Chapter thirteen
Derek frowned, so she was the lady arranged for him by his mom, his eyes traveled down her frame, not bad, good looking but what was she doing here? No doubt his mother must be behind this, he wondered what she was up to, "what are you doing here?" He demanded and she gestured inside, "can we talk inside? Or do you want more press confrontation". Derek eyed her for a moment before paving way for her to enter the house." so, we are inside, can you now tell me why you're here?"She sat down and crossed her legs slowly and seductively, her gaze inviting, Derek's eyes followed the movement."Can I get something to drink at least?" Derek felt impatience with her but kept his cool as he brought out a glass and a bottle of wine, he made attempt to pour out the drink but she stopped him, "won't you drink with me, it the least you can do for ditching me" Derek made no reply as he simply went to get another glass for himself, she had already opChapter fourteenKathleen paid the cab and ran inside, her heart pounding as cry threatened to erupt, she had run away from an abusive relationship only to see herself getting hurt in another, maybe she was cursed to everlasting sadness and a life filled pain, no one loved her, even her dad doesn't, her mom who would have been there having chosen a man over her, her friend betrayed her with her fiance, she felt as if she was condemned to a life without love, it's her destiny and she had to accept the fact, she needed to clear her head, she needed space to think upon her life and get rid of the pain, she changed into a summer dress, she needed to take a walk, maybe visit the beach or something, she doesn't care, she just needed to get away for a while."Where the heck are you going to be dressed like that?" Marcella's voice stopped her as she was about to step out of the house, she frowned and stared at her cloth, it was a simple gown, she doesn't feel like wearing those ex
Derek entered the room to see Kathleen already set for bed, she didn't say anything to him when he entered and he wondered what was going through her mind, he quickly took a shower and climbed the king-sized bed, she was lying with her back to him and he laid down, facing the other side so that they were lying back to back. This was the first time he was sleeping at home since their marriage, he knew he had hurt her with his action, but she shouldn't expect anything from him, this marriage was a sham from the beginning and he was starting to think he had made a huge mistake in agreeing to marry her, he wasn't fit to be a husband to someone, he would just end up hurting her, perhaps he should tell her he can't do this anymore, he turned to his side, facing her back, she looked so soft and he fought the urge to run his hands down her smooth skin, he wondered what must have prompted her to flee on her wedding day and getting married to a total stranger for protection, no, she had come
Kathleen ran into the room and locked the door behind her, she leaned on the door to steady her shaky legs tears flooding her eyes, she put her palms on her chest, it felt as if it was about to burst open with the pain, she choked on a sob as she slides on the door as theears came running down her cheeks, how could she be so delusional? She had almost given herself to him just a few hours ago and in the space of a heartbeat, he was in another woman's arms, what was it that that lady said? He thought of her as pitiful and saw her as an obstacle between him and his love, her heart aches as it threatened to burst with emotions, she had naively thought he felt something for her just a moment ago and had allowed herself to be carried away by emotions, she burrowed her head between her knees as she allowed the tears to flow freely, she ignored the sudden pounding on the door for her to open the door, she just wanted to hide."Kathleen, open this door right now" his voice thundered fr
Derek opened his eyes the next morning, he tried to sit up but the exploding pain he felt had him falling back to the bed, he groaned aloud holding his head."That's what you get for drinking too much, the aftereffect is always bad" Kathleen came in carrying a tray, the smell of freshly made coffee filled the room, she helped him up with a hand underneath his head, "here drink this" she gave him the coffee which he drank with relish, " thanks" he handed the cup back to her when he was through, " you could have sent the maid to bring it" he avoided making eye contact with her, he knew he must look a mess right now, he touched his swollen cheek, served him right, he thought as he winced at the pain, she said nothing, she simply removed his hand and placed some ice pack on it, "ouch" he winced again trying to move his face away."Be still, you didn't think of the pain when you involved yourself in a fight, what were you thinking?" Her sharp tone had him sitting still li
"I am throwing a party tomorrow, to officially introduce you to the world as my wife" Derek informed her over dinner and Kathleen almost choked on her meal, a party for her? Does he really wish to introduce her as his wife to the whole world? A party means the press will pick it up and all those his ladies might be present, does it really matter? He would be introducing her but she would not think much about it, She preferred her low-key life, she loves being anonymous, she doesn't want to be dragged into his limelight, Derek was staring at her, " what do you think?" He asked in-between bits, it was the first time he was having dinner at home since their marriage and he must admit, it felt good.Kathleen shrugged, putting down her spoon, " I don't like it" she stated and for a moment he looked confused, he thought she would be happy, every woman wanted to associate with him, why was she always different? " What do you mean by you don't like it?"" I don't want to be dragge
