CHAPTER 47: DESPISED

"Come on, Nathan. Let your wife speak," he said, his face gentle. "I’ve always warned you about this woman and finally, her true colors are starting to show. So Katherine, are you cheating on my son?" He asked.

Katherine hadn’t even stomached any food yet but she could already feel her stomach churn in the wrong way that may tempt her to excuse herself for the restroom immediately, but that would be embarrassing and would only increase Mr. Cross’ suspicion of her.

"Father, I’d never cheat on Nathan especially after everything we’ve been through. The separation, the getting back together. Why would I go through all that length just to cheat on him at the end?" She asked, trying to sound as respectful as possible, but only she knew how wet her back had become due to the heavy stare the man was giving her.

Mr. Cross hummed. "So you can get his money," he responded.

"Jace," His wife called but only a glance from him shut her up immediately.

His wife was a woman who loved being in high society. She loved being respected as a high class woman, and she only associated herself with only those kinds of people.

She may have forgotten that she treated Katherine like a pest when they’d found out she was with Nathan, and now, only because her father’s company was doing well, she quickly changed the color of her skin and acted like she was on good terms with her.

Katherine took a deep breath. She knew Mr. Cross was only testing her, and if she said anything out of turn, Nathan might resume suspecting her again.

"I’m not that kind of woman—"

"But somehow, that’s not very convincing," Mr Cross said, sipping from his wine.

"Father, you should let her speak," Nathan said, not happy with the way his father was speaking to his wife.

Whether the pictures were real or not, he doesn’t truly know, but after confronting Alisha, he didn’t know what to believe anymore.

But since Alisha has bad blood with Katherine, there was a high chance those pictures were edited just to give Alisha a bad name. At the same time, Alisha’s words still rang in his head—Katherine would send some people to attack her just to make her pay for uploading the pictures.

But since nothing had happened yet, he decided to just watch silently.

"I’ve known Katherine for the longest time, and I trust my wife," he added, holding Katherine’s hands that were placed on the table so affectionately.

Mr. Cross’s eyes darted to it before looking back up at her.

"I’ve told father," Katherine started, her voice so timid and fragile now as tears rolled down her face. "All of this happened because of Alisha De Rossi. She doesn’t like me for some reason and has come to ruin my reputation."

The elder man however gave her a bored expression, as if he was tired of her false facade.

"You mean to tell me that this woman, Alisha, just woke up one morning and chose to release false information about you?" He asked. "Are you sure you didn’t do anything to ignite this action?"

Now, Katherine was feeling irritated by her father in law’s question. She’d already know this wouldn’t be a peaceful dinner especially after her scandal the previous day. But she hadn’t even sipped a glass of water yet and he was already throwing accusations at her left and right.

It was starting to piss her off now.

She gently shook her head as she meekly wiped her tears off her face.

"I didn’t do anything to her," she replied.

With a stoic expression, Mr. Cross asked Nathan for a private chat, leaving Katherine with her mother in law.

"Father, I don’t think you understand this situation well. I’m telling you, Katherine would never cheat on me," Nathan said as soon as reached outside.

The scene was beautiful, especially with the lights that surrounded the large fountain and trees.

"Are you forgetting this was the nonsense you did with Eva?" He questioned, his tone cold and void of any emotion as he stared at Nathan in disappointment. "I’ve told you several times, Nathan. That woman is not the right woman for you. Did you bother to ask experts to analyze that picture so we can know if they were original?"

Nathan’s lips thinned. It had completely slipped past his mind.

"Eva was the right woman for you, I told you that several times but you cheated on her with that...slut," he said the last word with a venomous tone. "Now you’ve left the right woman for someone like that? Did you think during the time the both of you got separated, she didn’t have fun with another man?"

"She might have," Nathan responded, pinching his temple in frustration. The thought of Katherine cheating on him after losing a good woman like Eva made him feel like he’d made the stupidest mistake. But his ego wouldn’t let him admit it. "But if everything turns out to be true, that Katherine has been unfaithful in our marriage, I’ll just have to replace her with someone else."

His words caught his father’s attention.

"What do you mean?"

"I have my eyes on Alisha De Rossi. She behaves like Eva. Maybe she’s related to Eva somehow but I’m not so sure."

"Are you stupid? She’s married to Dante De Rossi!"

Nathan scoffed. "All they have is a marriage contract, I’m sure of it. All I need to do is wait for the perfect opportunity for me to propose to her. She’ll divorce Dante, and I’ll marry her." He closed his eyes for a second, imagining her curves and her body movements as she performed on the runaway.

Mr. Cross stared at his son as if he’d run mad. And perhaps, he’d already lost it.

Meanwhile, the entire time they were having this conversation, Katherine was listening in on them.

If she hated Alisha before, well now, she fully despised her and would do anything in her power to get rid of Alisha De Rossi.