104
The cab slowed to a halt at the corner of Fifth Avenue, right where the buildings stretched tall and proud into the gray, misty skyline of Manhattan.
The city buzzed around her: cars honking, people moving in swift strides, the scent of roasted peanuts and rain-soaked pavement hanging in the air.
Katherine sat in the back seat, frozen for a moment, staring out the window.
She hadn’t been back here since before everything happened. Since the retreat. Since Kingsley had divorced her to marry Beth.
The cab driver turned.
“Miss?”
She blinked back to the present.
“Yes, sorry. This is good.”
She paid quickly, stepped out, and the city swallowed her.
Her heels clicked quietly against the wet sidewalk as she took a slow breath and pulled her coat tighter.
Everything felt different. Bigger. Colder. Not the Manhattan she once knew when she’d fallen in love with him the first time.
She wasn’t the same either.
Dragging her suitcase behind her, she walked the short distance to the small hotel she had quietly booked under a different name. She couldn’t risk anyone, especially Kingsley, knowing she was here. Not yet.
When she finally got to her room, the door clicked open with a dull beep. She stepped in, let the suitcase fall gently to the floor, and closed the door behind her.
Silence.
Katherine leaned against the wall and let out a shaky exhale, pressing her hand to her chest.
It was happening.
She was here.
Her phone buzzed. A message from Carolina:
“How’s the air wherever you are? Send me a pic when you can.”
Katherine stared at the screen for a while, then typed a quick reply:
“Peaceful. Just what I needed. Talk later.”
She dropped the phone on the bed and slowly sat down, her thoughts already racing ahead.
She had one goal.
One reason for coming here.
To face him.
To look Kingsley in the eyes and ask him how. How could he have left her again?
How could he have broken all his promises while she lay broken and unconscious?
She knew where he lived.
But she wouldn’t go tonight.
Tonight, she would rest.
But tomorrow?
Tomorrow, she would find him.
And he would answer.
The next day, she took a cab to Rowe Global Headquarters.
The towering glass skyscraper of Rowe Global loomed like a monument to ambition and power, its name embossed in polished steel across the front entrance. The revolving doors spun steadily with the flow of sharply dressed executives and staff buzzing in and out. The building’s exterior gleamed under the muted afternoon light.
Katherine stood on the curb for a long moment, staring up at it.
This was it.
She gripped the strap of her purse and stepped toward the entrance, her nerves swirling like a storm inside her.
Inside, the lobby was a sleek palace of white marble floors, modern lighting, and quiet power. The air smelled faintly of expensive cologne and fresh paper. A large fountain bubbled in the center, flanked by polished elevators.
Behind a pristine desk stood the receptionist, a young woman with a perfect ponytail and sharp blazer, typing swiftly on a glowing screen.
Katherine approached, her voice soft but firm.
“Hi. I need to see Kingsley Rowe.”
The receptionist barely looked up.
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No, but I really need to see him. It’s… It’s very important.”
Now the receptionist looked at her, really looked at her. She raised an eyebrow, her voice clipped with practiced politeness.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but you can’t just walk in and ask to see Mr. Rowe. He’s the CEO of Rowe Global.”
Katherine’s heart sank a little, but she didn’t back down.
“Please. Just tell him Katherine is here. I know he’ll want to see me.”
The receptionist offered a strained smile.
“Again, without an appointment, I’m afraid I can’t do that. You can leave a message or try contacting his office through the proper channels.”
Katherine pressed her lips together and gave a small nod.
“Right… thank you.”
But she didn’t leave.
Instead, she turned quietly and walked deeper into the lobby toward the employee cafeteria tucked near the rear glass wall. It was open to visitors, modern and clean, and filled with staff members enjoying a late lunch or coffee break.
She found a corner table and sat down, wrapping her hands around the cup of coffee she didn’t even sip.
Katherine sat alone in the corner of the sleek, modern cafeteria. Her untouched cup of coffee had gone cold between her hands, but she barely noticed. The chatter of employees, the clatter of silverware on porcelain, and the soft hum of city life beyond the glass walls all faded into a low, meaningless drone.
Her thoughts spun in circles.
What do I do next? Should I wait longer? Try again at the front desk?
Then, suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of two employees who slid into the table beside her with trays of salad and bottled juices. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but the name Kingsley caught her attention like a slap to the face.
