Mrs. Grant sighed. “Maybe I’ve been talking too much and got you annoyed. I’ll stop talking about it
with you in the future then.”
Marshall frowned, and didn’t say anything. Mrs. Grant hung up after saying good night.
Marshall put down the phone slowly, his mind at work.
Had he been protecting Katherine lately? Not that he himself knew of. It was just that sometimes when
Mrs. Grant’s rambling got on his nerves, he would say something in Katherine’s defense. But surely
that wouldn’t count as protecting.
Marshall stayed where he was for a while before he slowly turned around and headed upstairs.
Katherine wasn’t in her bedroom. She was in the study, reading what looked like a guidebook on
driving tests from her computer.
Marshall walked up to the study and peeked inside. Katherine was genuinely having a hard time
grasping those ideas and she looked flustered and baffled. In all seriousness, she would fit well with
Kyle Haverford. Recently Katherine hadn’t been the most logical person in the world, and Kyle was
even less reliable. Put those two together, and they would enjoy each other’s company.
Just like that, Marshall was reminded of what Kyle said in the bathroom – that if Katherine married a
Bennett, she would tame even the biggest shrew of the Bennett household.
That wasn’t an exaggeration, since Katherine could even tame Mrs. Grant at times. However, the thing
was that Mrs. Grant, though occasionally unreasonable, wasn’t an inherently calculating person. But he
didn’t know if the same was true for the Bennetts. After all, Ms. Ariel Kingsey had done some pretty
careful scheming in order to marry Kevin Bennett. Were Katherine really to marry into the family, there
was no way she could win the game of manipulation.
Blinking a few times, Marshall walked into his own room. Why should he be thinking about this?
Katherine, just like him, needed to be responsible for her own actions.
Marshall got into bed after a quick shower. The alcohol was working, and he fell asleep pretty fast. But
he kept dreaming about Katherine – presumably because he had been thinking about her before bed.
He dreamed about a lot of guys standing next to Katherine, and he was judging them one by one.
The flirty guy on the plane was there. He wouldn’t do. He was a frivolous-looking guy, a cheater
potentially. There was also the guy who hit on Katherine in Asela. He was a no, too, as Katherine was
far too beautiful and way out of his league.
There was also Hector.
Marshall stared at Hector for a while. This dude didn’t have the best upbringing or family, but boy, did
Katherine favor Hector in the dream. Hector had bought Katherine a ring, too, and she was only too
happy to wear it around. Now, that made Marshall pause. If Katherine really were to be with Hector,
that would seem acceptable enough. And he couldn’t stop those thoughts debating repeatedly in his
mind until he woke up the next morning.
Opening his eyes, Marshall felt confused, not sure where he was exactly. It took him a while to finally
sit up. He heaved a long sigh, wondering why he’d been stuck in that one dream all night.
Marshall walked downstairs after getting ready.
Katherine had already made breakfast, and there she was in the dining room, sending voice messages
while she ate.
Marshall didn’t even need to ask. Judging by her tone, he could tell exactly who she was talking to. He
moved towards her sluggishly, sitting opposite her. “Kyle?” he asked.
“Yeah,” said Katherine, “He texted very early in the morning – heaven knows where he gets that energy
from.”
Smiling silently, Marshall said, “That’s Kyle for you.”
The phone gave another buzz, and Katherine decided to put the new voice message on speaker.
“You should come over,” came Kyle’s voice, “It’s the weekend, finally! Hector’s coming too. Can that
friend of yours come along as well? Let’s play cards!”
“You love playing cards so much, you might as well marry a deck of cards. How are you planning to
carry on the family line like this?”
“Not to worry, my friend,” Kyle laughed carelessly, “I got legions of chicks to choose from, if I were to be
thus interested.”
Katherine, upon hearing that, booed at Kyle, while Marshall remained silent as he ate, a deep frown on
his face. Marshall had planned on getting up late today since it was the weekend, but biology had
woken him up early, and he hadn’t been able to go back to sleep since.