Derek's yell made heads turned towards their direction and Kathleen felt like the ground should open and swallow her to save her from this embarrassment, she felt like running away but before she could put those thoughts into action, Derek grabbed her hand, as if he knew exactly what she had planned to do.Christine didn't waver at his tone, she kept her smile in place and repeated, "congratulations"Derek tone lowered but not less deadly, "I asked what you are doing here" he repeated, Kathleen was also wondering what she was doing here, Christine turned to the guests, "attention everyone, I have something to say" Derek's eyes narrowed on her as he wondered what she was up to, Kathleen tried to remove her hand from his grasp but he just held on tighter, he looked at her briefly, "I won't allow you go anywhere, you'll mark your place in my life publicly, don't worry about her, I'll handle it"Did she hear him right? He wanted her to mark her place in his life? Sh
Derek's yell made heads turned towards their direction and Kathleen felt like the ground should open and swallow her to save her from this embarrassment, she felt like running away but before she could put those thoughts into action, Derek grabbed her hand, as if he knew exactly what she had planned to do.Christine didn't waver at his tone, she kept her smile in place and repeated, "congratulations"Derek tone lowered but not less deadly, "I asked what you are doing here" he repeated, Kathleen was also wondering what she was doing here, Christine turned to the guests, "attention everyone, I have something to say" Derek's eyes narrowed on her as he wondered what she was up to, Kathleen tried to remove her hand from his grasp but he just held on tighter, he looked at her briefly, "I won't allow you go anywhere, you'll mark your place in my life publicly, don't worry about her, I'll handle it"Did she hear him right? He wanted her to mark her place in his life? Sh
Derek came out of the bathroom to see Kathleen standing by the door as if waiting for him to be out, droplets of water ran from his hair to his chest and for a moment she stood there drooling and Derek chuckled, "do you need something wife?" His tone held a double meaning and she looked away blushing."You can't stop me from being friends with Stefan" she finally recalled while she was waiting for him, Derek raised a brow at her, "what's it about him that you're so fired up to become his friend?" His blue eyes drilled hers."Because he's nice and is offering his friendship" she retorted"There are other nice ladies out there to be friends with," he said cooling, drawing out the ladies."So I'm not allowed to make male friends but you are allowed to keep female friends?" She fired at him and he looked at her, "I'm a playboy so it's allowed but you're not a Playgirl so it does not allow".Kathleen brow furrowed, "you take much pride in bearing playboy don't you?"Der
Derek was blindfolded by a man as soon as he got to the address and was led into the building, the blindfold was removed when he was inside and the sight that befell him made his heart sink, he, first of all, saw just the gun pointed at Kathleen's head, his eyes traveled the arms that held the gun and anger lit his eyes, "Dave? How dare you?" He whispered furiously and took a step towards him but he was kicked hard by the man who brought him in and he fell in his face, "this is no time for you to get angry son" Marcella's voice said from behind him a split secondbefore she came into view, "you're behind the kidnapping?" Derek whispered unable to believe what was before him, "how dare you" he gritted"I dare" she replied furiously, "and you must do everything I say if you want to keep her alive"What do you want?" He stared at Marcella angrily and she smiled, "now you're talking" she brought out some papers and threw at him, "it's simple, sign these documents st
It's been two days since Derek had returned from the hospital, he thought about the day Kathleen was abducted and his heart constricted painfully, he had lost three people so close to him in one day, his driver had died that day and Geoffrey, although still alive may never be able to walk again and Kathleen, God, she is now in an unknown destination, perhaps dead, but he doesn't want to think of her dead, she has to be alive, that's the only way he could live, without her, there's no life. He has been called from the rehab center to go and pick up his father, it would have been an I deed memorable and joyous day if only Kathleen was around but he felt hollow and empty inside, he was good for nothing because he wasn't able to protect her. the police were trying their best but he couldn't help but feel that they are wasting so much time in bringing his wife back to him, he has to do something, he has to find her but where could he start from? He was on his way to get his old man when
Derek struggled to open his eyes, there were buzzes and lots of noise, he opened his eyes and squinted against the daylight, he vaguely realized that he was moving and people were surrounding him, he was on a stretcher and soon he was placed inside an ambulance, someone must have informed the police, Kathleen, those men have taken her, he tried to sit up but fell back as his eyes shut, trying to withstand the pain he was feeling on his head, "please don't try to move, you're greatly injured" a medic tried to hold him down, "Kathleen.. " he tried to pronounce her name but his mouth was too heavy to obey him, he was drifting and he fought against the wave, he had to get to Kathleen, "find Kathleen" he rasped before the darkness dragged him under. "I told you not to do anything to Derek" Marcella's angry voice made the men shift on their feet with their heads bowed, she had met with them after they had taken Kathleen to where she had instructed them, she was furious, if a
