Chapter 4
"It's beautiful."
Katherine said, breaking the serene silence of the night. The stars were fully out in the sky, making the night beautiful after the rain.
Aaron chuckled, and Katherine could feel the vibration through her because her head was resting on his chest, staring at the sky.
"Yes, it's beautiful," Aaron muttered, yet his eyes weren't on the sky but on her, and Katherine shivered from the intensity, blushing hard.
She gulped. "I'm talking about the sky," she mumbled shyly while Aaron caressed her shoulder.
"And I'm talking about you." Her heart skipped at the conviction in his voice. "You are always beautiful," he said and pulled her, closing the gap between them as his lips descended on hers.
"And I'll always stare at you forever."
.
.
.
Crash!
"Pregnant?" The word came out like venom as Aaron's mother, Brenda, walked into the room, holding the clinic test result.
Katherine visibly shook. She had been searching for it but didn't know Brenda had taken it.
"Since the first day I saw you, I knew you were a whore!"
Brenda never liked her.
"Ma'am—" Katherine tried to speak but was interrupted by a hot slap across her face that made her vision tilt slightly.
"Don't 'ma'am' me!" Brenda yelled. "You're trying to baby-trap my son. My glorious son." She pointed an accusing finger at Katherine before throwing the result at her.
Katherine shook her head, trying to refute Brenda's statement. She never tried to baby-trap Aaron. They both loved each other, confessed their undeniable love, and that resulted in the pregnancy.
"A cheap whore always opening her legs for men. A parasite looking for someone to latch on to. An opportunist trying to ruin my son's career and success!"
"I never tried to—"
The sharp glare Brenda gave Katherine made her quickly shut her mouth. Brenda was short-tempered; she might beat her until she was left unconscious.
Brenda looked around the small room Katherine was allocated before walking closer and dragging Katherine by the arm.
"Ma'am," Katherine cried, doing her best to stay, but with the maid's help, she was thrown out the front door. Katherine wanted to run back inside, but she was pushed down the front stairs, and her packed suitcase was thrown out too.
Everything was moving fast.
Finding out she was pregnant, trying to call Aaron to tell him, then Brenda finding out and throwing her out.
Katherine looked around as tears streamed down her face, yet it wasn't visible because the rain cried louder than her. The rain mocked her misery as she held her suitcase tightly.
"Please let me talk to Aaron," she cried. "Lemme tell him—"
"You think he'd want this? Want you? You were a charity case in this house. Now you want to be family?" Brenda's words stung.
Brenda rushed toward Katherine in the rain, slapping her again before grabbing a fistful of her hair, forcing Katherine to raise her head.
"You won't say a thing to my son, or I'll kill you and the little vermin growing in you," Brenda threatened and pushed Katherine away.
"What's happening here?"
Like a ray of light in the midst of dazzling rain, Aaron appeared, his bag slung on his shoulder. Katherine couldn't make out his figure in the heavy rain, but she felt hope. His voice made her heart skip.
He's here.
Aaron rushed to Katherine and looked at his mother, confused.
Brenda's vicious expression immediately changed to a loving mother's gaze.
"My son," she said softly, walking down the pavement gently—unlike how she had handled Katherine earlier. "You're back." She smiled. "How was the training? Are you tired? Are you hungry—"
Aaron interrupted her.
"Mom, what's the meaning of this?" Aaron asked, immediately removing his jacket and dabbing it on shaky Katherine. He gave one of the maids the umbrella as he tried to help Katherine to her feet.
"Aiyo, my son!" Brenda lamented, slapping her head lightly. "How can I explain this?" She caressed her son's face, then signaled to a maid holding a file.
The maid nodded and came rushing but slipped as pictures flew out, scattering on the ground.
Brenda picked up one of the pictures from the floor, waving it. "She's pregnant. With someone else's child."
"No!" Katherine shook her head. She never did this.
The pictures were fake and edited. She had never, not once, cheated. But her vocal cords betrayed her. No words came out to defend herself. Aaron was her first and last.
Aaron blinked confusedly, stepping away from Katherine like she burned him. He picked up the pictures one after the other, checking them.
"You slept with another man?"
The accusation tore at her throat as tears spilled down her face. She shook her head.
Aaron bent to her level. "Why are you shaking your head? Explain what the fuck is going on here! Make me understand—the girl I love and respect cheated on me?"
He shook her vigorously, and Katherine could feel blood rushing to her pounding head.
Her head wanted to split open, and her eyes stung painfully. Katherine willed herself and clutched Aaron's shirt, shaking her head. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
"I—I—"
"I, what?" Aaron yelled, and she flinched. Her Aaron never shouted at her. Her Aaron never looked at her with those eyes. Her Aaron never pushed her away.
Aaron stood up, closed his eyes for a fleeting moment, then opened them. No trace of emotion could be found in his eyes.
"I need space. I can't think clearly right now. My head is fuzzy," he breathed out shakily. "I can't look at you right now because seeing you makes me want to say the worst things on the tip of my tongue," he facepalmed himself, "But I can't. Just know—you've betrayed my trust."
Aaron removed the promise ring and threw it on the floor.
"I don't want to see you," he said and walked out, leaving Katherine to watch his back.
Katherine couldn't believe it. Aaron's back—once her shield, her comfort, the one that made her feel safe—now felt like a stranger's. And it was suffocating.
The contrast between the warmth of his back then and his coldness now cut deep into her marrow.
Brenda smiled that vicious smile of hers. "Throw her out of the front gate if she doesn't leave. Call the cops," she said, walking inside and slamming the door behind her.
Katherine looked at the mahogany door she had known for years since working with Aaron's family. The place she came to know as home had now rejected her.
The boy she loved with all her heart didn't believe her. The maids she had taken as friends scorned her like a whore.
Katherine picked herself up in the rain, her body shaking from the tears, her heart shattered, and her limbs numb. She cradled her stomach protectively. She touched her belly with cold, trembling fingers.
"I'll protect you," she whispered to the baby, "even if I'm alone."
And she looked back one more time… before walking away with no idea where she was going.