Chapter 62

"But... what nonsense is this?" Katia said, shaking her head and annoyed by her friend's insinuation. "Of course, I'm not in love with him."

"How could I fall in love with someone like him? Seriously, Madeleine, you have some..."

"You seem jealous," Madeleine crossed her arms.

"Me? Jealous?" Katia clicked her tongue. "Please, Madeleine! I love Oscar, and I want to marry him. If I can convince him... we might have a child. I want to live a happy life with Oscar. He's the one I want to be with for the rest of my life."

"Even though you're eager to see Oscar, I know you're afraid he won't come back, right?"

"Exactly," she said with narrowed eyes.

The elevator stopped a few minutes later. Unbeknownst to them, they had reached the top floor, where Stefan's office was, and she knew all the CEOs from different delegations would be there.

The two women stood near the elevator, while Madeleine continued to tease Katia about being jealous of Stefan's ex.

As Stefan emerged from his office, talking with a group of men, including Joshua, Katia couldn't help but stare at him. Madeleine crossed her arms, smiled slyly, and shook her head.

Both she, Joshua, and probably Oscar, knew what could happen if Stefan and Katia spent too much time together despite their differences.

Katia shook her head and frowned when she saw her friend's expression. The two young women remained silent, exchanging unspoken words through their eyes, something they wouldn't discuss out loud as the person in question was present.

After several seconds, Joshua approached his girlfriend and kissed her on the cheek, then greeted Katia with another cheek kiss.

"Am I imagining things, or are you slimmer?" Joshua asked.

"I'm the same as always," Katia replied, putting her hands on her belly.

"Equally slim, aren't you?" the man smiled. "Did she tell you?" he asked his girlfriend.

"Tell me? What's going on? Nothing happened to Oscar, did it?" Katia inquired, worried.

"No, don't worry. He's fine," Joshua reassured her. Katia felt relieved. "We're getting married at the end of September," he announced.

"Really? Congratulations!" she exclaimed with a smile.

"I'd like you to be our witness," Madeleine said, taking her hands. "Tell her you will," she urged.

"Alright, I will," Katia agreed, still smiling. "I'm really happy for both of you, but you didn't have to wait until she was pregnant with your second child to ask."

"See? I told him the same thing back then, but no, he said it was better this way," Madeleine said, putting her hands on her hips, pretending to be upset.

Katia couldn't help but laugh.

"Sweetheart, I already explained why I did it," Joshua excused himself.

"I don't care! You should've asked me before or after Lucy was born," Madeleine told him.

"Well, Oscar took three... four years to ask me," the brown-haired girl said, shrugging.

"At least you have a husband to show off if you want," a male voice said next to Katia.

"And why should I show off?" Katia said with seriousness, her arms crossed.

"There are many women who would love to be married to the big boss, but only you have had that luck," Stefan said, smiling. But Katia raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh... yes... what luck..." she said ironically.

"Before you two start fighting, we'd like to go for lunch," Joshua interjected, laughing a bit as he watched them. "What if instead of getting along poorly, we go somewhere to eat?"

At that moment, a beautiful woman emerged from the elevator. Everyone stared at her, even the women waiting to go down.

Katia's face turned serious when she saw her. Something in her chest pricked every time she saw her.

Gretchen approached Stefan and kissed him on the cheek, casting a sidelong glance at Katia. It seemed like they were attending a funeral of the silence that had fallen.

The young brunette breathed slowly to control her urge to pull Gretchen's hair. What was that woman doing in that place?

"How's your foot?" Gretchen asked with a fake tone of friendliness. "The one the other day... I noticed it was bandaged, and I was wondering..."

"It's fine," Katia replied curtly.

"Is this the ex-girlfriend?" Madeleine whispered in Katia's ear. Katia nodded. "No wonder you're jealous."

"I'm not jealous," she whispered through clenched teeth, annoyed.

"Do you want to talk with me, Stefan?" the newly arrived woman said, caressing the German man's face with a finger.

"Yes, go to my office. I'll be there shortly," he responded, removing her finger from his face abruptly. "Why don't you all go down now, and I'll join you later?" he told his employees.

Despite the discontent on Katia's face, everyone, including her, turned and walked toward the elevator.

Madeleine kept teasing her friend to see if she could stay, while Stefan headed back to his office, where Gretchen was waiting, sitting on his desk.

The German closed the door as he passed. He had a serious expression and appeared angry with the woman who had taken the liberty of sitting on his desk.

He put his hands on his hips, above his belt, maintaining his serious demeanor.

"Come on, Stefan. Stop making that bitter face," she said, getting up.

"Are you expecting me to be smiling when you came to my house to threaten my wife?"

"Is that what she told you? I didn't threaten her. I just warned her so it wouldn't hurt as much when it happens," she said.

"No, it wasn't her who told me," he removed a hand from his hip. "You don't need to warn anyone about anything. So please stop interfering in my life, just like I don't interfere in yours."

"The truth is, I'd like you to interfere in my life..." she said, approaching him seductively. "Don't tell me I have to kill your wife to get your attention again, do I? I don't have to do that, right?"

"If you even think about touching a single hair on her, I swear I'll kill you," he said with an icy glare, "and I don't care that you're a woman. I will kill you with my own hands."

Gretchen, frightened by the way he looked at her, took a step back. It was the first time in many years that she had seen that look.

Her eyes were wide with surprise at being spoken to like that by him. Stefan gazed at her with hatred, anger, and suspicion, but the German wasn't aware of it.

Gretchen, a mix of hurt and anger, walked towards the door. He stepped aside to let her pass, and as she opened it, he said, "Does your little woman even know what she's gotten into?"

"No, not yet," Stefan replied.

"She'll leave you when she finds out," she arrogantly assured him, and she left the room, leaving the door ajar.

Stefan sighed tiredly and turned towards his desk. At that moment, he realized that Katia had left her bag there. The sound of high heels approaching made him turn around, and he was surprised to see the brunette.

She stood at the office door, with one hand resting on the door frame.

"I left my bag," she said.

"I was going to bring it for you. You shouldn't have come back," he told her.

"Come on. I think they're waiting for us to eat."

"Yeah..." she took the bag and walked towards the elevator. "Hey, Stefan. Why did your ex-girlfriend say I don't know what I've gotten into?"

The German's heart skipped a beat at her question.

"Don't pay attention to her. She's upset because I'd rather be with you than with her."

"Is that... is that true?" She looked at him, surprised. "I'm sorry to say I don't share the same sentiment," she told him without looking at him. "By the way, I'm going shopping with Madeleine after lunch. I'm letting you know..."

"Fred will accompany you and take you home whenever you want. You don't have to worry about me. I have a car parked in the company's parking lot," he shook his head. "I've asked Mr. Jones to stay in the guesthouse so you can be at ease and enjoy the pool while we're not there," he told her.

"Thank you," she looked at him and gave a small smile.