Chapter 9
1189 Words
Travis
"f**k!"
Travis cursed as he finally decided to open his eyes, his btows furrowed in annoyance. No matter what he did, he still couldn’t fall asleep. And every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was Catherine’s fac, the pain and sadness in her eyes as she wiped the fallen ultrasound photo after being startled by his voice.
Her eyes where red she looked up at him, it seems that she is stopping herself from crying. The fear in her gaze as their eyes locked. And no matter how hard he tried to force the image out of his mind, he just couldn’t. It kept him awake. Even with his eyes open, it was all he could see.
Catherine's pain and sadness in her eyes.
Travis couldn’t explain what he was feeling at that moment. Because aside from the anger, there was something else, something he couldn't quite name.
He started feeling it the moment he saw the sadness and pain in Catherine’s eyes as she stared at the ultrasound.
Maybe it was guilt.
Honestly, he wasn't even referring to the ultrasound photo as trash. What he meant was the paper bag that had fallen to the floor. He hadn’t realized the ultrasound photo had fallen too when she got startled by him.
"f**k!" he cursed once again, louder this time. He shook his head in frustration, trying to clear his thoughts.
And since Travis couldn’t sleep, he decided to get up from bed.
He walked over to the table where a bottle of liquor was placed. There was already a glass there, so he poured himself a drink and downed it in one go. Still unsatisfied, he poured another and continued drinking until he had nearly finished half the bottle.
He only stopped when his head began to ache and his head started spinning. That’s when he decided to return to bed. And it seemed the alcohol helped, because he finally fell asleep as he closed his eyes.
Travis woke up the next morning with a pounding headache.
"f**k!"
He had been cursing all night, and now the first word out of his mouth was another curse.
Even though he had slept late, he still woke up early, when he checked the time, it was only six in the morning.
Travis got up from bed. His mouth felt dry and he needed water, so he decided to step out of the room.
As he exited, his gaze was immediately drawn to Catherine’s closed door. He wondered if she was already awake.
His brows furrowed as he realized what had just crossed his mind.
What the f**k is he thinking? And why the f**k is he thinking of her?
He shook his head, still frowning, and turned his gaze away from the door before continuing to walk.
He was on his way downstairs when he saw Catherine.
He noticed she was holding a glass that appeared to have hot milk, as steam rose from it. He also noticed she was walking slowly and carefully.
Travis couldn’t help but glance over her outfit, she was wearing a loose t-shirt that barely reached halfway down her thighs, exposing her flawless and white legs.
And despite the looseness of the shirt, he could still make out the curves of her body as she walked.
His jaw clenched when his eyes shifted to her chest. His vision was sharp—he could clearly see her n*****s showing through the fabric. She clearly wasn’t wearing a bra for pete sake! And why is she walking around the mansion without wearing a bra?
And what is this feeling? His body feel hot all of sudden?
Moments later, she seemed to sense his presence and looked up in his direction.
When their eyes met, he noticed her gulp repeatedly. The fear was back in her eyes when she saw him. And instead of continuing up the stairs, she took a step back, which caused the hot milk to spill onto her hand.
His brows drew together as he saw her wince in pain.
Catherine looked up at him again, and once more he saw the fear in her eyes.
Instead of continuing up the stairs, she turned around and walked the other way.
Travis couldn’t help but clench his fists as he watched her retreat, his eyes narrowing sharply.
It was obvious Catherine was avoiding him.
And how dare she avoid him like that? What right did she have to avoid him?
If anyone had the right to be upset, it was him.
He was the one who should be giving her the cold shoulder, not the other way around.
His knuckles turned white from rage. He took a deep breath to calm himself.
Travis resumed walking. His expression didn’t change as he went straight to the kitchen for a drink of water.
"--We might get scolded again."
Before he could step fully into the kitchen, he heard Lily’s voice. He immediately turned toward her—her back was to him. He also saw one of the housemaids rushing out the back door.
As soon as the woman left, Lily turned around—and she looked completely shocked to see him, like she’d seen a ghost. Her face is white like a paper. But she quickly composed herself.
“G-good morning, Sir,” she greeted nervously. “Would you like to eat now?” she asked him.
His expression remained cold and unchanged as he stared at her. He knew she was hiding something.
He wanted to ask—but decided he’d figure it out himself.
“I’ll eat later,” he replied in an icy tone.
He took the water he came for, then left the kitchen without another word and returned to his room.
He sat down in his swivel chair and opened his laptop. He immediately pulled up the CCTV footage of the kitchen.
He checked the timestamp for when he came downstairs, rewinding a bit to find what Lily was hiding.
Moments later, his brows furrowed as he saw and heard the recording:
“Sophie, hide this before Sir Travis wakes up. We might get scolded again,” Lily told one of the maids. He also saw Lily handing her a paper bag.
He rewound the footage again to see what had happened before that.
He saw Catherine, busy cooking in the kitchen. He even watched her put the food into a container.
He rewound again to catch an earlier moment, where Catherine was speaking to Lily after Lily offered to do the cooking.
“It’s not for me, Lily. It’s for Travis. Same as before, Lily. Please give it to him later. And don’t tell him that I cooked it.”
He clenched his fists when he heard that.
So she already knew he wouldn’t eat her food but she still cooked for him anyway.
Did she really think he would eat her cooking? She was just wasting her time.
No matter how delicious it might be, as Adam had once said to him, the only cooking he would ever eat was Lianne’s.
No f*****g one, even her.
- Writer
