Aaron is taken aback by Katrina"s question. He becomes nervous when he sees her face turn serious. How am I supposed to tell her that I know because I"m the man who raped her that night? No, I can"t tell her right now!From Katrina"s silence, he feels that he is on thin ice. She must hate that man a lot. Who knows what damage I caused her all those years ago? But I didn"t have any choice at that time, and if I didn"t take her as an antidote, I might die immediately. I feel helpless that night and leave me with no option.
Something occurs to him. She must have changed careers because of what happened. Why else did she turn white when I mentioned it? Was my conclusion right? I caused big damage to her life, and I can"t bear the guilt of seeing her like this.
Although Katrina doesn"t look angry while she watches him intently, Aaron feels guilty and finds himself unable to look at her directly.
As the CEO of an international company, Aaron is used to facing all sorts of stressful situations with a calm att.i.tude. But for the first time in his life, he panics.
No, I can never let her know the truth! After all my efforts, it took me risking my life for her to finally warm up to me! She"ll hate me if she finds out!
After four years of bottling up her hatred, there"s no way she"ll ever forgive me! She"ll never look at me or talk to me ever again! Everything I did will all be in vain!
I can never let her know! I am not prepared to face her anger. One day I will tell her the truth, but I should make her my wife. It sounds so selfish and unfair, but I love her so much.
Aaron struggles to cool his expression. Pretending to be unconcerned, he folds his arms and says in a casual tone, "When you were in Hadley, I had your background investigated. Why are you so nervous? Are you hiding something from me?"
Katrina looks down and shakes her head slightly. "No, it"s nothing," she mutters.
With Aaron"s resources, he"s definitely capable of investigating my background. It"s not surprising for him to know I was a nurse from that.
I"m thinking too much. When he mentioned I was a nurse, I thought he knew that I was raped four years ago. Fortunately, he doesn"t know anything.
The only ones who know are me, that b.a.s.t.a.r.d, and his subordinate. I never even told Farrah. I"m sure no one else knows. I can"t let other people know the tragic moment that happened to me four years ago.
As if drained of all her strength, Katrina suddenly feels exhausted. I feel so alone. I can"t talk about this to anyone and vent out my feelings. No one can comfort me with my pain. I feel so helpless, and I hate this… I hate this kind of guilt.
She says in a weary tone, "Aaron, I"m tired, I need to sleep. Please go home now. I know you are also exhausted with your whole day"s activities," A sound of dismissal envelops Katrina"s voice.
When seeing Katrina so dejected makes Aaron sad, if I hadn"t done that to her, she would be suffering so much. I"m the reason she feels miserable, and I"m the one to blame for all her pain. I should have been gentle with her. I shouldn"t have taken her by force.
But if I hadn"t done that, I would have ended up paralyzed or even worse. If I hadn"t met her that night, she wouldn"t be so important to me. I might not have fallen in love with her back in Hadley, and she would have disappeared from my life completely.
How ironic. Was I lucky I got poisoned that night? Was this a so-called fate? Why is it so hard to love someone and get loved?
Aaron gathers Katrina in his arms and embraces her tightly. Resting his chin on her shoulder, he says fiercely, "I love you, Katrina. I love you, Katrina. Can you please give me a chance? I am begging you. Let me show you how much I love you. Please?
This isn"t the first time that Aaron professed his feelings to Katrina, but she finds the confession particularly intense this time. Suddenly enveloped in a warm and strong embrace, she feels her sadness and loneliness slowly fade away. This warm feeling of Aaron"s embrace makes her feel secure, but she"s afraid to tell him what she had been through for years ago.
For once, someone is around to provide her comfort and strength when she relives her painful experience. Suddenly she misses her father that gives her comfort.
Katrina struggles to hold back her tears. When Aaron releases her, she whispers, "I"m tired. I"m going to take a shower and sleep. The sofa is a foldable bed, and there are blankets in the cupboard." She doesn"t wait for Aaron to reply before she leaves.
Aaron feels a pang of pain in his heart as he watches Katrina"s miserable figure walk away.
In the end, she lets him stay. She can"t win against his overbearing att.i.tude. He is Aaron Wilson, the most stubborn man she ever met.
She"s always been a kind and gentle girl. It doesn"t matter if she knows the truth or not. Despite all the horrible things I did to her, despite the fact that I deeply hurt her, she still lets me stay by her side. I"m so lucky to have her.
Katrina"s kindness makes his heartache. I thought I"d be over the moon if she lets me stay, but I just feel heavy. I keep guilt-tripping her into doing things for me, but I never thought about how I can make amends for all the pain I caused her.
What I"ve done for her is not enough to make things right. I can only love and protect her better in the future.
Maybe someday, I can be worthy of her.