MARRIED BY ACCIDENT

Chapter 4

Katherine

Ten Years Ago,

"Don't kick us out, Dad! Mommy and I have nowhere to go," I pleaded tearfully with my father as he dragged my mom out of the house. Like me, my mom was also crying and begging not to be kicked out of the house.

My father was either deaf or simply didn't care about me and my mom. Because even though it was raining heavily outside, he still forced us out of the house.

"I don't care about you! I cannot accept a woman who slept with another man!" my dad shouted angrily.

At the age of fourteen, I already knew what was happening within our family. My Dad caught my Mom inside a motel with a man while sleeping on the bed. Because of that, my Dad was very angry. All our relatives were mad at my Mom. They even doubted if I was truly my Dad's child.

I know that my Mom couldn't do the things they accused her of. My Mom is kind, obedient, and a loving wife. Even though my Dad raised his hand against her, she still stayed by his side.

"I am not guilty, Alberto! I don't know how I ended up in that motel," my mom explained while crying.

"Have mercy on us, Dad. Mommy is sick. She can't be soaked to the rain for so long, so please let us in," I continued to plead with my father. I approached him and held his arm, but he just pushed me away forcefully. I fell to the ground full of rainwater. Mommy attended to me while crying and tried to help me stand up.

"I don't care even if your Mommy dies, Katherine! What I want is for her to leave my house!" my father once again drove us away. I felt like we were animals being driven out. "If you want to stay in my house, I'll let you, Katherine. But your Mom can no longer live in my house. She should live with that man!"

"Mommy doesn't have a man other than you, Daddy! You're the one with a mistress! Not a single bad word did you hear from her mouth when you brought your mistress and her child home. But why do you treat Mommy like this even though you know she has done nothing wrong?" I reproached him with full resentment and anger.

My father got even angrier at what I said, so he approached me and slapped me. He wasn't satisfied with just slapping me. He also kicked me as if I were an animal.

"Enough, Alberto. We will leave this house, just don't hurt my child," Mommy pleaded while crying as she hugged me and shielded me from my father's kicks.

When my father got tired of hurting us, he finally stopped and went inside the house. Crying, Mommy helped me up and we walked away from the Harret's house.

I looked back at the big house where I grew up. I saw my stepsister Lucy and her mother, Cynthia, on the balcony looking at us. They were both smiling and it was obvious they were delighted that Daddy kicked us out. I clenched my fists tightly and vowed that one day I would make those who oppressed my mom and me pay.

"Do you know them, Katherine?" Axel asked me, interrupting the flow of memories I was trying hard to forget.

After Daddy drove us away and kicked us out of his house, my mom died the next day. My mom's body was too weak, so she couldn't withstand being soaked in the rain all night, which led to her getting pneumonia.

A kind-hearted person took my Mom to the hospital, but it was too late. She still died while inside the Intensive Care Unit or ICU. But before she died, Mommy made me promise not to take revenge on my Dad or his relatives, instead, I should just forget them. She doesn't want me to live with hatred. I promised my Mom that I would follow what she wanted to happen. So even though I really wanted to take revenge for their oppression of us, I didn't do it.

"I don't know them," I answered Axel. "I'm leaving now. Let's just meet at home."

I was about to leave, but Monika stopped one of my arms.

"How dare you deny us, Katherine! I am your cousin and Lucy was your stepsister," Monika said with a steaming nose. She seemed insulted by my denial of knowing them. I didn't expect them to recognize me even though it had been ten years since we last saw each other.

Annoyed, I removed Monika's hand from my arm and pushed her hard. If there hadn't been a car behind her, she would have surely fallen to the ground.

"How dare you push me!" she angrily shouted after regaining her stance.

"So you got married today, Katherine. And you ended up marrying just a lowly car mechanic. Well, no wealthy man would ever go for someone like you. I don't even know if you finished your studies since Daddy kicked you out of the house," Lucy said with a mocking smile and casting an insulting glance at Axel.

"Do you know her husband, Lucy?" Monika asked my stepsister naively.

"Of course not!" Lucy quickly replied, as if disgusted by the idea of knowing my husband. "I just saw him fixing a broken car at Casa De Tire when my friend's car was being repaired," she explained.

The Casa De Tire that Lucy refers to is the largest and most luxurious repair shop in the country. It is not just an ordinary repair shop because only wealthy customers and expensive cars can afford to have repairs done at Casa De Tire.

"Oh! What a shame! Can't you find a decent man, so you settled for a poor and mechanic guy?" Monika laughed loudly and insultingly.

"What's wrong with being a mechanic? At least, he doesn't step on anyone and his job is honorable," I defended Axel and his work.

"Poor man and a poor woman. You two really suit each other," Monika insulted us again. "But why don't you just follow your mother's example and crawl into another man's bed to catch a man?"

I endured her insults towards Axel and me, but not her insult towards my mom. I couldn't hold myself back anymore, so I gave Monika a strong punch in the mouth. Her nose immediately bled, causing her to panic.

"If you insult my mom again, it won't just be my fist that hits your mouth, Monika. I'll sew your mouth shut so you can never speak again," I threatened her sternly.

"How dare you hurt me, Katherine! I'll report you to the police! Remember that!" Monika shouted angrily while wiping the blood from her nose.

"Let's go, Monika. I'll take you to the hospital. We will deal with her later." Lucy immediately pulled Monika away from us to take her to the hospital.

"Nice," Axel commented while giving a thumbs-up. I only slightly smiled at him and lowered my hand, giving a thumbs-up.

"I gotta go. Let's just meet at home later," I said to him before I left.

When I arrived at our secret headquarters, my boss was already there. I just prepared my ears for his long sermon.

"It's good that you're here, Katherine. You have a new mission. You need to go now. Dan will give you brief information about your new mission," my boss said to me instead of scolding me.

"What happened to the failed mission?" I asked curiously.

"We will talk about it later," he quickly replied. "Go now! Faster!"

I just shook my head as I walked towards the car waiting for me. It was my honeymoon today, but here I am about to face danger again. Well, my wedding was fake so there's no honeymoon.

As soon as I got in the car, Dan immediately briefed me on the information I needed to know. This time, I will pretend to be a room service crew and will enter Mr. Tanaco's room to place a listening device. According to the information my boss received from the spy, it was Mr. Tanaco who helped the foreign drug lord escape. We need to find out where Mr. Tanaco hid that drug lord before he could fly out of the country.

We have a contact at the five-star hotel where Mr. Tanaco is staying so I easily got inside and pretended to be a room service crew. All the CCTV cameras were hacked by our team's skilled hacker, so they couldn't see me on the monitor while entering Mr. Tanaco's room.

"Room service," I said with a sweet smile to Mr. Tanaco's two bodyguards who were guarding outside the door. I'll make sure that my smile is seductive enough to let down their guard.

The two bodyguards stared at me like they were dogs salivating over a bone in front of them. Then they inspect the food I brought. Once they ensured that I posed no threat to their boss, they finally let me into the room.

When I entered Mr. Tanaco's room, I saw him lying down on the bed and sleeping.

I was about to approach Mr. Tanaco to make sure he was asleep when suddenly a hand tightly covered my mouth. I was about to back-flip the person behind me when I recognized who he was. None other than my husband.

What is Axel doing inside Mr. Tanaco's room? It seems that I'm not the only one with a hidden secret, but also the man I married. Could he also be a special secret agent like me? Or is he Mr. Tanaco's man? Is he an enemy or an ally?