Chapter 2

Kathryn’s POV

“Wilhelm, I have to excuse myself,” I mumbled, unsure if he had heard what I just said as he was too engrossed in conversation with Rose to give me just a tiny bit of his attention.  

Unnoticed by my very own husband, I held back my tears and maintained a dignified expression despite the unbearable pain that shot through my chest. It hurt to think that their closeness was one I had imagined I would’ve had with my own husband, but it wasn’t the case.

In the end, I went home alone. I'm disheartened by what I've witnessed.  

Arriving home, Anna wordlessly opened the door for me. Just as I entered, my mother-in-law, Camille, happened to be threading down the stairs. Her sharp eyes, which mimicked my husband’s, darted to where I was. I held my breath. I already predicted what would come next. 

“Hello, mother,” I tried to hide my bleak appearance with a smile.  

Camille gave no reply yet, her eyes filled with distaste that lingered my way. 

“Why are you arriving home without Wilhelm?” she said after a while.

I opened and closed my mouth, unable to form any kind of response to her untimely question. 

“I didn’t feel like he needed me at the moment,” I finally said.

“Well, I’m here to tell you that for once, you’re right.” As she raised the folder in her hand, I paled. 

“This is the annual report of my son’s company sales. It has dropped 10% of its maintained annual sales since he married you, and we’ve never been able to restore it to its usual increase of 15% per year, thanks to your relentless spending,” she stated. 

Spending? 

“By relentless spending, you mean the treatments I received in order to get pregnant…?” I said in disbelief, surprised that the family had seen it as something unessential all this time.

“That didn’t come from my own mouth, but yours,” Camille harrumphed, her barricaded words confirming my question.

“Not only were you a spender, but all you’ve ever done for the past months was to laze around in your room and have Wilhelm throw his money in your bed.” She reached the bottom of the stairs and crossed her arms over her chest. 

“You’ve clearly set the record straight on that part,” she finished, her tone maligned with sarcasm. “It’s no longer a wonder to everyone else in this villa why my son rarely sets foot in his own home.” 

Clenching my fists, I stood my ground and maintained a steady gaze her way. I couldn’t possibly tell her that I was only following the doctor’s advice to take it easy and her son had remotely refused to spend time with me. He gave me loads of money to waste on shopping but I used it in my infertility treatment instead.  

When I thought she was done, Camille began again. Her fingers glided down the staircase. “Oh, look here. You can’t even supervise the maids to do their jobs correctly,” she huffed. 

“And to think Wilhelm had insisted you take charge of the house instead of I. This place had looked rather terribly depressing over the years,” she remarked harshly, which broke my heart. “The family had only expected you to do two things: one was to manage the household, and two, produce Wilhelm’s future heir.” 

My mind was in shambles, and not a single word came out of my mouth as Camille walked past me. 

“And you couldn’t fulfill either of it. How disappointing,” she said with bitter disregard. “And that dress, oh, gods. Don’t even get me started. But I suppose your family is to blame wholly,” she shrugged. “I can’t simply put everything on your shoulders when you were raised to repeat clothes even if they looked worn out already.”  

The door shut behind me as Camille’s car rushed out in the night, and I was left with the kind of numbness that made me barely feel my feet. 

I stared blankly at the floor as I recalled the reason why I married into this family, regret coursing through my veins. 

If only my father hadn’t gambled away our money, I wouldn’t have been forced to accept Wilhem’s hand in marriage. 

Back then, The Reinhardts and The Alvarez were big names in the world of business. They were partners that dominated importation and had merged into one company with two divisions. One of which my father handled before everything went downhill.  

Upon my father’s sudden death, he left his inheritance to me, along with a surmountable amount of debt that my mother fainted upon knowing about. To save face, I had to sacrifice my dreams and drop out of one of the country’s most prestigious universities. 

The news had sensationalized our crisis, and to put an end to it, Wilhem’s father proposed to have me married into their family to continue the merging of our companies, while Wilhelm gave me enough money combined with my inheritance, to settle my father’s debts. 

Left with no room for a choice, I accepted it. And sooner than later, I was already in front of the altar, while Wilhelm stood next to me with an unreadable expression on his face. 

I knew then that he held no feelings toward me, and that I was only a tool for his desire to keep the company together, but I accepted it wholeheartedly, knowing my limitations and that of my duties. I was already grateful to him for helping me out in this dire situation I found myself in.

But I was wrong. It was worse than I’d imagined. 

In the earlier days of our marriage, I was alone most of the time while Camille bullied me into managing the household while she partakes in parties and casinos all night. 

Driven by my fear of disappointing his family, I fulfilled the duties expected of me as Wilhelm’s wife. This included managing his villa, attending charity events, and eventually earning my place in his company by proving my worth. Despite the criticism from the media about my fashion choices and their belief that I was not suitable to be a billionaire’s wife, I chose to swallow my pride and not let it bother me.

Still, it wasn’t enough for any of them. 

Feeling sick after the encounter with Camille, I climbed the stairs while I dragged my feet behind me. I could already feel the softness of my bed—

My phone rang all of a sudden, catching me off guard. Startled, I quickly regained my composure and swiftly picked up the call.

My eyes widened. It was Wilhelm. 

“Wilhelm?” I asked, my brows furrowed. “What’s wrong?” 

“I won’t be back until tomorrow,” he said lightly, and I frowned. He had never spoken so casually to me that way. 

“I see. But, where are you?” 

All of a sudden, my heart sped up when I heard a muffled female voice in the background. 

My world spun, and for once, I couldn’t help but let the words come out of my mouth: “Are you with Rose?”