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5. To Escape A Scandal And To Keep One’s Reputation

Penulis: Ethan Choi
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2024-10-29 19:42:56

“Okay,” Katherine Bennet started with a sigh. “Obviously this was just an accident. You thought I was Paris so you came here. So the easiest way to fix this would be to tell everyone that you thought I was her.” When he had not said a word, she looked up to meet his eyes. 

Finally, he opened his mouth and answered her in his thick British accent, “I can not do it.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Well, for once, she is married.”

She stared at him as if he had just informed her that the planet Earth was round. “So? Did you just find that out now?”

William stared at her with an incredulous look on his face. “No, I knew that but I mean, I can not admit it in the open. That would mess things up.”

Only then did she realize what he had meant. If he admitted it in the open about his relationship with Paris, that piece of information would crush her best friend, Jaxon. “You are right. What happened between you and Paris,” she said, sounding helpless, then shook her head, all of the sudden feeling exhausted with everything, "those are on you two but I am not going to sit tight and watch my best friend suffer from a heartbreak." 

“I agree even though my reason is not that noble.” William took a seat next to her and she tried her best not to scoot away.

“Anyway, I have my reasoning and there is a great deal at stake, and I will not allow the malice of an angry woman to mess things up.”

She quickly asked. “Angry?”

“You must be aware, I suppose, that Paris must have trapped us into this.”

“No,” she snapped. “Why would she do that? I did not even know that you two were together until you arrived yesterday and I saw her reaction.”

“Then you also probably do not know that I have ended the relationship two weeks ago.”

“Ended it?” Katherine stared at him, feeling confused. “That was not the impression you gave a few minutes ago when you entered my room.”

“This was to be the last time,” he said, shrugging. "And one does not wish to disappoint a lady.”

“Oh, really?” She rolled her eyes. “Maybe you should have remembered the risk you were running a little earlier and stayed in your own room.”

“Hindsight,” he said, “is a miraculous gift. Besides, the invitation I received was most pressing.”

Katherine could feel her face start to warm up as she recalled just how sure he had been of his welcome. “I seriously do not want to hear about it.” She took a deep breath. “Still, I do not know why would she try to trap us. How did she plan this? I had no intention of spending the weekend here. I only came because Jaxon asked me to come and keep an eye on her.” She spread her hands on her thighs and looked down at her hand. “Even if she wanted revenge by setting you up, why did she have to involve me? It is weird.”

His voice was expressionless. “She may have had her own reason.”

“Well, I can not imagine what it could be.” Katherine took a pause and swallowed a lump in her throat. “Anyway, how did she know that you would be here?”

He frowned, seemingly to be deep in thought before he replied, “I probably mentioned it when it seemed not to matter. I forget.”

“A costly lapse,” she commented as she could not help herself but blame all of this on him. It was his fault for coming here. She was not at fault. All she had done was sleep in her own, assigned bedroom.

“Precisely.”

Katherine let out an exasperated sigh. “If it was really her then we can assume that she was also the one who alerted everyone.”

“It has to be her,” he agreed. “And what an impeccable timing.”

“If you say so.” She could feel her cheeks heat up as she remembered that the two of them had been naked and their bodies had been against one another. If she blushed any more, she would probably burst into flames. Trying to regain her composure, she tightened her jaw and faced him directly. “Then it is a pity you did not realize your mistake at once,” she said in an icy tone. “You may have spared us both some hideous embarrassment as well as this present ghastly mess.”

“How true,” he drawled. “But a man with a warm, naked girl in his arms does not always think clearly, you understand.”

No, she did not understand, but she did not intend to cause him further amusement by saying so. So instead, she stiffly said, “Anyway, this has happened and I don’t want to be known as one of your conquests.”

His face looked hurt for a split second. “Most girls would say otherwise.” He narrowed his eyes. “Plus, we’ve dated before, Luv. I’m sure if such a list does exist, your name has already been there for a long time.”

“Do not call me that,” said Katherine through gritted teeth. The nickname brought so many memories back, memories that she did not wish to remember. “And my name is not on any list concerning you.”

