Katherine couldn’t sleep. After tossing and turning in her room forever, she decided to go down, only to
stop in her tracks when she reached the staircase.
Downstairs, Marshall was sitting on the sofa, across from whom sat Kyle.
Kyle was still in his “combat outfit” at the Bennett household, the gold chain on his neck still tasteless
and tacky.
“Hey,” said Katherine, “what are you doing here? Are you here for me? Let’s see the gifts you brought
over, shall we?”
Turning around, Kyle grinned at Katherine. “Gifts? But I didn’t get you one. I thought we could do
without the formalities since we’re so tight.”
Katherine made a face immediately. “You don’t ever get a gift for the patient?”
“Well, I was too worried about your safety to be thorough,” laughed Kyle, “how about this, I’ll make it up
to you the next time I come over.”
Marshall sat at the side with his legs crossed, watching the familiar banter between them, the corners
of his mouth slowly curving into a smile.
So that was Kyle’s type. People had tried to work on Kyle when they wanted to curry favor with the
Haverfords, but the guy was so erratic that it was impossible for them to figure out what he actually
liked.
Katherine jumped down the stairs to sit next to Marshall. “Where were you guys talking about?”
Kyle got a lot more serious at that. “What do you think? Those Bennetts assholes, of course. They
really got me livid today.”
Katherine perked up. “Yeah, I never got the chance to ask, but what exactly was with the Bennetts, and
what did they bully Hector for?”
At the mention of Hector, Marshall couldn’t help but glanced down at Katherine’s finger.
The ring wasn’t all that pretty, honestly. And those small diamonds didn’t look expensive, either.
Sighing, Kyle explained, “It’s probably because of Hex’s position at the company, which has irritated
Patrick and Alexis right from the start. They’ve been trying to find a chance to pick a fight, and it just
happens to be an off day today and everybody’s home, so it’s the perfect time. I think it started with
them talking shit about Hex’s mom, and then Hex punched Patrick.”
Speaking of which, Kyle sighed regretfully. “He threw just one punch. What a wasted opportunity! He
should’ve hit Patrick a lot more times while he was at it.”
Turning around, Marshall stared out of the window, his eyes squinted.
Katherine nodded. “Patrick slapped the table and yelled at me last time I went to Bennet & Co. I
would’ve beaten him senseless if I were strong enough.”
Her eyes opened wide with anger as she spoke, and her cheeks were bulging. As such, she wasn’t
scary at all, but looked a bit silly instead.
Staring at Katherine, Kyle tusked and abruptly changed the subject. “I always thought someone had to
be incredibly lucky to marry a good guy like Marshall. But the more I look at Kathy, the more I find
Marshall to be the fortunate one. He’s one hell of a lucky bastard to be able to marry you.”
Katherine turned to Marshall. Was Marshall a good guy? Probably so, since he never fooled around
with anyone else even though he didn’t love her. But even if he was a good guy, he didn’t make her
happy.
Taking her eyes off Marshall, Katherine smiled lightly. “Well, that was very truthful of you.”
Marshall sneered silently. It was his good fortune to marry her? Well, some fortunate it was.
With Katherine present, the details of what they were talking about ought to be spared, so Kyle started
talking about the Bennetts’ past.
According to him, Kevin Bennett had been a lothario when he was younger, having had a string of
dalliances out of wedlock. Among them were Hector’s mother and Ariel Kingsey, but they were by no
means the whole picture. Other women came and went without leaving behind a trace of their
existence, but these two were memorable, one for giving birth to Hector, the other for marrying into the
family. Hector’s mother, clearly not cut out for this, was eliminated from the competition halfway, while
Ariel, the master schemer who eventually outsmarted Kevin, succeeded in writing her name onto the
marriage license.
Smacking on her thigh, Katherine asked, “What did Grandpa Bennett say about the whole thing? Did
he have Hector’s back? Hector wouldn’t be leading such a miserable life were it not for him.”
