Katarina We shopped for an hour, and took another hour tour around the city before finally returning home. For the first time since the incident with Christopher, I felt human once again. I was smiling, and my mind wasn't constantly being tormented with sad thoughts. I was happy, and I didn't want this feeling to ever end. Exhausted from all the shopping, I collapsed onto the couch the moment we got home. Joanna on the other hand still seemed full of life, and she immediately opted to prepare lunch for the both of us. I wanted to stop her, but she didn't let me. She had already done much for me, the last thing I wanted was for her to become my own personal maid. However, Joanna and I didn't share the same mindset. She was doing all of this to help, and here I was, overthinking everything the slightest opportunity I got. "Don't worry, it's just a quick snack, I'm not making an all you can eat buffet." Joanna had dismissed when I told her it was best for us to order food. I a
KatarinaAnger flared up inside of me the moment I came to realize the truth. How could Joanna blame me for something I was unaware of. Sure, everybody loved Kylan Anderson. He was the wealthiest man in town, he was a hot shot, and all the girls wanted to be with him. How on earth was I supposed to know that her feelings for him was more than that? I thought she was just like all the girls fanning over him, so how could she blame me for something that wasn't my fault? I hated her for this. If I had known that she genuinely loved Kylan, I definitely would have left him for her. I didn't love Kylan back then, and she knew this. She knew very well that I didn't want to marry Kylan, so why was she here acting like I had stolen him for myself? "You love Kylan?" I asked, I needed to be sure. "Congratulations, you figured it out." Joanna answered, her voice filled with unrestrained sarcasm. "Of course I loved Kylan! Everybody loved him, but you self centered bastard wanted to act like
Kylan I was glad that I had picked up the phone, I wouldn't have been able to hear the lady ordering her men to move Katarina's unconscious body to their hideout at the city docks. Katarina was smart for calling me before she was knocked out, there was no telling what would have happened if she had not called on time. "Who the hell is this?!" One of the men before me questioned with an intimidating stare in his eyes. They weren't scared of me because I was yet to point my gun at them. I wanted to settle everything without involving violence, but after seeing what they'd tried to do to Katarina, I had become too angry to not involve violence anymore. Reaching into my pocket, I immediately pulled out a gun and aimed right at the lady beside me. She seemed to be the one giving orders, and I was certain they would not risk losing her. "Make one more move, and I'll blow her brains out." I threatened, my voice low and menacing. I meant every word I said, and it was very muc
Katarina My life was ending in front of me and I could not do anything. It was draining already and I wanted to end everything and just give up at that moment. Kylan was unconscious on the ground, bleeding from every corner of his body, and the bastards who held me down, wasted no time in attempting to molest me. This was the end for me, it had become clear and I had given up on fighting it. The only man who knew where I was, was currently unconscious, and nobody else knew my whereabouts. I didn't fight them anymore, I couldn't cry even if I wanted to. My tears were all dried up, and currently I felt nothing but despair and hopelessness. Nothing felt right, and all I could do was stare with a blank expression on my face as things gradually got worse. Just then, Kylan began to move again. He had been unconscious a few seconds ago, but now he was moving once more, his eyes bright with determination. The light that once died in me was rekindled, and I immediately regained th
Katarina Two other men immediately followed the lady into the room, and within minutes of appearance, Joanna's henchmen were immediately apprehended. I remained still where I was, unsure of what to do next. This lady might have taken care of Joanna, but there was no telling if she was an enemy or an ally. For all I know, she could be another lady who was obsessed with Kylan Anderson, and I didn't want to give her the feeling that I might have feelings for Kylan. While I was still stricken with shock and fear, I kept my eyes glued on Joanna's lifeless body. Never in my life did I assume that we would get to this point. I never imagined that the person I considered my best friend would ever try to kill me. Staring at her now, I had no idea how to feel. I didn't know if I should be sad, angry or relieved that she was gone. The emotions inside of me were conflicted, and I had no idea how to feel or what to do. I stood there, my mind a tumultuous sea of emotions. Everything tha
Kylan I woke up with a splitting headache, my head was spinning, and my vision was blurry. My body felt numb , and I could barely gather my thoughts. Finally managing to sit upright, I recalled the thoughts of the past events, and only after glancing around did I come to realize that I was in the hospital. "Hospital? Katarina? Where is she, how is she doing?" I questioned myself verbally before attempting to rise from the hospital bed. I hadn't moved much when a nurse entered the room. At the sight of me, she raced out probably to get the doctors. I knew they wouldn't let me leave the room in this condition, so I returned to bed and settled down. I didn't want to cause any problems for them or myself. Minutes later, a doctor accompanied by the nurse that had entered the room earlier walked in. The doctor was a middle-aged man with a kind but serious demeanor. He seemed surprised to see me awake, but at the same time was relieved to see that I was doing well. "How are you fe
