Marshall carried Katherine into her room and put her down on the bed.
Noon was approaching, and they were both hungry after all the commotion in the morning.
As it was impossible to count on Marshall to cook, Katherine took out her phone. “I’m getting takeout.
What do you want for lunch?”
Marshall had started to head out of her room. Hearing that, he stopped, walked back, sat down on
Katherine’s bed and grabbed her phone.
Options on the food delivery app looked mostly similar. Putting down the phone after a glance, Marshall
suggested, “I’ll ask my people to cook something and send it over. Let’s not order from the app.”
“Sounds good,” nodded Katherine immediately.
Staying where he was, Marshall gazed at the door, as if hesitant about something.
Katherine spoke to change the subject. “I saw Lucas earlier. He told me that your uncle Carson’s
birthday was coming up. Do you want me to show up for the occasion?”
Surprised, Marshall turned to face her. “What did he say exactly?”
Katherine was equally surprised. “Nothing much. He simply mentioned it was going to be Carson’s
birthday soon and they were likely to host the party in the country house. He also asked me to help pick
out a birthday present.”
“You picked out birthday presents together?” Marshall asked, raising an eyebrow.
Irritated by his insinuating tone, Katherine raised her voice. “Yup. He said he wasn’t good at choosing
presents, so he wanted my opinions. You got a problem with that?”
She placed particular emphasis on the last sentence.
Facing Katherine, Marshall’s expression was neutral. “I can’t even ask?”
Standing up, he added, “I don’t really mind you getting close with Hector. But, Kathy, you don’t do that
with Lucas. Even if we agreed that you could choose someone else after our divorce, that someone
does not include a member of my family. You need to understand that.”
Watching him, Katherine understood that. After their divorce, she shouldn’t be involved with anyone
from Marshall’s family, because the Grants simply wouldn’t tolerate that. If she was to associate with
both Marshall and Lucas – well, the Grant family had no intention of turning into the Kennedys.
Snickering, Katherine replied, “You don’t have to tell me. I’m not that stupid, you know.”
Leaning on the headboard, she added, “Moreover, I’m not interested in a Grant at the moment.”
His head slightly turned, Marshall gazed at Katherine for a good while. “You’d better remember what
you’ve just said.”
And then he walked straight out.
Katherine rolled her eyes on the bed. She could not figure out why Marshall was so insistent on
pointing this out to her; it wasn’t like her relationship with Lucas was anything out of the ordinary. Even
though she had helped Lucas choose a present – that couldn’t be interpreted as something gossip-
worthy, could it?
Katherine craned her neck to look at the legs. Dr. Hollis was quite careful with the bandaging, as she
hadn’t felt any pain, only a cooling sensation when the wounds were being cleaned. Now, with the
wounds all covered up, somehow she felt better because she couldn’t look at them.
Lying down slowly, Katherine stretched her legs straight.
Maybe she had become spoiled after spending a year with the Grants. She used to get cuts and
bruises all the time before. She dozed off soon after that.
Marshall had gone downstairs to call Peter, asking him to bring over some healthy food.
Peter was slightly surprised. “Where are you? Aren’t you home?”
“Yes,” said Marshall.
Peter was even more confounded. “Then what are you ordering takeout for? Where’s Kathy? Can’t she
cook?”
“She sustained a mild injury,” inhaled Marshall, “and resting in her room right now.”
“Injury?” asked Peter, taken aback, “what happened? Is it serious?”
“No big deal,” replied Marshall coolly, “her legs got scratched by some broken glass. Should be fine by
tomorrow.”
Relieved, Peter said, “Well then, I’ll go get the food immediately. Wait for me!”
Marshall hummed and hung up the phone. He then sat down on the sofa and stared at the blank TV
screen silently until Peter came over.
Peter entered with an amount of food clearly meant for more than two people. “Where’s Kathy? Get her
downstairs for lunch.”
Marshall glanced at what was in Peter’s hands and headed directly upstairs. He carried Katherine
down as Peter finished setting the table.
Katherine was apparently still sleepy, as she leaned on Marshall’s shoulder with her eyes half closed,
looking slightly impatient. Marshall, meanwhile, didn’t look so happy himself.
Peter spotted Katherine’s leg wounds as soon as he saw her. “Oh god!” he yelled, “what happened to
your leg?”
Katherine groaned as Marshall put her down on a chair.
Peter got close to her. “What exactly did you do to yourself?”
Rubbing her eyes, Katherine answered, “This is the best-case scenario, honestly. When the porcelain
fragment flew towards me, I thought I was getting disfigured for sure! If it wasn’t for Hector, I’d be in
much worse shape than I am now.”
Pausing, Peter asked, “Hector?”
Marshall sat down next to her as he commented matter-of-factly, “If it wasn’t for Hector, you wouldn’t
have gotten hurt in the first place.”
Opening her mouth, Katherine said after some time, “Well, that’s kinda true.”
But Peter was concerned with something else. “You met with Hector Bennett again? You two seem to
be fraternizing quite frequently recently.”
Marshall sneered quietly and was unusually talkative. “Check out her finger.”
Which Peter did, and saw the fairly conspicuous ring encrusted in loose diamonds.
Not knowing the whole story, Peter asked, “Something wrong with the finger?”
Sarcasm was strong on Marshall’s face. “That ring was given to her by one Mr. Hector Bennett.”
“What?” shouted a stunned Peter, “that was from Hector, not you?”
Peter had seen that ring the day they went to negotiate with the landlord of the dessert shop, but he
had assumed that it was gifted by Marshall.
But it was not. Apparently, it was gifted by another man.
How on earth was that acceptable?
Leaning into the chair, Marshall seemed to have thought of something as he snickered. “Might as well. I
for one am looking forward to seeing your strategies to tame the Bennetts play out.”
Scowling, Katherine said, “Are we gonna eat or nah? You guys woke me up when I was sound asleep,
talking about it was time for lunch. Then what are you gossiping about me for, huh?”
Looking in turn at Marshall and Katherine, Peter sensed something wrong and instantly changed the
subject. “Alright, let’s eat. Look at all this stuff I bought! I got the soup specially for you, Kathy. You
gotta drink up because it’s good for your gut health,” Peter said as he served Katherine a bowl of soup.
Marshall picked up his cutlery as Peter sat down next to them and picked up his, too.
“Why are you sitting down?” asked Katherine.
“Did you expect me to watch you eat, after I came all the way over?” answered a confused Peter, “of
course I’m going to eat with you.”
Turning to Peter, Marshall remarked, “I feel like you aren’t afraid of me anymore.”
“I feel so, too,” said Peter, smirking, “in fact, I’m much less scared as long as Kathy’s around.”
Glancing at Katherine, Peter then asked, “Don’t you see, boss, that you’re usually in a good mood
when Kathy’s around?”
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