Semua Bab Your dad is mine: Bab 21 - Bab 30

CATHERINEThe pinned location glowed on my phone screen as I sat in the car parked right in front of it. My fingers drummed restlessly on the steering wheel. I must have stared at that blinking red dot a hundred times already, and still, I couldn’t convince myself that coming here was the right choice.Shelly had called me a million times since I ran out of the office earlier. I hadn’t answered her once. She must think I’ve lost my mind. And maybe I have, because here I was, at a café I’d never heard of before, an hour away from my office, about to step into something that felt like a trap from the start.Ellie was still at school. At least, hopefully. I’d checked the time, I knew her schedule, and she should’ve still been in class. But the fact that I hadn’t told Ronald… or anyone… that I was coming here gnawed at me like acid. Maybe I should have. Maybe I should’ve had someone waiting outside or following me. What if this went wrong? What if things ended badly?I’d seen enough true

CATHERINEThe sound of something heavy hitting the ground made me drop the rod I’d been holding for protection. My heart pounded behind my ears and bile threatened to spill.Marcus.He was half-slumped across my kitchen table, breathing like each one he took was a fight against invisible hands strangling him. His shirt was torn and wet with blood, though I noticed immediately, thank God, that most of it wasn’t his. Still, there was enough of it staining his arm and his side that my chest went cold.“Jesus, Marcus.” My voice cracked as I rushed to him. “What the hell happened to you?”He didn’t answer right away. He pressed his forearm against the table like he was trying to keep himself from sliding off with sweat dripping from his forehead.I grabbed a dish towel, pressing it against his side, and then realized how useless that was. My hands were shaking like a leaf. “Stay still, just… don’t move, okay?”He gave me a weak smile that looked more like a grimace. “You always did like or

RONALDI sat in my office, but my mind was nowhere near it. The monitor in front of me glared back with a spreadsheet I hadn’t touched in an hour. Empty lines, blinking cursor and nothing else. I used to have every square inch of Catherine’s house displayed on this same screen. Live feeds. Every angle, every room, like some kind of sick reassurance that she was safe… and mine. I was a fool.I’d torn it all down two weeks ago. Along with what little sanity I had left, apparently.February eighth. Two weeks since she’d told me to fuck off. Two weeks since I’d heard her voice say anything that wasn’t clipped, professional, automated. She’d been cold in our virtual meetings, she had made sure to be punctual, precise, polite, not giving me a single teasing remark, the usual spark in her tone was gone. No warmth. It was like talking to a stranger who just looked like her.I couldn’t even get mad because it was my fault. I deserved it, I knew that. I’d gone too far. Hell, I always did but k

CATHERINE Eventually, he drove me home. He pulled up at my house, killing the engine. My hands curled on the edge of my dress.He turned. “Cathrine I…” he took a breath and started again. “I’m really sorry about all of this and starting now, I would make sure to keep you safe… the right way.”I opened my mouth, then closed it. Then said with a small smile. “Good night Ronald. Don’t forget we have a meeting tomorrow. I want to see you in my office bright and early.”His eyes sparkled in a boyish way and he nodded.I stepped out, watching his car disappear down the street, and only when it was gone did I let out the breath I’d been holding.As soon as I stepped inside, Ellie darted away from the window where she’d clearly been spying, grinning like a cat.“Don’t,” I warned, holding up a hand as she opened her mouth.She pouted, but the sparkle in her eyes gave her away.“Why aren’t you in bed?” I asked, kicking off my shoes.“It’s a holiday tomorrow,” she said with a shrug, like that e

RONALDI hated these events.The clatter of cutlery, the clinking of wine glasses, the low hum of a hundred fake conversations… everything was enough to make me want to claw my way out of my own skin.It was always the same, every time I walked into a room like this, it felt like I was suffocating. The air felt heavy, like everyone was trying too hard to impress everyone else, that, and the scent of overpriced cologne and desperation clung to everything.I glanced across the table. Catherine was sitting there, as perfect as always, a straight posture, her black hair falling loosely around her shoulders. Not once that night had she looked me in the eye. Not once. She’d spoken when necessary, smiled when required, but not for me. It was like I was invisible.And I couldn’t tell if that was because she was still pissed at me… or because something else was gnawing at her.I thought we were getting somewhere when she’d said we should move forward. Maybe it wasn’t the case.I loosened my ti