Chapter 4. What a Mother Can Do For Her Daughter

Katherine POV

I don’t know what to make of his call, or why the sudden need to see me after I signed our divorce papers. 

I have high hopes that Greg had a change of mind. Not about the divorce but about helping Erin.  I knew that there’s no way Greg is going to change his mind about our marriage. 

I had been feeling the gradual change in him since two years ago. I ignored the signs because I trusted him, but now, I realized that I placed my trust in the wrong man. 

A few minutes later, I found myself hesitating outside the cafe where Greg said he would meet me. 

Trepidation filled me before I made up my mind and pushed the door open.

I walked in and instantly saw Greg. 

Thankfully, he was alone.  

“What do you want?” My voice sounded flat when I stopped by Greg’s table, but inside, I was nervous. 

I kept clenching and unclenching my hands as I waited for him to take his sweet time placing his phone on the side before deigning to look up at me. 

“You must be in such a hurry to come here this fast.” He commented, smirking. 

Greg did not invite me to sit, and let me stand on the side of the table.

“Lucas was determined to fire me.  The HR had been harassing me.” He said, grimacing as if the admission cost him a fortune. 

“And what does that have to do with me?” I asked, frowning, unable to get his intent. 

At the back of my head, I kept thinking that he deserved it and more for what he did to me and my daughter. But I kept my mouth shut and waited for Greg to continue. 

Greg sighed, placing his clasped hands on top of the table. It was only then that I noticed his familiar checkbook and pen. 

My heart started to race fast. 

Greg followed my line of vision and grinned. 

“I know that you are in desperate need of my money for your brat’s surgery.  Benny called me.” 

He was referring to his bank manager friend, whom I approached earlier, but what made me furious was how he addressed my daughter - like she was some vermin.

“She has a name, and you are her father.” I told him bitterly. 

"That is something I regretted, but let us not belabor the point." Greg said dismissively. 

Then, he pulled the checkbook toward him and picked up the pen alongside it. 

“I am willing to pay the hospital provided that you come to Lucas to beg on my account. Tell him everything was your fault.  You pushed me to have an affair with Noreen because you are busy with your sick child.” 

My jaw slackened at the audacity of this man.  After cheating on me and dumping me right after, he had the gall to demand that I take the blame for everything.  That it was actually my fault to be cheated on. 

Greg finished signing the check. He peeled it from the booklet and left it on the table. 

“I am expecting you wouldn't fail me, Katherine,” Greg said before standing up and leaving me gawking at the check.

My hand trembled when I picked it up, feeling a pinprick in my eyes.  

Geeg’s callousness added to the desolation I felt. 

Then, I received another call from the hospital, urging me to hurry. 

I took a deep breath when I stood awkwardly outside Lucas Sanders’ office.  

“I am here to see Mr. Sanders,” I informed Dan Burns, his assistant. 

“Lucas is with someone right now.  Are you willing to wait, Mrs. Combs?” He told me politely. 

I winced at the name he used to address me, but correcting it required an explanation I am unwilling to go through. 

Instead, I nodded and clutched my bag where I kept the check for my daughter’s surgery, scared I would lose it.  

Dan pointed me to the waiting lounge, but then, the door to Lucas Sanders' office opened, and he walked out with a man.

They sported the same height and frame, but Lucas looked more authoritarian. 

When the man glanced in my direction, a frown formed on his face. His reaction confused me, but I dismissed it because I don’t remember meeting the man before. 

Before he left, the man stole another look before shaking his head. When he turned around a corner, Lucas Sanders shifted his cold gaze to me.  “What do you want, Katherine?” 

The sound of his voice, deep and sincere, made me question my motives for coming here. But I can’t back out now. 

Greg already paid me to do this. 

I squared my shoulders, swallowed my hesitations, and addressed him.  “Can we talk?” 

Lucas Sanders pointed to his office and let me precede him.  Then, he closed the door and locked it.

“What do you want to talk about?” He asked, sitting down on his executive chair. 

Our eyes met and I  nervously licked my lips because it had suddenly gone dry. 

“Can you not fire Greg?” I blurted out and bit my lip when I saw how his body stiffened.

Even with our distance, I could feel the displeasure coursing through his body. 

I shook my head, realizing that it had been a bad idea coming here. 

If there was one thing I knew about the man, he was fair. He punishes and rewards people equally. 

Personally, I am wary of him, but his moral standards made him a person to be reckoned with, a respectable man in the business. 

But I had to try. For my daughter. 

“Please, Mr. Sanders.  Don’t fire Greg. The company is all he has.” 

Lucas Sanders whistled in disbelief, but I could see his jaw twitching in anger.   

“I can’t believe that after all he has done to you, you are still taking his side. The man abused your trust.  He used you, and yet you are here begging me for his welfare.  Such devotion and love for a worthless man, Katherine.” His tone was insulting, but the way my name rolled out of his lips sent shivers up my spine.

I bit my lip and bowed my head in shame. 

“I am not doing this for Greg.  I am doing this for my daughter. She was in the hospital and I needed Greg’s money to pay for her surgery.” I admitted.

“She is his daughter, too. Isn’t he supposed to support her medical needs?” 

Lucas' question made me falter.  How can I admit to him that Erin was not Greg’s daughter when her conception had always been blurry to me.  All I knew is that I woke up from the hospital bed and they said that I was pregnant. I don’t know who her father was. 

Tension filled the room.  I peeked at Lucas Sanders to see his body taut in sudden fury.

I stepped back nervously when Lucas Sanders abandoned his executive chair and walked toward me like a predator ready to snare his prey. 

“Your husband is a j*rk.”

“We are divorced.” I told him reluctantly and saw his jaw clenched. 

“At least, you had the sense to divorce him.” 

I shook my head to correct him.   “It was Greg who divorced me.” 

I winced when I heard Lucas Sanders expel an expletive. 

“So, not only did he divorce you, but he pulled out his support to your daughter.”  Lucas bit out. 

“I needed Greg’s money for my daughter's operation.” I admitted as shame gripped me. 

Silence pervaded in the room.  Nothing could be heard except the hum of the air conditioner. 

Then, Lucas Sanders sliced through it and it shattered into tiny million pieces.

“If you can do anything for the sake of your daughter, then do it with me." He barked, making me flustered and out of sorts. 

“I don’t understand.” I mumbled nervously, a frown forming on my face. 

Our eyes connected, adding to the tense atmosphere. 

My heart thumped fast.  

I wanted to pull my eyes away,  but couldn't.

"If you need money, then take my money. It was better than taking money from your cheater ex!” He spat out. 

I did not get why he was so furious with me taking money from Greg. He was my ex-husband anyway.

His reaction stumped me.

Then, I was surprised when he pulled my chin toward him. 

Everything happened so fast that I found Lucas Sanders’ head swooping down to capture my lips in a searing kiss that made the hairs on my neck and arms stand on end.