Chapter 49 Chapter 49: Unexpected Changes
Cathy's P.O.V
Hunter's chauffeur pulls up to the curb and stops the car smoothly. I thank him quietly and step out into the cold air, pulling my coat tighter around myself as I stand on the sidewalk and stare at the house in front of me.
My parents' house. The house I grew up in. The house where I took my first steps, learned to read, cried over my first heartbreak as a teenager.
Except it doesn't look anything like the house I remember.
My father had died when I was still in high school. A car accident on a rainy Tuesday afternoon, gone just like that, leaving my mom behind with two kids and a house that was falling apart. After he passed, everything started to crumble. The roof leaked every time it rained. The front garden turned into a mess of dead plants and overgrown weeds. The fence out front had a crack running through it that my mom could never afford to fix. We lived in that broken-down house and made do with what we had because we didn't have a choice.
My mom worked two jobs to keep the lights on and food on the table. She waitressed at a diner during the day and cleaned offices at night, coming home so exhausted she could barely keep her eyes open. She never complained. Not once. She just kept going, kept pushing forward, kept making sure my brother and I had everything we needed.
And I had worked hard on my scholarship so I wouldn't be another mouth to feed, another bill to worry about. I studied relentlessly, pushed myself past every limit, because I refused to be a burden to the woman who had already sacrificed so much for us.
But now, standing in front of the house I had grown up in, I can barely recognize the place.
The roof is brand new, sleek dark tiles that gleam even in the gray winter light. The front garden has been completely transformed. Neat hedges line the pathway to the front door, and expensive looking plants with deep green leaves and small white flowers are arranged in elegant ceramic pots along the porch. The old cracked fence is gone, replaced by a sturdy dark wood one that looks like it cost more than my mom made in a month.
And parked right there in the garage, gleaming and polished, is an Audi.
An actual Audi. The kind of car I've only ever seen in showrooms or on the roads in the wealthy parts of town. Not the kind of car that belonged in front of a rundown suburban house where a single mother raised two kids on two minimum wage jobs.
I stand there for a long moment, frozen on the sidewalk, my mouth slightly open. I came here to find comfort. I came here to wrap my arms around my mother and cry about Xavier and his lies and the complete destruction of my marriage. I came here because this was supposed to be the one place in the world where nothing had changed, where I could feel safe and small and protected the way I used to when I was a child.
But even this has changed.
I shake my head and force myself to move, walking up the new stone pathway toward the front door. I reach for the handle, but the door opens before I can touch it.
My mom stands in the doorway, a dish towel draped over one shoulder and a small smile on her face, like she was in the middle of cooking something. She looks good. Healthier than the last time I saw her. There's color in her cheeks and she's wearing a nice sweater I've never seen before.
But the moment she sees me, the smile vanishes. Her eyes go wide and her lips part in shock. She stares at me like she's seen a ghost, her gaze traveling over my face, taking in the dark circles under my eyes, the traces of smudged makeup, the way I'm clutching my coat around myself like armor.
"Cathy?" she breathes. "What are you doing here?"
I don't answer right away. I'm too busy staring at the hallway behind her. The inside of the house has changed just as much as the outside. The old worn carpet is gone, replaced by smooth marble flooring that stretches all the way down the hall. The walls are freshly painted a warm white, and the furniture completely new. This isn't the house I grew up in anymore. This is someone else's home entirely.
"Mom," I say, and my voice comes out sharper than I intended. I turn back to her, my confusion quickly hardening into something more urgent. "How did you get all of this?"
My mom blinks, glancing back at the hallway like she's seeing it through my eyes for the first time. "All of what, sweetheart?"
"All of this," I repeat, gesturing around. "The house, the furniture, the garden, the car in the garage. Mom, this is all new. This didn't come from nowhere."
My mom watches me for a moment, something careful flickering behind her eyes. Then a small smile tugs at her lips and she steps aside, gesturing for me to come inside.
"Come in, come in. You must be freezing out there," she says warmly. "I'll make you some tea and explain everything."
I step inside, but I'm not interested in tea. I follow my mom into the kitchen, which is also renovated, gleaming countertops and a brand new stove that looks like it belongs in a restaurant kitchen, and turn to face her.
"Mom, please," I say, trying to keep my voice steady. "Just tell me. How did you get all of this? You were working two jobs just to keep the lights on. How did all of this happen so fast?"
My mom sets the dish towel down on the counter and turns to me with that same small, proud smile.
"Your brother got a job," she says simply, like those five words explain everything.
"A job?" I repeat, staring at her. "Colton got a job that pays like this?"
My mom nods, beaming now, the kind of smile a mother wears when she's proud of her child.
"He's been doing really well, Cathy. Really well. I'm so proud of him."
But something doesn't add up. Something feels off in a way I can't quite put my finger on. Colton had dropped out of community college two years ago. He hadn't finished his degree, hadn't graduated, hadn't done any of the things that usually lead to a job that could afford to renovate an entire house and buy an Audi.
"Mom," I say slowly, crossing my arms over my chest. "How exactly does a community college dropout get a job that pays this well? Because this," I wave my hand around the kitchen, "this isn't coming from any regular job."
My mom's smile falters slightly, just for a second, before she recovers.
"Cathy, it's nothing illegal, if that's what you're implying," she says, a hint of defensiveness creeping into her tone. "Your brother found a good opportunity and he took it. That's all."
"Mom, I'm serious," I press. "Is he doing something illegal? Because if he is, I need to know. I don't want him getting into trouble."
"He is not doing anything illegal," my mom says firmly, holding up her hands. "Cathy, please. Stop worrying so much. Colton is fine. He's happy. He's earning good money and he wanted to help this family, so he did."
She pauses, and I can see her deciding how much to tell me. Then she straightens up, folding her hands in front of her with that calm, matter-of-fact expression she always gets when she's about to deliver news she knows will shock me.
"Your brother Colton," she says, speaking each word clearly, "got a job at Dalton Inc."
The words hit me like a physical blow. I feel the air leave my lungs as if someone has punched me square in the chest. I take a step back, my hand instinctively reaching for the kitchen counter to steady myself.
"What?" I whisper.
"He's an executive assistant there," my mom continues, watching my face carefully. "He started about a year and a half ago. Apparently someone saw potential in him and hired him on the spot. The pay is incredible, Cathy. Better than anything either of us could have imagined."
Dalton Inc. My brother works at Dalton Inc. Xavier's family's company.
The same company owned by the man who lied to me for six years. The same company that Caroline, the woman my husband had sex with last night, is connected to. The same empire built on the same fortune that Xavier is desperately trying to inherit.
My brother has been working there for a year and a half. This whole time. While Xavier and I were married, while I was living in their world, while everything was falling apart around me, my own brother had been inside the Dalton empire the entire time.
And nobody told me.
I grip the edge of the counter, my knuckles white, and stare at my mother as a dozen questions race through my mind, each one more urgent than the last.
"Dalton Inc?" I repeat, and my voice sounds hollow even to my own ears. "Mom, are you sure? Colton works at Dalton Inc?"
My mom nods, still smiling like this is the best news in the world.
"Executive assistant," she says proudly. "Isn't that wonderful?"