“Maybe you are right. If by being my conquest means that I have slept with you then, yes, you need not worry, your name will not be there.” His green eyes were mocking her.

“Just tell everyone that you got drunk and accidentally went into the wrong room,” snapped Katherine, starting to lose her patience.

“I don’t think that will convince anyone. When they impolitely came in here a few minutes ago, we both were only wearing a minimum of pieces of clothes. There is also a chance that they might hear you telling me to put on my clothes hastily.” William took a short pause before leaning forward and smiling. “Nonetheless, I think I know how to fix this.”

“How?” Katherine asked curiously. 

Surprisingly, he took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze before she could pull her hand away. He looked deep into her eyes as he said in a low voice, “Marry me, Kate.”

Komen (2)
goodnovel comment avatar
AL!a5
Who trapped them their is the bid question. Haha
goodnovel comment avatar
Anita Herondale
I feel like he's trapping her for marriage
LIHAT SEMUA KOMENTAR

Bab terkait

  • Taming The Wild Duke   6. Deal With The Devil

    “Marry me, Kate.” When she did not say anything, he reiterated, “Marry me and it will solve our current predicament.” William looked at his ex-girlfriend and tried his best to maintain the serious look on his face. He fully realized how crazy his suggestion was however he also recalled what his grandfather had said to him a few weeks ago. One more misbehavior, one more bad news about him that would affect the Windsor name, the dukedom of Ashbourne, and he would be forced to hand over his title and would not be a part of the family. In all honesty, William could care less about the money or the title but the last thing he ever wanted was to be disowned by his family. He watched her opening her mouth and then closing it as if she was at loss for words for a few seconds before she finally regained her ability to speak. “Are you crazy? Why would I want to marry you?!" Giving her a mere shrug, he answered, ”Because

  • Taming The Wild Duke   7. A Lover’s Touch

    The next morning, as if she was suddenly awoken from a deep slumber, Katherine finally realized what had been said and done. She was going to marry her rakish ex-boyfriend. How cruel life could be! She had been blessed and happy being the one that had gotten away and now she ended up pretty much in the same place — only that instead of being his girlfriend, it seemed that she had found herself being promoted to his fiancé. For a long moment, dizzy with uncertainty, she stared down at the ceiling. She knew she should wake up and get ready but she simply could not. She dreaded facing reality. She should not have come to this house party and now it was all too late. Forcing herself, she dragged her sleepy legs to the bathroom. A few minutes later, she walked out of the bathroom and heard a knock on her door. She did not have to check the peephole to know that it was William

  • Taming The Wild Duke   8. He Made Her Smile

    Her cell phone rang inside her coat pocket, and without looking at who was calling, Katherine already knew that it was her mother calling again. She had already sent her call to voicemail a few times today, but since it was after five o’clock now, she could no longer use the excuse that she could not pick up the call because she was working. In all honesty, she had no grudge whatsoever against her mother and she actually loved her mother which was why she could not bring herself to tell another lie, knowing fully well that her mother would like to discuss her engagement, or worse, her wedding. She could not tell her mother how much she loved William (which could only explain the rushed engagement) when truly, she had no feelings whatsoever for him. All her feelings were for Jaxon. She could not let her best friend's heart be broken when she could save him from getting hurt. “Hello, Mom,” she greeted and refrained from sighing. “Katherine Elizabeth Bennet,

  • Taming The Wild Duke   9. To Lie to One’s Best Friend

    Katherine could hardly remember the faces that greeted her by the time she had made it to the lobby of the mansion. Yet she could vividly recall Paris, sitting beside Jaxon. Her lips stretched in a smile, but her eyes were burning with anger as William made the announcement with grave pleasure. And when William took Katherine’s hand, glowing with the blue fire of his sapphire, and raised it formally to his lips before putting his arm possessively around her waist, bent her over, and gave her yet another breathtaking kiss, Katherine was quite sure her nemesis wanted to drag her by her hair and push her down the hill. It was indeed an act of sweet revenge, Katherine had to admit. However, lying to Jaxon, her best friend, had been difficult. When he caught her as she walked out of the restroom and asked her what on Earth was going on, she could only smile and tell him, “I am getting married.” “Yes, but to William Edward Harold Windsor?!” He shook his head in disbelief a