Kathleen was happy that she would soon be home, the doctor had told her that she would be discharged later in the day, she had missed Derek and although he was never scarce in the hospital, she had missed cuddling up with him at night and waking up in his arms, Derek had told her the previous day that his father has improved a great deal and would be home anytime soon, she smiled when she thought about her father-in-law coming back home, he had been unstable and immobile since she got married to Derek, she was happy she would finally meet him in good state of mind. Her thoughts wandered to Marcella and Dave and her face darkened, as far as they are in that house, they'll always pose a threat but she doesn't think Michael Deloux would let Marcella off the hook that easily this time around, Nicole had been sent to prison and she believed very soon Marcella would join her there, they deserved to pay for all their crimes.The man in the room besides Kathleen watched as she was pi
Derek dashed down the stairs, taking it two at a time, he ran into Mary who was carrying drinks to the sitting room, spilling it all over him, she would have fallen if he hadn't held her by the shoulders to steady her, "I'm sorry" he quickly apologized. She observed him for a second, "is everything okay Sir? You look pale" Derek shook his head, his head pounding furiously in his chest, "I just got a call that my wife is in city memorial hospital, she's been shot""What!" She gasped, completely dropping the tray holding the glasses of juice and tears immediately brimming in her eyesWithout waiting for Mary's response, he dashed off and heard her vaguely saying to him to change his clothes and also Marcella running towards her and asking her what happened, without beckoning to his driver, he got into the driver's seat and drove away.He wasn't allowed to go into Kathleen's room when he got to the hospital as she has been prepared for surgery, he watched Kathleen throug
Kathleen had gone to visit Michael Deloux, the old man seemed sober and she decided to ask him who gave him the dose back there in the other facility and his description of the culprit only confirmed her thoughts, it was Nicole, she was behind this, why would she do that? She decided on a whim to pay Nicole a visit, she had to find out her motive for doing such. Nicole was still staying in the house that was gifted to Kyle by Derek, she opened the door just as Kathleen was about to knock, "well, well, look who is here" she smirked as soon as she opened the door and saw Kathleen, her eyes going cold, she stared at Kathleen with so much hate that Kathleen shivered, " what are you doing here?" She hissed at Kathleen, ignoring her, Kathleen pushed her way in, " I am here to know what you will gain if Derek's father relapsed""I don't understand what you mean by that, please, leave my house"Of cause, you know what I'm talking about and I'm not leaving here until I get an answe
Kàthleen went downstairs the next morning for breakfast to see only Dave seated on the table, she immediately turned to go back in but before she could take two steps, he was fast to go round the table and stood in front of her, blocking her exit."Get out of my way" she gritted"Or else what? He smirked taking two steps towards her and she unconsciously moved backward, he kept coming on to her and she kept moving until her back touched the table, "what the hell do you think you're doing Dave?"What does it seem like?" He asked bringing his head closer to her, she placed her palms on his chest and pushed, fuming in anger, she docks and slide out from beneath him and had almost made her escape but his hand quickly snaked out and dragged her back, forcefully placing his lips on hers, Kathleen bit down on it so hard that she drew blood, he yelped in pain as he pushed her away, Kathleen spat out the blood, heaving furiously and she stared at him through narrowed ey
Kàthleen couldn't have heard it wrong, could she? His wife? So he had gone ahead and married her once best friend, she felt pain in her heart as old wounds were opened, ever since she had run away on her wedding day, she hadn't allowed herself to think about it and hadn't asked about anyone from her past, so she had absolutely no idea that Tasha was married to Dave but in just a matter of days, ghosts from her past kept popping up, first it was her parents, then Dave and now Tasha. seeing Dave was enough to shake her but seeing Tasha, her once best friend who betrayed her was like a bitter pill she just couldn't swallow, she had trusted her and confided in her, she had seen Tasha like the sister she never had and had loved her but all she got for her trouble was a stab on her back, she watched as Tasha slowly sat close to Dave, tears unbiddenly welled in her eyes, she just couldn't take the pain, it was too much for her to bear, these shocks she had gotten, all in one day fin
Kathleen felt like she was sitting on a Ferris wheel as her head spun, "what are you doing here? She managed to gasp out and he looked at her mockingly, "visiting my family" she looked confused and stared at Derek who was also staring at her, his expression confused also, "you two know each other" they asked at the same time and Dave laughed out loud, amused at the situation, "well I can do the honor of clearing the confused air" he turned to Kathleen and smiled, "Derek Deloux here is my lovely bro and to you sweet brother, this lady here is my bride" he said simply and Kathleen flinched at his reference to her as his bride, "we didn't get married" she murmured and Dave laughed evilly, clearly enjoying the scene"He's not my brother either and can never be one" Derek gritted out and Dave chuckled some more, wrapping his arms around Derek, "my mother is your father's wife, we're family" Derek shoved him away and Dave snarled " do you think you can keep my mom locked up forever?"