Katarina It took a whole week before Kylan was finally discharged from the hospital. I didn't leave his side for a day, and Diana came to visit from time to time. He was getting a lot better, but was yet to make a full recovery. I rose from the bed earlier than usual to prepare breakfast before Kylan could wake up. It had become a daily schedule, one that I had been upholding for the past three days ever since Kylan's discharge from the hospital. He was against me waking up so early, but it couldn't be helped. He couldn't fend for himself well just yet, and I was the only one around who could help with the chores and cooking. I moved quietly through the house, not wanting to disturb Kylan. He wouldn't let me lift a finger the moment he wakes up, and I didn't want to start the day with an argument. Our relationship was already standing on thin ice, and I didn't want to let the rift between us grow any further. It took me half an hour to finish with everything, and Kylan was aw
Katarina It was a quiet and exhausting flight back to Seattle. I slept throughout most of the flight, while Kylan remained awake, sorting our problems with work. By the time we alighted from the plane, Diana was already at the airport waiting to pick us up. I was glad with her punctuality, I might have lost my senses if I had to spend another hour or two waiting for her to come and pick us up. All of this weakness was probably coming from my anxiety, but whenever Kylan asked if I was alright, I would fake a smile and lie that I was fine. He had issues to deal with as well, and I didn't want to dump all of my trauma on him. The both of us had gone through the same ordeal, and he probably had it worse than me. "I'll get the bags, don't worry about it." Diana said before gesturing for me to go inside. She could see through my facade, and she knew damn well that I was more exhausted than ever. I thanked her with a bright smile before walking towards the mansion in front of me. I
Katarina "I'm sorry about everything..." Kylan apologized the moment we got home. There were tears in his eyes, and he didn't fight them back. "I lost touch with reality, I was more focused on work than our relationship, I'm so sorry—" He hadn't finished when I threw my arms around him in a warm embrace, my own tears already flowing without end. I had no idea how to repay him at this point, and I genuinely couldn't think of being mad at him anymore. He had saved me for the thousandth time. "T..thank you so much.." I cried while sniffing back tears. I couldn't even be mad at him for everything, not now, not after what had just happened. If he hadn't shown up when he did, there was no telling what would have happened to me. My own parents had betrayed me, I had been a fool for thinking that they would change, and I had been greatly disappointed. All they wanted was money, and to them I was nothing but a means of getting that money. I didn't matter to them as long as money wasn'
Kylan While my men surrounded the building and handled Diana's henchmen, I went in to search for Katarina. It took a while, slinking through the chaos and searching from room to another. However, after ten long minutes, I finally found her and called out the second I recognized her petite figure. "Kylan!" She cried, jumping up from the couch to throw herself into my arms. Fresh sobs shook her slight frame as she clung tightly to me, but I could tell that these were tears of happiness. "Get away from him, you bitch," Diana snarled and made to take a step forward, only to find herself staring down the barrel of the gun I had taken from one of my guards earlier. "If you take a single step from that spot Diana, I swear to God I will paint this room red with your blood." She froze there, her body stiff as a board and her eyes wide with shock at the sheer vitriol in my voice. That was when I saw the terror slowly creeping into her expression. Her arms sagged helplessly at her sid
Kylan David paused in the middle of his words and stared at me with eyes full of reservations and curiosity. Even though it was dark in the room, I could practically see the gears turning in his mind behind those blue eyes of his. The amount I was offering was not something he was not used to receiving for a job, but the only jobs that involved that kind of money were the ones that carried a very substantial amount of risks. Eventually he sighed and waved for me to follow behind him. The eccentric man made his way through the dark house with the ease of someone who knew every inch of this place very well. I simply followed right behind him to avoid any accidents until we reached the basement where the hub of his activities was located. He sat down on his chair and leveled me with a dead serious glare. "You know, in all the time I've known you, I've always thought of you as some insanely dangerous individual, someone incapable of losing their cool, who is somehow able to kee
