Chapter 7

Kathryn’s POV

After I rang the doorbell, I heard a few rushing footsteps and grunting before the door opened, and the wind swiped at my face.

“Oh, Kathryn!” My best friend Emily hugged me so tight I could barely breathe, but I was happy to finally be able to see a friend after a very long time of being confined in Reinhardt’s villa. “I’ve been waiting for years,” she sobbed and I whimpered between the curves of her shoulders, somewhat relieved I found myself here. 

“Well, that took me a long time. But enough of that!” I wiped my own tears with the back of my hand. “I’m finally here–at least temporarily. Mom wants me to get home as soon as I can.” 

Emily gathered my hand, her eyes moist. “I can understand why she’s in a rush, but stay as long as you need, Kathy. Don’t you dare go back to that horrible place!” 

My phone suddenly rang. 

“Why does he keep calling you?” Emily exclaimed after she placed a cup of tea on the table across from me. “If he already has his side chick, he should just continue on what he was doing from the start, and lay off your back already!” 

I sighed and placed a hand on my belly. “I don’t know about that, but we’ll only know more once I answer this call.” 

“Oh, no! You’ve fallen prey again to that demon’s antics! I’ll tell this to you now, Kathryn, and I’ll tell it again: he’s a poisonous mushroom you refused to stop eating!” She crossed her arms and huffed a breath. “I hate him more than you do, and that’s clearly showing, am I right?” 

I nodded in agreement and moved my thumb down the answer button of my phone. I immediately held up my hand when Emily protested, and mouthed, “Just this once, okay?”

She muttered a curse and I braced myself for what Wilhelm had to say. 

“If you want to talk, you can do it with my lawyer.” 

“Your lawyer isn’t my wife,” my soon-to-be ex-husband started. “And I’m telling you right now that I’m not divorcing you! And if you still insist on going ahead with this, I’d be forced to audit every expense you made on my account for the last three years, and turn it into some form of compensation that you need to pay me for the rest of your life. Do you really want to be that miserable?” 

I frowned. At this rate, he was beyond redemption. 

“Like I said, name the price, and I’d pay it in installments, Wilhelm. It’s that easy.” 

“What if I don’t agree to the settlement’s mode of payment? You think you’ll not wound up in jail instead?”

I bit my lip, my eyebrows crunching at his words. “You know what, Wilhelm? Do whatever the hell you want. I’d rather go to jail than refuse to divorce you.” 

And with that, I slammed my phone shut and tossed it on the floor. 

Emily stood and clapped her hands together. “That’s the way it should be done,” she said as she kicked the phone and disregarded it on the carpet. “I’d gladly buy you a new one in commemoration of what you did just now. I’m so glad it turned out this way!”

I grinned, my shoulders feeling light after I freed myself from Wilhelm’s shackles he’d unwillingly wrapped on my neck. “Alright. Are we going to get a new phone or what?” 

***

“Did he finally sign it?” I gripped Emily’s hand as I awaited my lawyer’s answer. 

She slipped the paper my way. “Congratulations, Mrs. Reinhardt. He finally did.” 

“Thank god!” I exclaimed that I suddenly stood from my seat. This was the second congratulations I heard in a while that somehow made me feel good about myself. I can’t believe I’m finally free from him. Although I appeared cheerful right now, I still couldn’t help the tiny amount of sadness I felt at how fast he seemed eager to leave me.

“Easy there,” Emily pulled me back down to my chair. “Your twins, remember?”

I rubbed my belly. “They’re here, and they’re growing fussy everyday.” 

“Mr. Reinhardt sends you his regards,” my lawyer added, and I looked confused for a second. 

Then, she slid to me what looked to be a bank check. 

“What’s that?” Emily inquired curiously. 

I took it with shaking hands. My eyes widened, and I immediately gave it back to my lawyer. “I’m not taking that.” 

“It’s two million yuan, Mrs. Reinhardt, and your now ex-husband wanted you to know that he still—” 

“Call me Kathryn instead. And I don’t care how big of an amount that is. I’m still not accepting it.”

“Would you call me an idiot if I told you’re making a grave mistake right now?” Emily added. 

“What?” I said in disbelief. “You’re the one who told me how much you despise him more than I did! So why do I need to accept his money when clearly, he’s done nothing but to make my life miserable for the past years and even up to the last day of us being husband and wife?” 

“There was no money involved before, in a way. Think of all the things you could do with it! Maybe you could even continue your studies abroad!”  

I stopped for a while, thinking through her words. “I hate to admit it, but you’re really making sense right now.” 

Emily seemed right. My father had long dreamed of restoring the hotel we once owned, but was forced to sell it due to bankruptcy by my mother and stepfather. We had the same dream, and as I stared at the bank check in front of me, I couldn’t help but think of getting those dreams in motion again.

“Come on,” Emily wiggled her eyebrows. “It’s worth the shot.”

The lawyer smiled at me. “I know I’m not in the position to speak, but whatever you think is right, take it.” 

I nodded my head earnestly and became convinced I deserved this amount even though it didn’t cover all the things his family had done to me. 

“I would use it wisely,” I thought as I began to note things in my mind about my plan to continue my studies in Hotel Management somewhere in Europe. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that could be the key to building my life and reaching for my dreams. 

Come to think of it, I never really got the chance to pursue my degree ever since I dropped out of college due to financial problems. Wilhelm didn’t want me to join his company either, so I was left to be his homemaker. 

Not that I held it in low regard. I absolutely salute these people who manage their households, especially when their husbands are there to support them. However, I didn’t like the part where Wilhelm had to abandon me like I was in complete confinement.