  • Taming The Wild Duke   10. Revenge, Dear Old Friend

    Despite her reluctance, William insisted on driving Katherine home and had his driver drive Katherine's car, following closely behind them. “You know I’m perfectly able to drive my own car,” she commented as he was turning on the junction near where she lived. “You don’t need to drive me home.” “I know you’re and I know I don’t need to," he replied as he glanced briefly at her before focusing his eyes back on the road. “Okay, then why did you do it anyway?” The car slowed down until it came to a full stop right in front of her building. “Because I want to.” He undid his seat belt and turned his body so he could fully face her. “You’re my fiancé now, Kate —” “Katherine,” she corrected. “Only my mom calls me Kate.” “Well, I like Kate better than Katherine plus I called you Kate all the time when we were dating back in high school.” He gave a light shrug then continued with his earlier sentence, “Anyway, I was going to say tha

  • Taming The Wild Duke   11. The Other Side of Things

    "Wow, wow, Woah!" Cas leaned forward, a couple of frown lines occupying his forehead. "Are you serious?" "Yes," answered William grimly. "It’s that bad, huh." Cas leaned back against the leathered chair and put his right hand on the armrest. "What did they use this time?" William could pretend that he did not understand what Cas was referring to but at this moment, he didn’t see the point of lying or sugarcoating the ugly truth. "My mother." "Oh, okay, that’s simply cruel." Cas shook his head. He knew very well how much William loved her mother, the only person in his family who did not judge him or to put it bluntly, the only person in his family who actually loved him. William would do anything for his mother and now, he supposed, William's grandfather and father knew that and turned it to their advantage. "I

  • Taming The Wild Duke   12. When We First Met

    William knew that he was not being a good company. Hell, he was well aware that he was not being a good friend. Still, he had not prompted Cas when Cas had said that he wanted to leave. Still, he hadn’t gone after his best friend and apologized. He hadn’t done all of that because he was tired. There were a lot of things in his mind right now and even though that wasn’t a good reason to be a jerk to his best friend, he did it anyway. He swung his legs onto the couch and rested his head on the armrest. With a small sigh, he let his mind bring him back to all those years ago when he had first laid his eyes on Katherine Elizabeth Bennet. He’d met her at a party, a boring as hell party to be exact, although at first, he’d initially thought

  • Taming The Wild Duke   13. A Blast From The Past

    It turned out that the mystery man was none other than Castile Christophe, one of the Crown Boys and William's best friends. Just like William, Castile was also considered a Royalty as he was the grandson of Count Christophe of Firenze.Despite William’s urge to dress nicely, Kate had picked out a simple black cocktail dress and matc

Bab terbaru

  • Taming The Wild Duke   50. Till Death Do Us Part

    Katherine Bennet’s POV

  • Taming The Wild Duke   49. Her Confession

    C H A P T E R 4 9 : H E R C O N F E S S I O N F O L L O W E D W I T H A C C E P T A N C E W I L L I A M

  • Taming The Wild Duke   48. For Better or For Worse

    C H A P T E R 4 8 : H E R C O N F I R M E D S U S P I C I O N A N D T H E E V I D E N T W I L L I A M

  • Taming The Wild Duke   47. Love And Friendship

    Kate stared at her phone with a frown. She had been trying to call William but it went straight to voicemail. She dropped a message to Harry, his personal assistant, and Harry informed her that William was in a meeting with a potential partner. So in the end, she left him a voicemail, informing him that she was on her way to the airport and would fly to Washington D.C. as her mother was injured. “I’ll call you once I land, okay?” She ended the call and held her phone tightly on her lap. She turned to her right and noticed that Jaxon had been watching her this whole time as the car was stopping at the traffic light. “Thank you for taking me to the airport.” Jaxon shook his head. “I’m coming with you.” He shifted his gaze back to the front as the car started to move. “You don’t have to. It’s fine,” Kate reassured him. “No, it is fine.” One of his hands left the steering wheel and held hers. “I am here for you, Katherine.” She looked down at his hand holding hers before casually

