Chapter 2

Katherine hadn’t slept that peacefully in a long time.

She felt like she was wrapped in a broad, warm embrace. It made her feel safe, and she wanted to sleep a little longer.

But the arms around her loosened, and the person beside her got out of bed.

A voice sounded near her ear.

“I was at a friend’s place last night.

“My private life is none of your business.”

The man’s voice carried the lazy rasp of early morning. Calm and unhurried. Just from his tone alone, anyone could tell he was deeply self-assured, maybe even selfish by nature.

Katherine slowly opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw was the man’s broad, straight back. He had a good body, clearly the result of regular workouts. She watched as he put on his shirt, covering the marks from last night. In seconds, he looked polished and proper again.

Her mind exploded.

Then the memories came rushing back.

She froze for a long moment without moving.

“I’ll be at the hospital before eight. Have Mr. Shaw wait for me in my office,” Mark said into the phone.

The Shaw family had close business ties with the Winters. Now that Old Mr. Shaw’s surgery had been assigned to him, it was hard to refuse.

When he turned and saw her lying there with her eyes open, he said casually, “You’re awake?”

Katherine gave a quiet hum, then closed her eyes again.

She looked calm.

Inside, she was losing her mind.

Her thoughts were a complete mess.

Mark gave a few more instructions before hanging up.

He checked the time. “Breakfast will be here in ten minutes. As for that client who gave you trouble yesterday, I’ve already told Mr. Pansworth’s daughter about it. You won’t be held responsible. I have work, so I’ll head out first.”

Compared with Katherine, who had woken up completely thrown off, he had already handled one thing after another.

Even after a night like that, he had arranged everything calmly and properly. He had even taken care of last night’s problem for her so she would not be put in a difficult position.

When it came to men and women, he was very good at this.

“Thank you,” Katherine said.

It was all she could say.

Mark glanced at her.

Compared with the sweet, bold version of her who had called him baby last night, she seemed much quieter and more boring in the daylight. But everyone had more than one side. Besides, what she was really like had nothing to do with him.

Still, this was different from their blind date.

Last night, they had been together more than once. The first time had been a little rushed, but after that, neither of them had held back. If he simply left and never contacted her again, it would seem too cold.

So Mark asked for her number.

Katherine did not refuse, but she never contacted him after that.

Although she had never done anything like that before, she had been the one who initiated it. Adults had to pay for their own mistakes and carelessness.

Naturally, Mark did not contact her either.

Katherine thought that, to put it bluntly, the one thing Mark clearly did not lack was access to women. There were too many beautiful women in the world. She might be pretty, but a beautiful woman with no added value was still just someone destined to work herself to the bone.

After that came endless work, followed by one business trip after another.

Katherine soon put Mark out of her mind.

She even forgot that she had never saved his name in her contacts.

By April, Katherine went on a business trip with Ava.

After they closed the order, Ava treated her to dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant, the kind Katherine would never have been willing to pay for herself.

“You and Mark went to the same university, right?” Ava asked. “When you were harassed last time, he was the one who contacted me.”

There was a trace of probing in her tone.

Katherine was simply too pretty. During yesterday’s negotiations, even the decent-looking client representative had glanced at her more than once.

Katherine was taking photos of the food when she answered gently, “We went to the same school, but we weren’t close. He just happened to see what happened that day and helped me out.”

Ava thought for a moment, then asked, “Do you know Isla Jensen? Was she his girlfriend back in college?”

That made Katherine pause.

“No,” she said. “She pursued him.”

Gossip about well-known people at school always spread to some extent. Besides, Katherine knew Isla. She had been one of the boldest and most persistent girls around Mark, and she had liked him for years. That affection had never seemed to fade.

Ava looked surprised. “Just someone who pursued him? When I had dinner at the Winter house that day, I saw a diary in Mark’s study. It belonged to that girl. He seemed to read it often, so I thought he kept it because he missed her.”

Katherine was a little surprised too.

“I only glanced at the first and last pages,” Ava said, leaning into the gossip. “The first page was all about how she was determined to win him over. The last page said she didn’t like him anymore.”

“Maybe my information isn’t accurate,” Katherine said hesitantly. “Maybe they were together at some point.”

Ava sighed. “He’s considerate and very thoughtful, but he always feels cold. My mom says I definitely wouldn’t be able to handle him, so she doesn’t really approve of me getting involved with him.”

Katherine did not know Mark well enough to comment, so she stayed quiet.

Afterward, the good looking representative messaged her and asked if she wanted to grab a drink.

She did not refuse, so she parted ways with Ava.

But when he asked if she was interested in spending the night together, she turned him down.

The man was not offended. He smiled politely and said he understood.

Katherine, however, thought of that night with Mark.

Not because she was thinking about Mark, but because she was thinking about Calvin.

That night, she had mistaken Mark for him.

Most of the time, she could stay calm when Calvin’s name came up.

But sometimes, when she lost control, she would miss him like crazy. Sometimes she cried. Sometimes she went half a day without saying a word.

In the south, April was the rainy season.

On the way back to the hotel, heavy rain came pouring down. Sitting in the taxi, Katherine pulled up that familiar chat.

At first, she typed, Baby.

Then she deleted it.

She had not contacted him in two years. After struggling for a long time, she changed the greeting to his full name, polite and distant.

‘Calvin, the rainy season is here. Remember to keep warm.’

Otherwise, his old injury would start hurting again.

As always, the message disappeared without a response.

Heartless Calvin.

And here I am, pathetic enough to miss you again.

.

Mark received Calvin’s call after the Winter family dinner.

He glanced at the screen but did not answer right away. Only after getting into the car did he pick up.

“What is it?” he asked, his voice cold and distant.

Calvin was used to his attitude.

In front of Calvin, Mark did not even bother wearing that polite mask.

“Are you still holding a grudge against me because of Isla?” Calvin asked.

Mark frowned slightly, but he did not deny it.

After a long silence, Calvin said, “I’m thinking about going back home.”

Mark was unmoved. “If I remember correctly, you took eighty million with you before you left the country.”

In other words, he was not short on money.

Nor was he short on women.

“But my puppy is back home,” Calvin murmured. “My puppy must miss me so much.”

The word puppy made Mark think, for no clear reason, of Katherine, someone he had not thought about in a long time.

When she looked at people with those wet, shining eyes, she really did look like a loyal little puppy begging for attention.

But that night had only happened because the mood was right. The way she had shut that middle-aged man, then the way she had acted like a clingy little puppy afterward, had amused him because of the contrast.

That amusement had only existed in that moment.

At any other time, with any other circumstances, that night would never have happened.

Mark pulled his thoughts back.

He knew the puppy Calvin was talking about was a woman.

A woman who would die for him.

Years ago, Mark had spoken with her on the phone and heard for himself how determined she was to protect Calvin.

The woman had said, sounding heartbroken, “So what if he’s useless? I can make money and support him. I can support him for the rest of his life.”

Calvin was not short on money.

And he was not useless.

That woman had been fooled completely.

“Taking the money and leaving was your choice,” Mark said, his mouth curving with faint impatience as he dragged Calvin back down to reality.

.

After Katherine returned from her business trip, her period still had not come, so she went to the hospital.

She never expected to run into Mark there.

He was talking to a colleague about an afternoon surgery. When he looked up and saw her, he did not seem to care. He gave her a slight nod, just enough to count as a greeting, and was about to move on.

Then his gaze caught the sign for the gynecology department.

His brow tightened almost imperceptibly.

Adults could sleep together without being in a relationship.

But if an accident led to a child, things would become troublesome.