Chapter 3
1665 Words
Katherine stared at the man in front of her as though she had suddenly forgotten how to breathe. His words hit her like a big slap in the face.
'Erica is his wife?' she thought, staring at him with her lips parted as words struggled to form in her throat.
It made absolutely no sense.
Her mind rejected the sentence before it could even fully settle. She shook her head slowly, taking a small step backward as confusion and disbelief filled her all over again.
"That's impossible." She said after she had managed to gather herself. "You're lying."
The man remained calm despite her accusation. His expression remained the same in a way that irritated Katherine. She hated how confident he was in himself and that annoyed her more than it should have.
"Do I look like someone who would joke about something like this?" He asked calmly.
Katherine opened her mouth to give an immediate reply but paused, her eyes scanning his appearance once more.
She was sure she had seen him somewhere before.
But, it didn't matter. Her marriage came first.
"Yes!" She snapped defensively. "Or maybe you're mistaken. Highly mistaken."
“I’m not mistaken.”
“You are.,” Katherine argued quickly, refusing to let him continue. “Lucas would never do that to me. We are in love.”
Even as the words left her mouth, the image of Lucas kissing Erica flashed painfully across her mind again. She forced herself to ignore it.
No. There had to be another explanation.
Zane watched her carefully, his gaze sharp enough to pierce one's skin. It made her uncomfortable. It felt like he could see straight through every excuse she was giving.
“You saw them yourself,” he reminded her calmly.
Katherine swallowed hard before shaking her head again, closing her eyes briefly. “That proves nothing. Your wife could have been the one throwing herself at my husband."
His brows furrowed slightly, then a soft chuckle escaped his lips. "You don't believe that."
"Oh, I do." She continued quickly. "Your wife clearly has no boundaries because L-lucas...my Lucas isn't like that." She sounded as though she was trying to convince herself more than him.
The look on Zane's face shifted from worry to pity. "You believe your husband is innocent." He said, not as a question but as a realization.
She was blindly in love with her husband.
“I know my husband,” Katherine corrected immediately, her heart clenching harder with every word.
This was a truth she had to hold onto.
A truth she had to believe.
Luas loved her.
She was sure of it. She had to be.
“He would never betray me,” she said more firmly this time.
Zane studied her silently for a few seconds before speaking again. “You’re trying very hard to believe that.”
The comment struck a nerve instantly. “I don’t need to try,” Katherine snapped. “I trust my husband.”
"I trusted my wife once too."
Katherine froze briefly at those words, but she recovered quickly. “Then maybe your issue is with her, not Lucas.”
Zane’s gaze darkened slightly. “You really believe Erica forced him onto that balcony?”
“I believe there’s something I’m missing,” Katherine replied stubbornly. “And unlike you, I’m not going to accuse my spouse without hearing their side first.”
A faint humorless smile touched Zane’s lips. “Hearing his side?”
“Yes.”
“He’ll lie to you.”
“He wouldn’t.”
The certainty in her voice echoed between them, but this time, it sounded weaker.
Katherine hated that.
She hated how uncertain she suddenly felt standing in front of this stranger. Worse still, she hated how every word coming out of his mouth seemed designed to destroy the version of Lucas she knew.
No. She refused to let that happen.
“You don’t know him,” she insisted again. “Once he explains everything, I’m sure this misunderstanding will make sense.”
This time, Zane didn't push or give another reply. It was clear that she was in denial and only a confirmation would make her come to her senses.
“I appreciate your concern,” she said in a final tone, “but I think you should focus on your own marriage before accusing other people.”
Zane’s gaze remained fixed on her face. Then he nodded and took a few steps back. "When you get the confirmation you need, I'll be around."
For a second, Katherine almost lost her composure again. She looked away quickly before he could notice the tears threatening to return to her eyes. “I’m done with this conversation,” she said quietly.
Then without waiting for another response, she turned around and walked away and this time, Zane did not stop her.
