79: Chapter 79

Chapter 79

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"Men like you tend to get bored easily…." Kate murmured. Her voice sounded heavy. Her eyelids drooped as she didn't want to stare at Henry as she was reminded that Henry could always cast her aside just like a used pair of shoes. 

"I wish I could get tired of people easily as well. I think it would be fun to change partners without feeling anything about it," Kate was the type of woman who'd dedicate her life to the man she loved, and she naturally expected the same from her partner. 

"I wish I don't need to cling so hard to the person I love. Unfortunately, I'm that type of woman who would give everything I have for people important to me, especially my husband."

"I don't mind if I have to get hurt if that's what will keep our relationship going, if that's what our relationship needs—or if that's what he needs," Kate said. 

She remembered Matt and all the sacrifices she had made for him. She sacrificed her money, her energy, her sanity, and her love just to keep him satisfied.

She was afraid of being lonely, scared that no man would ever accept her again if Matt decided to divorce her because she was unable to get pregnant. 

After all, she spent her entire life with the people around her telling her that she was a plain, average, run-of-the-mill small-town girl who was only worthy of marrying an insignificant man and becoming a good housewife.

Everyone enjoyed reminding her that she was lucky that Matt chose to marry her. 

Meanwhile, Matt had always been the star of their school and their community. He was a heartthrob when he was young, admired by many women and the envy of many men, so Kate had gotten used to the sneer of people saying that she didn't deserve to be with Matt.

-

'I don't understand why Matt dated that girl. She's just so plain compared to him. They're not a match!'

'I know right! She should know her place. Does she not realize that everyone laughs at her for dating the hottest boy in town?'

'Maybe she already lost her shame after her father got arrested and went to jail!'

-

Kate became emotional as her mind filled with her memories of Matt and their time together. She realized how much she was trying to keep him happy because she didn't know her worth.

She just thought that Matt was her only ticket to happiness. She used to think that if she couldn't satisfy Matt she would be miserable for the rest of her life, childless and with a broken marriage, and she wouldn't be able to lift her head up if that ever happened. 

Her eyes began to glaze with tears, and her lips began to tremble as she held back her tears and sobs. 

Henry gently wiped the tear that fell from the corner of her eyes. He pinched her chin and lifted her face so their eyes could meet again, "My heart aches whenever I see your tears, but if you need a shoulder to cry on, then you can always use mine."

Kate got even more emotional as he comforted her like this. She used to bottle up all her emotions, dealing with them all on her own. She never had a shoulder to cry on.

But she refused to use Henry's shoulder to cry on.

Because she knew that his comforting shoulder could disappear once he found his new plaything, and by that time, Kate would probably be too broken to properly function.

"Why is it so easy for you to say such sweet words, Henry?" Kate asked with a shaky voice. "Do you not understand what kind of expectations I have when you say those words?"

"I do," Henry said. "I understand how heavy my words are, that's why I only ever say those words  to you. You are the first and only woman that I want to comfort and protect, Katherine."

Henry was sincere with his words, he meant every single breath of it. He was a cold man who never felt an ounce of love in his life. So he was never interested in comforting any woman that cried in front of him.

He never felt sad, nor did his cold, dead heart react when he saw those tears.

But Kate was different.

Anything she said or did had a great impact on Henry no matter how big or small. 

At first, he panicked when Kate said that a man like him tends to get bored easily because as guilty as he felt that was partly true.

Before he met Kate, he would get bored with any woman he spent his night with. None of his relationships lasted longer than a month, they were all just ways for him to pleasure himself. 

He also panicked when Kate said she wanted to let go of a man as easily as well because Henry surely didn't want her to simply let go of him.

Then his heart began to ache when she told him about bits and pieces of her life. She didn't say much, but even with just those bits of information, Henry already guessed that Kate was the type of woman he would strive to stay as far as possible from when he was in uni.

He didn't like women who clung too hard. They were suffocating. He wanted to be free for the rest of his life.

Strangely, he had this weird feeling of excitement in his heart when Kate indirectly said she was clingy. Because deep in his heart, he actually wanted Kate to cling on to him 

He wanted her to always have her eyes on him, just like how he always had his eyes on her over the past few months. 

'At this point, I don't even understand myself and why am I reacting this way,' Henry pondered. 

Kate's heart began to warm up as Henry gently wiped her tears and stared at her with an assuring gaze. His voice was deep, soothing, and gentle. His words were filled with nothing but assurance and sweet things.

But that was also what Matt did to her back then when they were still dating and in honeymoon phase, the time when Kate thought nothing could come between Matt and her. 

He spoke to her in a sweet loving voice and said words that would make her heart flutter. He looked at her with gentle eyes and held her in a loving embrace. Yet, in the end, he cheated on her after gaslighting her for the past five years.

Kate understood her heart quite well. She knew that she probably already felt something for Henry.

Yet, her logic always told her to stay away, not to fall completely for him, because she had only recently gotten her heart broken and she wasn't ready to suffer the same fate twice.

"I already told you that we are exclusive now," Henry said. "I won't touch other women, and I expect you to do the same."

"…"

"Henry, answer me honestly, have you ever had a long-term relationship with any woman before me?" 

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