Chapter 2
1774 Words
Katherine ran without looking back.
Her feet felt as though they had wheels of their own as she hurried down the hallway, her breathing uneven and her chest painfully tight like it was being squeezed. The image she had just seen replayed over and over in her mind no matter how hard she tried to push it away.
Her Lucas was kissing another woman. Not just any woman.
Erica.
The same Erica he had introduced so casually lie she was nothing but a client to him. Katherine felt sick thinking about it alone. Her stomach twisted and her vision blurred as tears gathered in her eyes.
She should have trusted herself. Her intuition was never wrong.
The second she laid eyes on Erica, she knew the woman was trouble.
“No…” she whispered shakily to herself. “No, this can’t be happening.”
Her steps became more hurried as panic settled deeper and deeper into her chest. She pressed her trembling hand against her mouth to contain he sobs while the other hand wiped angrily at the tears spilling down her cheeks.
She suddenly didn't want to be on the cruise ship anymore.
The sound of music echoing through the hallway irritated her. The people laughing in a corner annoyed her. She had just witnessed her world crash in front of her eyes.
Katherine looked around desperately until she spotted a bathroom nearby. Without hesitation, she rushed inside and locked the door behind her. The moment she heard the click of the lock, the tears she had been trying so hard to hold back finally escaped freely.
A broken sob left her lips as she stumbled toward the sink. She gripped it tightly for support, lowering her head as her shoulders shook violently from the force of her tears.
This didn’t make sense.
Lucas loved her.
He had kissed her this morning like she was the only woman in the world. Just hours ago, he had held her in bed, smiled at her lovingly, and given her an anniversary gift while confessing his undying love to her.
So how could he do this?
Katherine lifted her head slowly and stared at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were glossy and red, and her makeup was beginning to smear slightly beneath them. She barely recognized the woman staring back at her.
“There has to be an explanation,” she whispered shakily. “There has to be.”
She nodded like a crazed woman, holding onto that thought. It was either that or she continued to try her eyes out.
Lucas would never hurt her intentionally. They had spent years together, building their well-planned future. He wasn't just going to throw it all away for some woman.
Maybe she misunderstood what she saw. Maybe Erica kissed him first and he pushed her away afterward. She had probably run off before he pushed Erica away.
Yes.
That had to be it.
Katherine nodded slowly to herself as though repeating it enough times would make it true. Lucas loved her too much to betray her.
She turned on the faucet and splashed cold water against her face repeatedly, trying to calm herself down. Her fingers still trembled badly as she wiped her face with a paper towel and fixed her hair in the mirror.
“You need to calm down,” she muttered softly. “You need to hear his side first before assuming anything. This is Lucas we're talking about. My Lucas.”
That was the only reasonable thing to do. She couldn’t accuse him without listening to his explanation first, no matter how painful the situation looked.
Even though deep down, a voice inside her already knew the truth.
Katherine swallowed hard and forced herself to take a deep breath. After a few more seconds, she finally unlocked the restroom door and stepped back into the hallway.
On the outside, she looked a lot calmer than before but on the inside, her heart was still racing.
Her thoughts consumed her as she walked slowly through the ship. She kept replaying the past few months in her head, and suddenly, every little thing she once ignored started looking suspicious.
The late nights at work, the emergency meetings. the sudden work trips and strange phone calls at night.
At the time, she had pitied him for working so hard. She had comforted him whenever he sounded exhausted over the phone and reassured him that she understood the pressure he was under.
Now, she didn’t know what to believe anymore.
“Please don’t let this be real,” she whispered under her breath.
Lost in her thoughts, Katherine barely noticed someone standing in front of her until she accidentally bumped into a hard chest. She stepped back immediately, startled by the unexpected collision.
“Oh my God, I’m sorry,” she apologized quickly without looking up properly. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
She tried to walk past the person immediately, not wanting to interact as she wasn't in the right headspace for it. But, before she could take more than two steps, the person spoke, taking her by surprise.
“Lucas Carter." The stranger suddenly said and Katherine froze instantly.