“I don’t think he’s in today either,” said one of them, a woman in a blue blazer, stabbing at her salad with a plastic fork. “Honestly, Kingsley hardly comes to work these days. He mostly works from home now.”
“Really?” the other woman replied, sounding genuinely surprised. “Wow. That’s not like him at all. The man’s a machine. Used to be the first in, last out.”
“Yeah, but ever since the vow renewal with his wife, he’s been different. You know, softer. More… wrapped up in her.”
The words hit Katherine like a blade sliding through ribs.
She froze.
“I follow his wife on Instagram,” the woman in blue continued, oblivious to the impact her words were having just feet away. “Beth? She’s been posting pictures nonstop. Honestly, it’s kind of cute. He brings her to the office now sometimes, can you believe that? He never used to. It’s like… I don’t know… maybe he fell in love with her all over again or something.”
The other woman nodded as she opened a bottle of green juice.
“That’s rare, honestly. These days people rush to divorce. Who even does vow renewals anymore unless they’re madly in love or trying to prove something? It’s sweet, though. I mean, for him to go through with all that, it must mean he realized what he has in her. Maybe they went through something and now he’s, like, totally into her again.”
Katherine sat motionless, her throat tightening, eyes stinging. Her heart pounded in a confused rhythm.
Every word they spoke landed like another blow.
Her fingers trembled slightly around the coffee cup. She didn’t even realize she was holding her breath until she finally let out a quiet, shaky exhale.
She looked down at her lap.
Her chest felt like it was caving in.
So… it was true.
Not just the pictures.
Not just the absence.
Not just the silence.
But this.
Kingsley had moved on. With Beth. Publicly. Shamelessly.
The man who had once looked her in the eye and told her he loved her, who had promised to leave Beth, to divorce her, to fight for them, was now walking hand in hand with the same woman who had nearly killed her.
Katherine swallowed hard, blinking rapidly, fighting the hot sting of tears.
He had chosen Beth again.
He had abandoned her again.
Only this time, she’d nearly died.
And he never came back.
Slowly, she stood, leaving the cold coffee on the table, her body numb as she turned and walked out of the cafeteria, out of the building, out into the sharp bite of Manhattan air, not even knowing where her feet would take her next.
But one thing burned hot in her chest:
She needed to know why.
She called a cab and provided the driver with her destination. Once she settled into the back seat, the cab smoothly departed, heading toward her destination.
The cab slowed to a stop across the street from the grand mansion.
Katherine stepped out slowly, her eyes immediately locking onto the familiar iron gates and the towering white facade beyond. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest.
It hadn’t changed.
The same manicured hedges framed the entrance.
The same marble lions flanked the steps. The same towering glass doors, once opened to her with warmth, now stood silent and cold, sealed to her like the man inside.
She crossed to the small restaurant directly across the road. It had been there even back then. They used to order takeout from here sometimes. Kingsley never liked the sauces, she remembered, and he would complain but still eat every bite if she had chosen it.
Now, she slipped inside quietly, avoiding the curious gaze of the hostess.
“I’ll just seat myself,” she murmured, walking to the window and sinking into the corner booth.
From here, she had a perfect, clear view of the mansion. A perfect, painful view.
She didn’t order anything.
She just sat. Waiting. Watching. Hoping.
A gust of wind blew outside. She tightened her coat around her, resting her fingers against the glass pane, eyes never leaving the mansion.
Her mind drifted.
She had lived there.
That had been her home.
She could still remember the scent of Kingsley’s cologne lingering in the hallways, the way he’d lift her up those steps when she was too tired or when he just wanted to be playful. How they danced barefoot in the kitchen one rainy night. How they made love on the grand piano once, just because the music had made her laugh.
She remembered how warm it had felt, like she belonged.
But now?
Now she was just a stranger across the street.
The silence of the mansion stared back at her like an accusation. A reminder of how easily she had been replaced.
Katherine blinked back tears and looked down at her phone.
Still no response to the messages.
Still no reply to the calls.
Her thumb hovered over the screen, tempted to dial again.
But what was the point?
He wasn’t listening.
He wasn’t looking.
He wasn’t even thinking about her.
Not the woman who had nearly died for loving him.
Not the woman who lay broken in a hospital bed for a month while he held someone else’s hand.
Katherine’s jaw clenched as she looked back up at the mansion.
You owe me an explanation, Kingsley Rowe, she thought bitterly.
You owe me the truth.
And she would get it.
Even if it shattered her.