  • Taming The Wild Duke   46. Signs of The Storm

    “I said I do not,” William replied with a sigh then tossed his phone on the couch. “Where were you, Kate? I have been losing my mind when I could not reach you.” Instead of getting an answer, he was left alone as she walked into their bedroom. With a frown on his forehead, he followed her inside and watched her strip her clothes off before disappearing into the bathroom. Something was not right. He could feel that something had happened today but his mind could not think of what possibly could happen that would cause so much stress on Kate. He decided that it could wait, all that mattered right now was her. William opened the cupboard and grabbed a towel then knocked on the bathroom door. “Kate, may I come in?” When there was no reply, he added, “I will take it as negative confirmation and proceed if you remain in silence.” He counted to ten before turning the knob and walking inside. He found Kate inside the bathtub her knees were folded. Her arms were hugging her legs while she re

  • Taming The Wild Duke   45. When He Is Worried

    C H A P T E R 4 5 : T H E  L I E S A N D T H E L O V E W I L L I A M W I N D S O R “Kate?” William called for her as soon as he stepped out of the lift and into his dark apartment. With the help of the flashlight from his phone, he guided his way to the lamp switch

  • Taming The Wild Duke   44. Dead and Buried

    Kate rushed to the door the second she heard the doorbell ringing. Opening the door, she sighed a relief once she saw Jaxon’s face. Without giving much thought, she threw her arms around him. She felt his lips brushing the top of her head, planting a small kiss, and her body froze as she realized what she was doing and took a step back. “What happened?” He asked, his voice tight with worries. “I got this in the mail,” she said, pointing at the white box on the counter. Jaxon moved to the counter and took the lid off. He grabbed the note off the dead bird and frowned. “You will end up like that unless you leave,” he read the note and his frown deepened before he glanced at Kate who was now sitting on the couch, hugging her knees. “Do you know what this could be referring to?” She shook her head, her stomach churning and she felt like she might puke anytime soon. The stench from the blood was still there no matter how many times she had rubbed her nose with fragrant oil. She supposed

  • Taming The Wild Duke   43. The Calm Before The Storm

    Three days later, they had already gone back to New York City and in all honesty, Kate could not be more relieved. London had been fun but the last two days she had been there, she had felt as if someone had been watching her every move and it was not a nice feeling. So when they had landed last night, she had felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Both of them had been exhausted when they walked into William’s apartment. She dragged herself to the bathroom to quickly wash up then took one of the extra-large T-shirts from the drawer. Once she had put it on, she walked out of the bedroom just in time as William walked in. “Where are you going?” he looked rather confused. “To the guest room,” she answered, followed by a yawn. He caught her arm, his thumb rubbing against her shirt. “Why don’t you just sleep here with me?” Kate stifled a yawn and failed miserably. “Because I still remember what you told me ages ago, William. You can not sleep unless you sleep

  • Taming The Wild Duke   42. The Resolution of The Misunderstanding

    “But I’m his wife,” Kate told for the third time as she watched Cordelia cross her leg and sip her tea. “I believe you have mistaken my husband for someone else.” “What was your name? Cat?” Cordelia placed her half-full cup of tea back on its saucer and then leaned back on the couch. “Katherine,” Kate corrected. “Well, let me tell you something, Katherine.” The older woman leaned forward, her eyes were sharp. “William is not married. You can call yourself his wife all you want but legally, you are nothing but his mistress while I am is his fiancé and we are going to be married in three months’ time.” She collected her purse and rose to her feet. “If you have any dignity left, you should call it off, break things up with him. No one likes a homewrecker.” Then without waiting for Kate to respond, she strode her way to the front door and left. Kate continued to stare at the door even long after Cordelia had gone. She then glanced down at the cup and its saucer, the very evidence t

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