Slowly, she turned around and raised her head to see who this stranger was. The man looked the same age as Lucas, tall, broad-shouldered, and dressed in an expensive black suit that made him stand out even in a place as luxurious as the cruise ship.
She didn't need anyone to tell her that he was someone important. She had grown up around men like him to easily spot one.
However, it wasn't his appearance that unsettled her. It was his eyes.
The way he watched her, as he knew so much about her.
Katherine frowned slightly, her forehead creasing. "Excuse me?"
“That’s your husband’s name, isn’t it?” he asked calmly, his hands tucked confidently into his pockets.
Her eyes widened immediately as the need to guard herself from this man heightened. She crossed her arms as she stared at him suspiciously, trying to remember if he was one of Lucas's friends.
“How do you know my husband?” she asked carefully.
The man did not answer immediately, and somehow that made her even more uncomfortable. His gaze lingered briefly on her face, taking in her swollen eyes and shaky expression before he finally spoke again.
“You saw them.”
Katherine’s breath caught instantly.
Somehow, she knew what he was talking about and that made her more scared.
Who exactly was this man?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied quickly.
The man remained calm, almost frustratingly calm. “Yes, you do.”
Something about the certainty in his voice irritated her immediately. Katherine folded her arms tighter across her chest, trying to regain some control over her emotions.
“Listen, I don’t know who you are, but whatever you think you know about me is false so please step aside so I can leave."
"I might not know you..." The man said then, took a step closer to her. "...but I certainly know your husband."
Katherine’s brows furrowed in confusion, but just as she was about to open her mouth to give another snarky reply, he delivered the words that shut her up instantly.
“Lucas is cheating on you.”
Her lips parted in pure shock as the accusation hit her like a slap across the face.
Katherine stared at him in complete disbelief before anger rushed through her almost immediately. “How dare you?” she snapped, her voice louder than she intended. Maybe it was because of what she had just seen, the need to defend her husband was at an all-time high.
“You don’t know my husband,” she continued angrily. “You don’t know anything about our marriage.”
“I know enough and from the look on your face, you know as well." He answered calmly.
“No, you don’t,” she shot back immediately. “Lucas loves me.”
Even as she said the words aloud, her chest tightened painfully. The stranger’s expression didn’t change at all.
“He’s cheating on you,” he repeated firmly.
“Stop saying that!” Katherine burst out emotionally. A few people nearby glanced briefly in their direction before continuing, but she barely noticed them.
“You’re a stranger,” she continued shakily. “You can’t just walk up to me and say things like that about my husband.”
The man took another slow step closer. His expression remained calm, but there was something cold in his eyes now.
“Then why were you crying?” he asked quietly, his expression softening.
Her eyes widened slightly as humiliation washed over her. “How do you know I was crying?” she asked and when he didn't answer, a wave of discomfort settled over her immediately.
“You were following me?”
“I was making sure you were alright. Anyone would feel like s**t after a sight like that.”
“That’s insane,” she muttered uneasily.
“Is it?” he asked calmly. “Because right now, you look like someone whose entire world just collapsed.”
Katherine’s throat tightened painfully at those words. Tears threatened to return, but she forced herself to hold them back. “You’re wrong,” she whispered weakly.
But even she no longer sounded convinced.
The stranger studied her silently for a moment before speaking again. “You already know the truth,” he said quietly. “You just don’t want to accept it yet.”
Katherine shook her head repeatedly. “No.”
“You saw your husband kissing another woman.”
“Stop.”
“You heard the way he spoke to her.”
“Please stop.”
“And deep down, you know that wasn’t the first time.”
“Stop it!” Katherine snapped loudly, tears finally spilling down her cheeks again.
Her breathing turned shaky as she looked away from him completely. She hated how exposed she suddenly felt standing here in front of a stranger who somehow seemed to understand exactly what she was going through.
“How would you even know any of this?” she demanded emotionally. “How could you possibly know what kind of man Lucas is?"
Despite how she was reacting, she was truly curious.
For the first time since they started talking, something shifted slightly in his expression. His gaze darkened subtly before he finally answered her question.
“Because the woman he’s cheating with…” he began quietly.
“…is my wife.”
- Writer
