Katherine's POV
I had a lot of confessions to make, and I dreaded doing them. I had to get help. I had to tell my friends what was going on and my bosses as well.
I knew they would be disappointed in me but I had to deal with it. I expected that Jack wouldn't accept the child but it still hurt that he didn't.
I had to think of the way forward. I knew I couldn't deal with being a mother on my own, I needed help.
"Will you say what is on your mind and stop wasting our time?" Agatha sighed.
Lisa nodded in agreement. "You said you had something to say."
I squeezed my hands together, wondering how to tell them I was pregnant and needed their support. I couldn't blurt it out again, I already saw how that went with Jack.
I stared up, hoping for an answer from there.
"Katherine." Agatha shouted, losing her temper with me.
I didn't blame her. I sent them a text that I had something to share after work. It's been over two hours and I had only stared at them.
"I am—"
The ring of my phone stopped me. I glanced to the side to check my phone and frowned as I wondered who it was.
"Hello?" I whispered cautiously into the phone.
"Is this the wild cat?"
My heart skipped a beat. I would recognize that voice anywhere in the world. Asides that, he was the only one who knew me by that name. I wondered if I should be annoyed that he chose not to call me by my name even though I already told him.
"This is Katherine." I said to spite him.
What I would really like to ask is how he got my contact?
He snorted. "Fine, Katherine." He said as if he was annoyed that I insisted on my name instead of the nick we had both made up that day.
"Thank you."
I was about to ask what he wanted but he beat me to it.
"Marry me." He blurted out.
"What?" I gasped in shock.
I looked at my friends with wide eyes and quickly took my eyes off them before they asked me what the problem was.
I couldn't tell them and didn't have to make them curious.
"Are you serious?"
"Did you ever think of me as a comedian?"
I blushed. "No."
"Good. I'm serious. Marry me, wild cat, uhm Katherine."
I smiled at his rambling despite how angry I was. Why now? Why was he proposing marriage to me now after sending me out of his office a few hours ago when all I needed was responsibility for our kid growing in my belly?
"What is the catch? Don't lie that there isn't. I know you to be a cold-blooded businessman."
If he winced at what I said, I didn't care.
"I will send a driver to your apartment tomorrow and we will discuss the terms."
"You know my house?"
He snorted like I was stupid. "You aren't the only one who knows how to find someone if you are desperate to do so."
I smiled at his reference to how I found him even though we didn't exchange details the night we met. I refused to point out that I didn't know where he lived but couldn't shake off what he said that struck me.
He was desperate to find me? Why?
I guessed my life was about to take another interesting turn.
I dropped the phone and smiled sheepishly to myself, forgetting that my friends were still with me until I heard their voices.
"What is going on?" Agatha asked.
"Nothing." I cleared my throat.
"Why are we here? You said you had something to say, remember?" Lisa prompted.
I couldn't tell them that I was pregnant and needed their support anymore so I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind.
"I might be getting married, girls." I beamed.
I expected them to smile, move to my side and shower me with congratulations but their reactions were unexpected. They looked at me like they weren't sure of who I was.
"Girls, the way you are staring at me is weird." I winced.
"Because you said something that was weird." Lisa replied.
"You might be getting married? Might?" Agatha pointed out.
I winced. That was a bad choice of word that I used.
I didn't think Jack would have made that offer to me if he didn't mean it.
"I'm getting married." I corrected myself.
"You aren't even in a relationship." Agatha reminded me.
Can they just give up on the questions? I felt like I was in an interrogation room. I felt my nerves jumping and I didn't think that was good for the baby. My hand went to my stomach instinctively.
I decided to end this interrogation. "It's a whirlwind romance. I met him recently and haven't introduced him to you guys because I didn't think that we were stable yet. It turns out that he loves me more than I love him and want to be with me."
It amazed me how good of a liar I had become. I wasn't deluded to think that Jack loved me even though I didn't know why he wanted to marry me.
"Do we know the guy?"
I sighed. They didn't know how to give up. I wanted to lie that they didn't but if I was getting married to Jack, they would know eventually when they come for the wedding. It was better to deal with the drama now and get it over with.
"It's Jack, the bad news you told me not to get involved with that night."
"You got involved with him? I should have known that you weren't up to any good when you stayed behind that night."
"Katherine, you never cease to amaze me."
I sighed. "Can we get over this? You need to agree that you were wrong about him."