Katherine wrapped her arms tightly around herself as she walked back toward the main hall. She had barely done anything yet she felt exhausted, mentally and physically.
Her steps slowed down as she neared the dining area. Before stepping inside, she took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. She didn't want to walk in there looking like she had seen what she wasn't supposed to do.
The moment she entered, her eyes searched for Lucas and after a while, she found him. He was seated comfortably as if nothing had happened.
Two seats across from him was Erica, equally composed and calm. If she had not seen them herself earlier, she would have never guessed anything had happened between them.
The sight made her stomach tighten painfully.
Lucas noticed her almost immediately. Relief crossed his face as he stood up from his chair and walked toward her.
“There you are,” he said warmly. “You’ve been gone for a while. I was starting to get worried.”
Katherine stared at him silently for a second.
How was he acting this normally?
How was he smiling at her like he had not just been wrapped around another woman minutes ago?
“You okay?” Lucas asked softly, reaching for her hand.
Katherine forced herself to smile before he noticed the turmoil in her expression. “I’m fine,” she lied smoothly. “I got lost trying to find the restroom.”
Lucas chuckled lightly and pulled her closer to him naturally. “I was starting to think you had abandoned me here.”
A series of 'aww' spread across the table at his display of affection. Even Erica had a stupid smile on her face. It sent chills down her spine at how she could act so unbothered when her tongue had been down his throat minutes ago.
Katherine swallowed hard and allowed him to guide her back to the table. As she sat down beside him, she became more aware of Erica's presence again. Painfully so.
Erica turned and smiled politely at her. "Feeling better? Lucas said you went out for some air."
The fake innocence on Erica's face made Katherine sick. She forced another smile onto her face. “I'm much better." She said and looked away immediately, failing at trying to seem like she wasn't bothered.
The conversation around the table continued casually while Katherine remained mostly quiet, now more observant than before.
The more she observed, the clearer things got. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed before.
Was she seriously so blind?
The subtle glances they gave each other when they thought no one was looking. The way Erica smiled at Lucas when the table got noisy and even worse, the way Lucas looked back.
They hid it so perfectly she was sure no one would suspect. Not even her, if she hadn't already seen them.
Watching them had become so painful that her appetite disappeared completely and she had barely touched the food in front of her.
At one point, Lucas leaned closer slightly. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
Katherine looked at him carefully. He sounded genuine. Caring, even. This was the Lucas she knew. Before she would have melted at his show of affection; now, the contradiction made her chest ache painfully.
“I’m fine,” she replied softly again.
Lucas studied her for a second longer before nodding. “You’ve been quiet.”
Katherine forced a small laugh. “I’m just tired.”
Another lie.
And somehow, that realization hurt too.
Eventually, she realized she could not sit there pretending forever. The questions inside her were suffocating her. So carefully, she decided to test him.
“You and Mrs Ashford seem close,” she said lightly, trying hard to sound casual.
Lucas didn't react. He only shrugged, very casually at that. “She was a long-term client,” he replied easily. “You tend to become familiar with people after handling their cases for months.”
Katherine nodded slowly. “I noticed. The familiarity is hard to miss."
Lucas smiled faintly before reaching for his drink. “Jealous?”
Normally, she would have laughed immediately as she used to have complete trust in him. This time, she only looked at him quietly.
“What if I was?” she asked softly.
Lucas turned fully toward her then. His expression softened almost instantly as he reached for her hand beneath the table. “Katherine,” he said gently, “look at me.”
She did. And then he smiled at her with the same warmth that had once made her feel safe.
“I would never cheat on you,” he said firmly. “You’re the only woman for me.”
The words were meant to comfort her. Instead, something inside her finally broke.
Because she had seen him.
She had seen him kiss Erica just minutes ago and now he was sitting here looking directly into her eyes while lying without hesitation.
In that moment, the truth settled inside her fully for the first time.
Lucas was cheating on her.
- Writer
