Chapter 1043:

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Cathryn believed him. She had seen enough of Kyla and Jordyn to know neither of them respected any boundary they couldn’t exploit.

She felt something loosen inside her chest — not forgiveness, not yet, but something adjacent to relief.

“If you have no feelings for Kyla,” she continued, her voice steadying, “then why did you go to her in the middle of the night? And why a luxury apartment in Azure Vista? Why arrange any of it at all?”

Andrew looked at the floor. He was quiet for a long moment, turning something over in his mind. He wondered whether this was the moment to tell Cathryn the truth — about Kestrel, about the search, about why Kyla had ever mattered to him at all. He was afraid of what she might think. She knew how single-minded his pursuit had once been. Back then, he had told her he was searching for a professional contact. In truth, he had been searching for the girl who had occupied a piece of his heart when he was young. He had never imagined that Kestrel would turn out to be someone like this. Even now, the thought of it turned his stomach.

“Kyla works for Brooks Group,” he said finally, his voice quiet. “She called me late at night because someone was threatening her. As her employer, I felt I had a duty to help.”

𝘙𝘰𝗆a𝗇c𝗲 𝗮n𝖽 𝘱𝖺𝘴𝘴𝗂𝘰𝗻 оn 𝗴𝖺𝘭𝗇𝘰𝗏𝗲𝘭ѕ.𝗰𝗼𝗆

Cathryn’s eyes cooled again. “You are a married man. You drove to a single woman’s home at three in the morning to play protector. Does that seem appropriate to you? A company leader who genuinely cares for their staff might arrange a safe, ordinary apartment. You chose one of the most expensive addresses in Olekgan for a low-level administrative employee. You knew Kyla had feelings for you, and you did all of this without telling me. Do you honestly think that’s acceptable?”

Andrew had no answer. He didn’t even try to find one. Every point she had made was fair, and the weight of it sat on him fully. He had hurt her repeatedly without understanding what he was doing — and now he had shattered whatever trust they had built, and there was no simple way to rebuild it.

“I’m not a jealous person, Andrew,” Cathryn said quietly, holding his gaze. “But I need you to explain to me why any of this happened. The truth. All of it.”

Andrew exhaled slowly, knowing he could no longer keep this from her. Amanda had always said that honesty was the foundation of a lasting marriage.

But ever since Cathryn had come into his life, the attachment he once carried for Kestrel had stayed lodged in him like a splinter — a dull, persistent ache he hadn’t been able to shake. He had told himself that keeping it from Cathryn would give him time to sort through whatever remained of those feelings. Instead, it had led them straight to this moment. Things could not get any worse.

His hand curled tight at his side. He lifted his eyes to meet hers.

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