"I could never have expected that Jack would be in a relationship at all and want to get married. How did you do it?" Agatha narrowed her eyes at me.
"I never knew you were in a relationship at all."
"I didn't want to make it obvious till I was sure we could make it work." I lied with a huge smile on my face and then proceeded to tell more lies to convince them that I was in a happy relationship with Jack and excited to be his wife.
The next day, I blew out a breath as I waited for Jack's driver to pick me up. I still had ten minutes before the driver would show up but I was too nervous to calm down.
I heard the door bell ring and went out.
"We meet again." His P.A. said as he saw me.
I blushed, hoping he wasn't going to call me wild cat.
"I'm Katherine."
"I'm Taylor."
"Nice to meet you."
"Likewise. The boss is waiting for you."
I wondered if he knew why Jack wanted to see me.
"Let me get my bag."
He nodded and went to the car. I picked my bag, locked the door and went to the car. If I had found Jack's office intimidating the first time I was there, it was nothing compared to how I felt at the moment.
The office was still as cold and intimidating as it was and the guy wasn't at his desk but standing at the window and effortlessly towering over me.
"I'm glad you came." He said, walking toward me.
"I was curious to know what you wanted to say." I said, settling into a chair.
He gave me a smile that he knew I was as desperate as he was.
"I meant what I said yesterday."
"Why? Did you suddenly find out how much you love me when I left your office that day?"
He scoffed. "I don't have time to love anyone."
It didn't hurt because I already knew that. "Why do you want to marry me?"
"My grandfather won't make me his heir unless I'm married and I can't let that happen. I've worked my ass off for years to be in control of the company and I'm not about to lose it."
"What if I don't want to help you?"
"Do you have a choice? I know you can't raise the child on your own and will have to resign soon from where you work when you start showing. Your industry isn't exactly favorable to pregnant women."
I bit down on my lip, hating how right he was. I wished I could tell him I didn't want to be married to him but I already told the girls about him. I couldn't tell them that we broke up after he proposed.
Why did I have a big mouth?
I was annoyed. Part of me had hoped he wanted to marry me because he couldn't stop thinking of his child.
I cleared my throat. "I thought you weren't sure the child is yours."
"I still don't think it's mine but I can't get a woman at short notice to get married to."
So I needed one desperate enough to marry me. I heard the words he left unspoken.
He was a jerk all through and I wondered how I was going to stay married to him.
"What a lucky woman I am." I said with sarcasm.
"You are." He nodded.
I refrained from scoffing, hating how insensitive he was.
He went to his desk, picked up a file and walked back to me. "Here. You should read this and sign when you are done."
"You are to refrain from physical contact except we are in public and it is required." I scoffed after reading and raised my head to look at him. "Why? Are you afraid you will fall for me if I touch you and remind you of how good we were in bed?"
He cleared his throat. "Keep on reading. I only want to keep this strictly business as it is."
"Once Party A has gotten control of the company, Party B is to agree to a divorce and move on with her life. Party A will compensate her for her time and make sure she has more than enough to take care of herself and the baby. In return, she isn't going to be in contact with Party A anymore or insist that she has a child with him."
I blinked back the tears from my eyes. He wasn't ready to accept the child. I wondered what hurt me more. I couldn't say if it was because he thought that I was slutty enough to trap him with pregnancy that wasn't his or that my child wouldn't be acknowledged by his father.
"Are you done reading?" he asked when I didn't say anything after ten minutes.
I nodded. I didn't want to read again anyway. Regardless of what was written then, I was desperate enough to accept everything. If he was going to provide for my child, I had to do it. My child deserved that much.
I signed the file and returned the paper to him.
"Do you have any condition so I can have my lawyer input it there before making it final?"
How about trying to love me?
How about believing me that the child is yours?
How about not asking for a divorce later?
I couldn't say any of my conditions so I shook my head. "I don't have any condition."
"Good. Do we shake hands now?" he said, rising to his feet.
"No physical contact except in public and is necessary, remember?"
He smiled. "I love how fast your mind works. Maybe this marriage wouldn't be so bad after all."
I winced, wondering what I had just gotten my myself into. Maybe I had just walked into a trap and this marriage was going to be hell for me.
I didn't know how I was going to stay married to Jack without falling for him even though I knew I shouldn't.
I had no doubt that I was going to leave with a heart broken into shards by the time this deal was over.
I was falling for the wrong heart.