Chapter 3

“Dr. Winter.”

Since he had already seen her, Katherine spoke first.

Mark walked toward her.

His height alone brought a quiet pressure with it, and she grew uneasy enough to take half a step back.

Then she heard him ask carefully, “Are you not feeling well?”

Katherine knew perfectly well he was not asking out of concern.

She also knew what he was worried about.

She was just as unsettled herself.

“Yes. My period hasn’t come, so I came to gynecology to get checked,” she said, lowering her eyes.

Mark narrowed his eyes slightly but said nothing.

Katherine thought he was probably regretting his impulse that night.

The more accomplished a man was, the higher his standards would be for the mother of his child.

“Dr. Winter, is this your girlfriend?” Henry Jefferson’s eyes lit up.

This woman was stunning. Gentle, graceful, and beautiful in the classic sense.

“College classmate,” Mark said, in no mood for the joke. Still, he gave a faint self-mocking smile. “I’m single.”

“That’s because your standards are too high. Even heiresses are chasing you all the way to the hospital.” Henry glanced at Katherine a few more times. When she smiled at him, his heart gave a little jump. “I’ll go make my rounds first.”

After he left, Mark asked, “After that night, have you been with anyone else?”

Katherine shook her head. “I haven’t been with anyone else.”

“You didn’t take anything afterward?”

His tone sounded casual, but his eyes were sharp as they stayed on her.

Katherine understood instantly and looked up at him. “You think I did this on purpose? You think I wanted to get pregnant?”

If she thought about it carefully, she did have a motive.

Katherine had never imagined marrying a man on Mark’s level, but she did want to find a decent man and build a stable family, if only to put her own family at ease.

Her mother was in poor health and worried that Katherine was still holding on to someone from the past. This year, she had been pushing her to get married more and more often.

Mark did not answer. He only said, “Let’s wait for the test results.”

Katherine said irritably, “You can go. Whatever the result is, I can handle it myself.”

A flicker of impatience rose in Mark.

What a smart person should do right now was not lash out, but wait for what came next and negotiate an outcome both sides could accept.

“Pushing me away right now isn’t a smart choice, Katherine,” he said calmly.

Katherine’s chest felt tight.

She suddenly thought of Ava asking about Isla Jensen, and in a moment of impulse, she said, “Do you think every choice you make is right? Then why doesn’t Isla Jensen love you anymore?”

At that, Mark’s expression darkened.

It was the first time she had seen such a strong reaction from him.

Katherine suddenly realized Ava might have been right.

Maybe that final stretch of Isla’s crush had turned into Mark falling for her instead.

He really did miss her.

And maybe that was why he had stayed single all this time.

Katherine found it hard to believe.

By the standards of the outside world, Isla Jensen could never have reached someone like Mark. Her thoughts grew messy, and she remembered her roommate once teasing her.

“Katherine, you might actually have a chance if you try. Isla should really take a look in the mirror first.”

Katherine had once had a crush on him too.

When she was young, pretty girls always had a little too much confidence. She had once taken the initiative and asked Mark for his number. He had rejected her without even looking at her.

After that, she never had that kind of courage again.

“You’re right,” Mark said after a moment. “Not every choice I make is necessarily right.”

Katherine’s feelings grew even more complicated.

Of course he was not truly agreeing with her.

When it came to Isla, he lacked confidence. He doubted himself.

Only love could make someone feel inferior.

After that, neither of them spoke again.

Mark picked up her report for her.

Katherine knew he was afraid she might hide something, so she did not stop him. After all, if a woman showed up later with his child and demanded money, it would affect the stability of his future marriage.

Fortunately, the test results allowed both of them to relax.

“I’m off during lunch. I can take you home later,” he said.

Most of the time, he was very gentlemanly.

Katherine said there was no need, and he did not insist.

Mark said pointedly, “You’re a woman. You should be more careful about this kind of thing.”

Katherine felt humiliated.

She had clearly told him she had not been with anyone else. He simply did not believe her.

But she had no strength to argue.

This was just one of the prices she had to pay for that reckless night.

Later, when she happened to look through Isla’s social media, she discovered Isla’s engagement announcement.

The date of the engagement happened to be the same day Mark had lost control with her.

The coincidence made Katherine think of a saying.

Someone who was too restrained, too used to holding everything in, would lose control of all the desires they had buried once they lost the thing they loved most.

She thought that after this, she and Mark, two people from completely different worlds, would never cross paths again.

Until her mother fainted and was sent to a hospital in Riverton, urgently needing heart surgery.

Katherine thought of the connections Mark had as a medical professional, so she called him.

At that moment, Mark was resting with his eyes closed.

Mark’s mother, Grace Winter, said, “Yes, I introduced her to her fiancé, but she likes him too. Besides, she’s already engaged. Are you really going to keep fighting me over this?”

“You’re overthinking it,” he said coldly.

“My standards aren’t even that high. I’ll accept anyone except her,” Grace said. “You know what your grandfather wants. His health is failing, and he’s desperate for a great-grandchild. As long as you get married now, he’ll give you the shares he’s holding. Otherwise, Winter Corporation will eventually be under your uncle’s control…”

The sudden call interrupted Grace.

It also interrupted the thin, sarcastic smile forming on Mark’s lips.

Mark glanced at the unfamiliar contact. Only after he answered did he realize who it was.

“Dr. Winter, there’s something I’d like to ask you for help with,” Katherine said uneasily, then briefly explained the situation.

Mark glanced at his mother.

Then, all of a sudden, he smiled.

“So even someone worse than her would be acceptable?”

Grace’s heart sank. “What do you mean?”

But he said nothing else.

He picked up his car keys and left.

When Mark saw Katherine, she was sitting on a bench in the hospital lobby, her head lowered, like a little dog in a bad mood.

“Dr. Winter.”

At that moment, she was also as sharp as a puppy who recognized its owner. The second he appeared, she noticed him.

Katherine said sincerely, “I know you must know a lot of top specialists. As long as you’re willing to introduce one to us, I’ll pay you two hundred thousand as a thank-you gift.”

Finding an expert was not something money alone could solve. If she wanted to get her mother on the surgery schedule, she needed connections.

And that two hundred thousand was every cent Katherine had saved.

Once, she had wanted to save money to support Calvin.

She had clearly come prepared.

Mark said calmly, “I can help you. It depends on whether you’re willing to give me what I want.”

“Tell me,” Katherine said quickly.

“Marry me.”

Mark said it as if it were nothing.