Yes—people of their parents’ generation, or those even older than their parents, grew up in very different environments and eras. Because of that, they often weren’t very good at loving others, and it was rare to see them walking hand in hand so affectionately in public.
She certainly had a sharp tongue, but he was no pushover either.
His handsome eyes narrowed slightly as he chuckled and said,
"So what you’re saying is that you’re admitting we’re a couple?"
Before she could respond, he nodded to himself.
"Okay. Then we won’t hold hands."
Riley, "..."
Damn it—this man was a sly old fox. How had she known him for so long without realizing that?
After all that back and forth, she was still the one who got tricked!
So angry she could explode, she shot him a fierce glare, snorted coldly, crossed her arms, and turned her head away, no longer bothering to say another word to him.
If she’d known earlier that he was this cunning and devious, she would have stayed as far away from him as possible.
They took Riley’s car to bert’s place to pick up Catherine, with Ford driving. The moment the car came to a stop and Riley saw Catherine, she flung the door open and rushed out. Ford, following behind, couldn’t help but sigh—this kind of behavior was seriously dangerous.
But Riley didn’t care about any of that. Seeing Catherine standing there, looking utterly desolate, made her heart ache. She ran straight up to her and asked anxiously,
"Cici, what happened? Did Bert bully you?"
Catherine weakly shook her head.
"No..."
How could he have bullied her? He had deceived her.
Leaning against Riley, she broke down again, tears falling as she spoke.
"Riley... why did it turn out like this?"
Riley was about to blow up.
"Holy hell—what exactly did Bert do to you?!"
From a distance, Riley spotted Bert’s car parked nearby. She immediately rolled up her sleeves, ready to go settle the score with him.
It was Ford who stepped forward to stop her.
"She’s not in a very good state right now. Let’s get in the car first."
Riley glanced at Catherine, whose eyes were red and who looked utterly heartbroken. What Ford said made sense, so she helped Catherine into the car. The three of them then drove off.
Riley sat in the back seat with Catherine. When Ford asked where they were going, Riley couldn’t come up with an answer. If they went to Catherine’s place, Renata would definitely notice her condition and start asking questions. If they went to Riley’s home, her mother would be there—and she treated Catherine like her own daughter, so she would ask even more.
Catherine clearly needed some peace and quiet right now. After thinking for a long time and still coming up empty, inspiration suddenly struck Riley, and she said decisively to Ford,
"Take us to a hotel and get a room."
Ford, "..."
There probably wasn’t a single man who would happily take the woman he liked to a hotel to get a room—even if it was with another woman. The optics were terrible. And Riley had some visibility in the modeling world; if rumors spread that she was gay, that would be a mess.
So he quickly suggested another option.
"Why don’t you go to my place instead? I happen to have something to take care of later and will be heading out. You can talk as much as you want—no one will disturb you."
In truth, Ford didn’t have anything to do at all. The only thing he was busy thinking about was how to win her over. He said this purely to stop Riley from taking Catherine to a hotel.
Riley agreed readily.
"Alright."
Then she added,
"Thanks."
Ford didn’t say anything out loud, but inwardly he was thinking: no need to thank me—just pay me back with your body.
Ford drove them to his place, poured hot water for both of them, and then left. Riley immediately hurried over to Catherine and asked,
"Cici, what exactly happened?"
Catherine’s voice was dry and hoarse.
"Bert is the man from two years ago..."
Riley was completely stunned.
"What?"
She stared hard at Catherine. After confirming that she wasn’t joking, there was a long pause before Riley suddenly said,
"Isn’t that a good thing? If he’s that man, then your first time was with the man you love. That’s great! You should be celebrating!"
Riley was naturally optimistic—she always tried to look at things from the bright side. So after hearing Catherine’s words, this was the very first thought that came to her mind.
In fact, Catherine had thought about all of this as well. Yet her heart was still tangled in pain. Part of it was because of his deception—he had known who she was from the very beginning but chose not to say anything. Another part was because Catherine couldn’t help but doubt whether what he felt for her was truly love, or merely sympathy and guilt born from that night two years ago.
Catherine poured all of these conflicted feelings out to Riley. Riley couldn’t help frowning as she listened.
"Yeah... for example, when he helped treat Renata in the beginning—he probably did that because of what happened between you two back then, right? After all, before that, you’d had no contact at all."
At the time, Riley had simply assumed that Bert had fallen for Catherine. Who would have guessed that they’d already been entangled two years earlier?
After Catherine calmed down, she kept turning these things over in her mind. From their very first meeting at the hospital—when he stepped in to help her and subtly cornered Lucca—to every small interaction that followed, she replayed it all, piece by piece. But the more she thought about it, the more she felt that all of his feelings for her stemmed from that night two years ago. The more she thought, the more convinced she became that he didn’t truly love her at all...
That realization plunged her into despair.
The two of them fell silent for a moment. Then Riley deliberately lightened her tone and tried to comfort Catherine.
"Alright, stop torturing yourself for now. Just lie low and don’t do anything. If he really does like you, he won’t be able to hold back—he’ll come to you first. When that happens, you can listen to what he has to say."
If there hadn’t been that night two years ago, Catherine and Bert’s relationship could easily have been summed up as a domineering, powerful man falling in love at first sight with a Cinderella-like girl, helping her in every possible way, winning her heart, and then flying off together into a happily-ever-after.
But once that night was involved, everything became blurred and uncertain. Neither of them knew what Bert was truly thinking, nor could they guess his motives.
They couldn’t tell whether all of Bert’s care and devotion toward Catherine came from guilt over the past, or from genuine love.
So in the end, the only way to resolve it was to wait for Bert himself to give them an answer.
As for Bert, after watching Catherine leave with Riley, he drove back and parked his car again, then got out and headed home. On the way back, he was still drawing plenty of attention—but he kept his eyes forward and walked on calmly.
A blast of cold wind hit him head-on, and he couldn’t help sneezing.
Bert had a feeling he was about to catch a cold. No matter how good one’s constitution was, walking around in weather like this dressed the way he was would make anyone sick. Not to mention that he’d had the heater blasting in the car—stepping out into the freezing air all of a sudden, the temperature difference alone was enough to take its toll.
Once home, he took off his coat and went straight into the bathroom, where he gave himself a cold shower.
Yes—this time, he was definitely going to catch a cold.