Chapter 9
1309 Words
The words took many by surprise
especially those who knew Cathie and had been present at the previous event when Jake had called off the wedding. Mouths fell open in stunned disbelief, followed by murmurs and hushed whispers rippling through the crowd in confused daze.
But none of them mattered as much as one man.
Mr. Dylan Valente.
From where he stood among the guests, he noticed the disturbance immediately. He hadn’t intended to intervene... celebrations were always noisy, but then the words reached him. Not once. Twice.
Fiancé.
Soon to be his wife.
His steps slowed down a bit.
No one announced an engagement at an event like this. Not after that humiliation. If anyone would dare to do so, there was only one name that made sense. Jake.
But that wasn’t Jake’s voice.
A chill ran down his spine.
Who is it, then…?
Mr. Dylan pushed through the crowd, as irritation hardening into focus. When he reached the front, what he saw made him stop cold.
Another man. Not Jake.
A stranger standing far too close to Cathie, his arm wrapped around her with unmistakable familiarity. Protective. Intimate. And Certain like a couple.
Beside Mr. Dylan, Aunt Anika arrived just in time to see the same thing.
Her breath caught.
Surely this was some kind of joke.
“Excuse me?” she said sharply, stepping forward. “What exactly did I just hear?”
All her entire life this was what she had planned of, Cathie and Jake had been a certainty. A future sealed years ago. Three years back, she had been the one to bring Jake into the Valente family—her secret lover. carefully disguised as nothing more than a trusted friend. Together, they had planned everything: to take the company, the shares, the eventual takeover under Dylan Valente’s name. And all that remains of Cathie.
Yet with only a week left before the wedding, nothing added up anymore.
The man standing before her was not Jake. Jake hadn’t told her anything—neither about ending the engagement nor calling off the marriage.
How's this possible?
“This isn’t funny,” Anika said, her voice tightening. “Who are you? Why are you here? And what exactly did you just announce?”
Slowly, Rowan turned his head toward the two imposing figures standing before him.
Mr. Dylan.
He didn’t immediately recognize the woman, but Mr. Dylan, he did.
And yet, none of the seven top board members present recognized him.
Rowan was the Head Chairman of the most powerful controlling company in the country.
Ravenscoth.
The name alone was legendary—respected across states, studied by corporations, and mimicked by countless companies striving for success. Several managing firms operated under his influence, following the blueprint of his leadership.
Even Valente—now the second-leading company across the state... had long operated under Ravenscoth’s legacy.
Yet no one had ever seen Ravenscoth’s true leader.
His identity had always remained hidden. No one knew what he wanted, only that his influence was absolute. His choice to stay unseen had raised questions for years.
Rowan offered Mr. Dylan a small, knowing smile... one that left him confused and unsettled. Rowan knew them all.
But none of them truly knew him.
Then Rowan turned to the woman standing rigid before him, her glare blazing with fury.
“I’m sorry for the interruption,” he began calmly, placing a hand against his chest as he stepped forward. “I didn’t mean to, my name is—”
“—Aunt Anika.”
Cathie cut in smoothly, stepping forward with a practiced smile.
“Happy birthday Ma'am. As you can see, I’m truly sorry for interrupting the party.”
She reached for Rowan’s hand.
“He’s my fiancé. Rowan.”
“What?” Anika spat, her fury barely contained.
Her brows furrowed, as her mouth hung wide opened as if to unleash a storm... but she swallowed it. This was her birthday. Any further scene would only ruin the event entirely, no matter how violently her heart pounded at the revelation.
Why isn't Jake not with Cathie at such moment? Was Cathie is really cheating? Was that why Jake ended?
A flood of unanswered questions filled her mind. Even if that were true, it wasn’t worth dismantling their plans—not now. Not with only weeks left.
Anika glared at Rowan for a long moment, then turned abruptly and stormed back toward the crowd.
“Continue the magic,” she announced loudly, drawing all attention away from the scene.
"Cathie, after the event, you will see me immediately.”
Mr. Dylan, Cathie’s father, finally spoke—or rather, chose not to.
He adjusted his coat, his expression unreadable, then turned and walked back into the auditorium as if nothing had happened at all.
“Cathie…” Rowan began reaching for her, when Helena cut in briskly.
“Hey, you listen to me, you brat!” she snapped. “Whatever you call yourself, you clearly have no shame being here!”
She pointed an accusing finger at Rowan, scoffed, and stormed sharply down the hallway.
“What just happened?” Julia finally asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Look, Julia, I can explain…” Cathie said, stepping closer, almost burying herself into Julia for support.
****
The next hours of the party carried on beneath a veil of whispers, gossip, and low murmurs, curiosity swelling among the guests who had witnessed the scene earlier.
Every conversation that night felt like weight—like a silent creep brushing against Cathie from every corner of the room. Even without hearing the words clearly, she knew.
It was all about her.
She bit her lip, her thoughts spiraling as she questioned whether the choice she had made was truly the right one.
Almost everyone here knew about Jake. They had expected her and him... together, always. Even after what he’d done, they had assumed reconciliation was inevitable. What left them unsettled was not the broken engagement, but the mystery behind it.
Why would a man suddenly walk away?
And now, without speaking a word aloud, their answers formed on their own.
Disgusting assumptions crept through the air like silent confirmations.
“Was it the man she was cheating with?” one guest whispered, just loud enough for Cathie to hear, raising a hand to cover their mouth as if that would soften the cruelty.
“Of course,” another muttered quietly. “What do you expect? A kind, honest man doesn’t leave without a reason. She’s a w***e for what she did.”
The words slammed into Cathie’s chest like a second heartbeat... harder, crueler.
Her nails curled tightly into her palms, she clenched her fist as anger surged through her veins, barely restrained by pride alone. The misunderstanding was suffocating. Goddamn frustrating.
For a moment, she nearly turned—nearly confronted them, ready to tear through every lie...
Suddenly a hand rested gently on her shoulder. It was Familiar. Steady.
“You don’t want to miss your dad’s call,” Rowan said quietly, his voice threaded with concern. “I’ll be waiting for you.”
Cathie didn’t turn to know who it was; his voice gave him away.
She shrugged off his touch and walked away without a word.
Rowan watched her retreat for a long moment, noting the tension in her shoulders, the way her jaw tightened as if she were biting back far more than silence.
Something was wrong.
Something she hadn’t shared with him.
And he realized one thing with absolute clarity... whatever it was, it had played a role in forcing her into this contract marriage.
Almost immediately, his phone buzzed in his pocket.
Rowan pulled it out, and glanced at the screen.
A single message glowed back at him.
"It's confirmed. What do you want done?"
- Writer
