she wouldn’t have witnessed this or experienced the crushing humiliation that she felt.

“I didn’t know she was coming.” Damon responded, coolly, raising a brow at Katrina.

“I should have called, sorry.” Katrina apologized, her voice quiet. “I’ll be in my wing and will not bother you.” She tried to leave but the woman stopped her before she could even take a step away from them.

“Babe, aren’t you going to introduce us?”

“I don’t think that is necessary. She doesn’t need to know you and you already know she’s my wife.” Damon grunted.

“Ex-wife, you mean?” The woman said, while looking directly at Katrina and smirking. Katrina’s grip on the bags she carried loosened slightly as her hands trembled.

“For Chrissakes, Genevieve. We talked about this.” Damon said, slapping a hand over his forehead, his frustration so obvious it only made Katrina’s heart beat faster.

“No, you talked and made me listen.” The woman, whose name Katrina now knew to be Genevieve, shot back at Damon. Then she walked over to one of the sofas where she lifted a black luxury bag and slung it over her shoulder. “And though I meant to stay the night before, I do not want to be under the same roof with her. Call me once she has signed the papers.”

Damon made a move to stop her but Genevieve was already storming out of the house, slamming the door so hard behind her that it shook Katrina who was already rattled to the core. There was uncomfortable silence after Genevieve left. It was nothing new. Uncomfortable silence was what her relationship with Damon has thrived on for so long.

But this time, that silence was beyond uncomfortable. It was scary. She couldn’t demand an explanation from Damon so she had no choice but to wait for it to come, however long it took.

“I didn’t plan for it to go like this. I wanted to give it some time because of grandma’s death. But now, I will just cut to the chase.” Damon didn’t look at her as he said this, dragging in a harsh breath. He simply grabbed a brown envelope that she hadn’t noticed but had been laying on the center table all along. He took out the documents and handed her one before spreading the rest across the table.

Katrina took the paper with shaky hands.

“Divorce Agreement.” She read out, her voice so tiny that Damon could have missed it if he had been on the other end of the room. Katrina slowly sank into the couch closest to her, the paper heavy in her hands.

Her eyes scanned the details quickly; the court address, the date the letter was filed, their names and the space meant for their signatures. Damon’s signature was already etched on his own spot with his immaculate handwriting. This was real.

“W-why?” She couldn’t help the stutter. “We have two years left in the contract, right?”

Damon gave her a look that made her squirm. Had she sounded desperate? Surely not. She had asked a valid question. Their marriage was an arrangement. A contract which was supposed to last five years and it has only been three years.

“Yes, the contract stated five years but that’s no longer necessary. The marriage has served its purpose and in case you haven’t noticed, I am seeing someone. And it is serious.”

If Katrina had any doubts about Damon’s relationship with Genevieve, it was all cleared up now. Genevieve was more than a mere fling like the others.

Damon’s tone was final. He seemed so certain that there was only one outcome and that was Katrina signing the divorce agreement. The words on the paper blurred together as she read them over and over like that would change their meaning or the effect they would have on her life going forward.

Katrina wasn’t ready for this. This, coupled with the heartbreak of losing the only woman who loved her, was too much for her fragile heart to bear and it was tearing her apart.

She never expected this to happen so fast. She thought she had time, two years worth of it. Time for what exactly? To make Damon fall in love with her and make the marriage real? To make him decide to extend the contract? She wasn’t sure but she had held on so tightly to the idea of it. Now, the hold she had on it was slipping away.

“I would ask you to think about it but there is nothing to think about, we both know that. Sign the agreement and then we can discuss alimony.” Damon said, handling the conversation like every other business deal he handles daily as the CEO of Winchester Enterprise.

“Alimony?” Katrina repeated, confused.

“Yes, Alimony. What do you want? A house? Houses? Other properties? Oh right, the estate. If you also want to keep that, I can convince my mother to let you have it.”

Katrina felt deeply insulted. Her lips quivered as she cut him off sharply, “I don’t want any of that.”

Damon shrugged, “Fine then, what do you want? Money? I can write you a cheque. A million dollars? Two? Ten?”

“I don’t want that either.” Katrina kept her voice steady despite the storm raging inside of her,

Damon’s gaze sharpened on her. She could sense the irritation rolling off him. The way he looked at her reminded her of how his mother always did whenever she accused Katrina of coveting the family’s wealth.

“Fine then, name your price.”

Her chest tightened painfully at that suggestion. She couldn’t understand why everyone was so convinced that all she wanted from the family was their wealth even after living with them her entire life.

How could no one see that she just craved to be regarded as part of the family? It was the one thing Katrina actually coveted and her marriage to Damon gave that illusion. The illusion that she was a true member of the Winchester family. That illusion has now been shattered right before her eyes.

Without the marriage and without Damon’s grandmother, Katrina had nothing to hold on to. She would be cast out totally. She would be alone all over again like she was after her parents died. And there was nothing Katrina feared more than being alone.

The thought almost had her at the brink of tears but she couldn’t afford to seem weak in front of Damon.

“I don’t want your money, Damon.” Katrina did her best to keep her voice from shaking.

“Then what do you want, Katrina?” He shot back, his voice echoing his growing impatience with her.

Damon had already made up his mind and Katrina knew that nothing, not even her tears, could change that. So, she raised her head proudly and made up her own mind too.

“When we signed the contract, I had only one request. That when the contract ends, I would be given anything I wanted. Anything at all.” She spoke with a confidence that contrasted the unsteady beat of her heart.

Damon narrowed his eyes, “That is why I am offering everything you could ever want. And I am willing to offer more. So tell me, what is it you want?”

Katrina took in a deep breath before locking her eyes with his brown ones as she said the words that would change the course of their lives.

“I want a baby.”