“That dotard?” tusked Kyle, “he wanted nothing more than to be the peacemaker, and he refused to
take a stand today. I ended up chewing him out and pissed him off to no end, and I only started feeling
better after that.”
Nodding curtly, Katherine was equally exasperated. “Wait till the old fogey makes my acquaintance. I’ll
teach him manners.”
Still angry, she supplemented, “And the whole Bennett gang, too. I’ll make them behave.”
Pausing, Marshall turned to watch Katherine, who was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, looking
indignant.
“Right? I thought so, too! You would’ve wiped the floor with those bastards if you had the chance.”
Marshall took another gander at Kyle with a deep frown. “Is that right? You’re sounding very sure of
yourself,” he said coolly.
Finding courage out of nowhere, Katherine nodded surely. “I’m sure of my powers, yes.”
Blindly confident, Kyle agreed with her. “You could test them out if you have the chance.”
Marshall’s expressions darkened. If she had the chance?
Kyle, being the idiot that he was, was completely oblivious to Marshall’s anger. Changing the subject,
he said, “I’d wanted to play cards with you today. Well, there goes my plan. I’m feeling an emptiness
that cannot be filled.”
Rolling her eyes, Katherine commented, “What do you own a nightclub for, then? Wouldn’t it be better if
you owned a poker club?”
Kyle cackled. “I thought about it, but I was worried there would be a whole bunch of grannies in my
establishment. That would significantly lower my stock, you know.”
Uncrossing her legs, Katherine stood up and leaned over to pull at Kyle’s gold neck chain. “Do you
even have any stock to begin with?”
Kyle immediately grabbed hold of the chain. “What are you doing? This is an emblem of my status,
okay?”
Katherine let out a string of cheeky giggles as she leaned into Marshall and asked, “Was he wearing
the gold chain when you first met him?”
Marshall watched Katherine’s smiling face for quite some time before looking away and answering,
“Yes.”
Raising an eyebrow, Katherine joked, “And did you agree to befriend him because of this big-ass gold
chain?”
Knowing she was making fun of his tastes, Kyle moved closer and patted gently on Kathy’s thigh.
“What are you insinuating, you minx?”
Katherine inched chuckling towards Marshall to duck from Kyle.
Marshall closed his eyes for a second before he lifted Katherine up and placed her squarely on his
legs.
Caught by surprise, Katherine went silent, while Kyle got on his feet as he roared, pointing a hand at
them, “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Trying to shove your PDAs down my throat? Stop it
right now!”
Holding Katherine in his embrace, Marshall looked supremely calm. “We’re married. This is quite
normal.”
Katherine, on the other hand, was still slightly frozen, mostly because she didn’t expect such an action
to come from Marshall. But she got quite delighted after she came to and looped one arm around
Marshall’s neck.
Facing Kyle, she said, “Think that constituted PDA? Watch this.”
As she spoke, she leaned in and kissed Marshall right on the corner of his mouth.
Marshall watched Katherine’s smiling face for quite some time before looking away and answering,
“Yes.”
Raising an eyebrow, Katherine joked, “And did you agree to befriend him because of this big-ass gold
chain?”
Knowing she was making fun of his tastes, Kyle moved closer and patted gently on Kathy’s thigh.
“What are you insinuating, you minx?”
Katherine inched chuckling towards Marshall to duck from Kyle.
Marshall closed his eyes for a second before he lifted Katherine up and placed her squarely on his
legs.
Caught by surprise, Katherine went silent, while Kyle got on his feet as he roared, pointing a hand at
them, “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Trying to shove your PDAs down my throat? Stop it
right now!”
Holding Katherine in his embrace, Marshall looked supremely calm. “We're married. This is quite
normal.”
Katherine, on the other hand, was still slightly frozen, mostly because she didn’t expect such an action
to come from Marshall. But she got quite delighted after she came to and looped one arm around
Marshall’s neck.
Facing Kyle, she said, “Think that constituted PDA? Watch this.”
As she spoke, she leaned in and kissed Marshall right on the corner of his mouth.
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