Kylan My first thought was to return back to the location I had just come from. In Katarina's letter, she had mentioned that she was going back to her parents, to wait for me until I would come for her. But I had met Ann just a while ago, and the woman basically swore to me that she had no idea where her daughter was. She did not even give any indication of having seen Katarina recently. As everything was simply not adding up, I decided to follow my thoughts and drove back all the way to the house. The moment I turned into the street, I realized that the blue car that had been parked in front of the house when I had been there previously, was now missing. I rushed out of my own car and raced up to the house. Yelling out their names, I banged my fist on the wooden door several times. As soon as I realized that I was not going to get an answer, I drew back a bit and slammed the bottom of my foot on the door, right near the handle. The lock mechanism shattered at the well placed
Kylan Even though I could understand the reason why Katarina would run away from me again, I failed to accept any of the things Diana had said. Katarina's love had been real, and so were my feelings for her. I just could not accept that it was all a lie. I knew I had lost her once before, back when I had been too short-sighted to see past my own needs and wants. But she helped me move past that, and I found myself finally able to truly love someone. That was why I knew with certainty that she would not abandon me so recklessly, even though I had failed to give her the attention she wanted. As I made up my mind and left my room to enter the hallway, I glanced down at the closed door to the guestroom that was just at the end of the passage. Diana was still inside, and I could hear the sound of the shower which meant she would not be out anytime soon. Besides, I was fairly certain that she would not be happy with me putting myself through so much for someone that left me on her
Katarina Mama immediately broke down in tears at the sight of me, and now I felt bad for not coming to visit or reaching out to them sooner. She seemed genuinely concerned for me, and it was clear that the mere sight of me had driven her to tears. Was I the bad one for not calling them, for running away without saying anything? It definitely felt like it, but I managed to push those thoughts away. "Is it really you? Is this you, Kat?" My mother questioned as she reached for my face, slowly caressing and feeling it with her feeble hands. "It's me, mother. There's no need to be afraid, I'm not a ghost." I replied, before gently pushing her hand away from my face. It definitely felt good to see her after all this while. We had our differences, but she was still my mother, and there was nothing I could do to change that. "Why did you leave? Why did you run away, I had been so worried." She cried as she gently allowed me into the house. Memories of my childhood and all the time
Kylan Diana answered the call on the second ring, and I gave her a short explanation of the situation. The more I tried to say, the more it seemed as if my heart was about to shatter within my chest. I ended up leaving the call halfway when my voice began to waver, my grief pushing me to tears that I had not shed in as long as I remember. I sat there, as lifeless as a stone statue, with a multitude of thoughts flashing through my mind. No matter how I looked at the situation, I could only see the many ways I had fallen short of the things I should have done. But there were all the things I had failed at. Everything had been going so well before now, so how could I have made such a terrible oversight? Had my determination to make everything right caused me to be blind to what had been right in front of me? I honestly had no idea how long it took Diana to arrive. I was so out of it that I barely even heard the front door open and close. She called out my name twice, but I had n
KylanAt some point, I was starting to wonder if these papers were somehow multiplying when I wasn't looking. I had already long lost count of the number of hours I had spent behind this desk, working my mind and body to their limits in an effort to get through the files on my desk. It was probably late by now, and I had lost track of time. But yet, as I looked at the stacks across the black wooden surface, it was as if I had yet to make a single dent. I looked down at the document right in front of me, a complex ledger that was detailing a pending transaction of a high enough level of importance that it required the signature of the highest power in the company. I quickly read through it, putting my advanced processing skills obtained through hundreds of hours of effort and experience. It did not take me long to go through the entire document, finding it suitable before I moved to sign at the right places. Just before I could pick up the next document, my phone lit up with
Katarina Once again I was left alone at home. I had listened and heard when Kylan left the house, and shortly after Diana's car drove out of the premises. I was left alone once more, and had completely lost appetite for the food before me. It was becoming exhausting sitting around all day and doing nothing. And thanks to Kylan always being out every time, I hadn't even had the opportunity to discuss my decision to start working. I got out of my room to return the food back to the kitchen. The smell had begun to make me feel nauseous, and I didn't want that anymore. Bored, I toured the house, moving from room to room and checking out anything that caught my attention. However, it was not enough. The clock was ticking especially slow today, and it was slowly driving me insane. Left with no other choice, I dressed up and left the house for the first time in a while. I needed it, being held up in one place was definitely not good for my physical and mental health. I was