On the other side of the line, Kyle was insistent. “Can your friend come along? You should ask her.”
She certainly could not. Margaret ran her own business and was fully responsible for its finances.
“No,” said Katherine definitively, “She’s busy.”
That made Kyle whine about being in desperate need of a poker buddy.
Marshall looked up at Katherine. “Tell him that I’m coming with you.”
Hesitantly, Katherine asked, “You’re coming with me to Kyle’s club?”
“Yeah,” said Marshall, “It’s been a while since I last visited, so I might as well stop by.”
Katherine passed along the voice message to Kyle, blinking.
Kyle didn’t actually care about who the poker buddy was as long as he or she’d show up, so he told
them he’d be waiting for their arrival with all the fine delicacies in the world.
Katherine got a bit speechless at the fact that Kyle should have the same hobbies as those middle-
aged moms. Ignoring him, she spoke to Marshall as she went at her breakfast, “You haven’t got
anything else going on today? The Hendersons, the company, your family, they don’t require your
presence at all?”
Marshall watched her with an eyebrow raised. “What, you don’t want me tagging along?”
Katherine paused, totally confused. “What’s your coming along got to do with me? I honestly don’t care
either way. I just didn’t expect a guy as busy as you to be enjoying some free time.”
But, as Marshall thought about it, he hadn’t been particularly busy before; he just hadn’t liked going
home, so he’d spent his free time in the office. Most of the times, he was just pretending to be busy to
avoid seeing her.
After breakfast, Katherine went up to get changed while Marshall waited downstairs. Before Katherine
could return, his phone rang, and Marshall picked it up after checking the screen.
It was Mrs. Grant again, telling him she was going shopping and having tea with Clara in the afternoon,
and she wanted him to join them.
“I can’t,” said Marshall instantly, “I’m busy today.”
Mrs. Grant was slightly surprised. “It’s a Sunday! What can you be doing?”
“…Something,” said Marshall, trying to be vague. After that he added, “I haven’t separated from
Katherine yet. Would you stop trying to throw Clara in my direction? What you’re doing would benefit
neither her nor me.”
That made Mrs. Grant silent. She knew what she was doing wasn’t exactly appropriate, what with
Katherine and Marshall still being publicly married. But she just couldn’t help herself, knowing privately
that Marshall had divorced Katherine and they were no longer obligated to each other. Because Clara
was a terrific woman, and everybody else did have eyes. She might literally cry out loud if Clara was
somehow taken off the market.
Marshall took a deep breath before he said, “I don’t intend to be a relationship at the moment, so
there’s no need for you to get anxious. Also, can I be in charge of my own life from now on?”
Moving her lips, Mrs. Grant answered only after a long while, “Alright, I get it now.”
Hearing footsteps coming from the staircase, Marshall spoke into the phone, “I’m busy. Gotta go!” And
then he hung up.
Katherine had on short dungarees and a pair of white sneakers. With her hair tied in a ponytail, she
was looking all charming and youthful.
“...Something,” said Marshall, trying to be vague. After that he added, “I haven't separated from
Katherine yet. Would you stop trying to throw Clara in my direction? What you’re doing would benefit
neither her nor me.”
That made Mrs. Grant silent. She knew what she was doing wasn't exactly appropriate, what with
Katherine and Marshall still being publicly married. But she just couldn't help herself, knowing privately
that Marshall had divorced Katherine and they were no longer obligated to each other. Because Clara
was a terrific woman, and everybody else did have eyes. She might literally cry out loud if Clara was
somehow taken off the market.
Marshall took a deep breath before he said, “I don’t intend to be a relationship at the moment, so
there’s no need for you to get anxious. Also, can | be in charge of my own life from now on?”
Moving her lips, Mrs. Grant answered only after a long while, “Alright, | get it now.”
Hearing footsteps coming from the staircase, Marshall spoke into the phone, “I’m busy. Gotta go!” And
then he hung up.
Katherine had on short dungarees and a pair of white sneakers. With her hair tied in a ponytail, she
was looking all charming and youthful.
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