Chapter 1

Kath's POV

I had just gotten off the plane, and now I could barely move my feet, my mouth hanging open as I saw who was with Mommy.

Fvck! Was I hallucinating?

I blinked several times, but... that was still what I was seeing. Nothing had changed!

Was he really Mommy's boyfriend now? How? How did they even meet?

"Sweetie!" Mommy waved in my direction while the man beside her looked at me coldly.

Should I keep walking? Why did I feel like I just wanted to turn around and leave?

All my past came rushing back to me, back when I was in college and this man had been my professor, yes, Mommy's boyfriend, Knoxx Madrigal, the man standing beside her now, and the same man I had a one-night stand with at a bar back then, which resulted in us having a child without him knowing, not even my mother knowing.

I went abroad because of that, to escape everything, so our paths would never cross again, but now, it seemed like he was about to become my stepfather.

Small world, but fvck! This was not the homecoming I had expected in the Philippines!

Should I call him 'daddy' now? Oh, fvck! This couldn't happen!

Their wedding couldn't happen!

"Oh, my gosh, Kathryn! You're finally here!"

If Mommy's voice sounded like music to other people's ears, to me, it sounded like a death knell ringing through my entire system. It echoed throughout the arrival area of NAIA, drawing the attention of people who were also busy welcoming their loved ones.

She still hadn't changed! God!

But I didn't care about them. My entire attention was fixed on the man standing beside my mother.

Knoxx Madrigal.

He hadn't changed, I guess? If anything had changed, it was the fact that he looked even more mature, hot, and, oh well, sexy? He had become even more handsome than before. The build of his body was obvious beneath the clothes he wore.

He was wearing a gray suit jacket over a crisp white shirt, fully unbuttoned at the collar, with no tie, because he had never been one to follow conventional dressing. His dark hair was a bit messy, and those cold, dark eyes were currently piercing right through my soul.

He looked exactly like the man from my memories. The man who used to command the attention of an entire lecture hall with just his presence. The man whose deep, baritone voice used to make my knees weak whenever he called my name during recitations.

And the exact same man who made me scream his name in the backseat of his Fortuner three years ago, before I packed my bags and fled to New York.

"Kathryn, sweetie, are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost," Mommy giggled, her manicured hand resting easily on Knoxx's forearm.

I wanted to throw up. I wanted to scream. I wanted to pull Mommy's hand away from him. Mom, don't. Don't do that, but I couldn't.

"M-Mom..." My voice cracked. I let go of the handle of my Rimowa suitcase and forced myself to swallow, trying to wet my dry throat. "What... what does this mean? Are you two really serious?"

I had assumed Mommy's "I'm getting married!" over the phone was just a big joke. I was used to her. She changed boyfriends the way she changed her designer bags. But seeing Knoxx here? Seeing the two of them standing in front of me as a couple? This wasn't just a bad joke. It was a living nightmare.

"Oh, look at you! You're always so dramatic," Mommy scoffed playfully, stepping forward to engulf me in a hug. She kissed both my cheeks before turning back to Knoxx, her eyes shining with that familiar, schoolgirl-like adoration. "Honey, this is my daughter, Kathryn. I told you about her, right? The one who stayed in New York for quite some time."

Knoxx didn't move. He just stood there, his hands casually shoved inside his trousers' pockets. When he finally walked toward me, my heart began pounding rapidly. I felt like I was slowly running out of air.

"Yes, Elena. You've mentioned her," Knoxx replied.

Fvck. His voice. It was still the same, cold, smooth, and deep, the baritone voice I often dreamed about on the nights I spent alone abroad.

He stopped in front of me. I caught the scent of his perfume and his natural masculine scent, the same scent I had carried in my memories for three years. I looked up at him as my heartbeat quickened.

"Nice to finally... meet you in person, Kathryn," Knoxx said, a slow, dangerous smirk playing at the corner of his lips. He pulled one hand from his pocket and held it out to me. "Your mother speaks highly of you."

Meet you in person?

I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Was he serious? The man who had slept with me, the man who had taken over my entire system that night, the father of—

I quickly cut off the thought. He couldn't know. No one could know.

I stared at his outstretched hand. His long, calloused fingers, the same fingers that once traced the lines of my body, were waiting for mine. My palm trembled as I slowly reached for his hand, purely for the sake of complying because Mommy was watching.

The moment our palms met, I felt the electricity sh0t straight up my arm. My eyes widened, but before I could pull my hand away, Knoxx tightened his grip on mine, just enough to keep me from escaping.

He leaned down slightly, masking it as a polite gesture, but his eyes were blazing with something dark and possessive.

"You're shaking, Kathryn," he whispered, his voice sounds so sèxy, meant only for my ears. "Are you cold from the flight, or are you just... surprised?"

I swallowed hard. "W-What are you talking about?"