From Broken to Beloved-Chapter 119- That’s none of my concern.
Bert raised an eyebrow at Channing.
"So it seems President Channing is here to plead for leniency."
Then his tone abruptly shifted, turning cold and unyielding.
"But shouldn’t this kind of plea be made by the person involved herself, if there’s to be any sincerity at all?"
Bert’s opening remark left Channing completely speechless. He stood there stiffly, his aging face flushing and paling in turns, the embarrassment written all over him.
To be fair, it wasn’t that Bert was deliberately cornering Channing—he was simply stating the truth. If one was going to beg for mercy, shouldn’t the person who had committed the wrongdoing come in person? As a father, was Channing really going to take her place in something like this?
No wonder Lucca had grown up so ill-mannered. If word of this got out, no one would side with Channing. His daughter had made a serious mistake, yet it was the father who came to plead on her behalf.
Aware that he was in the wrong, Channing stood there for a long while, struggling to steady his emotions before finally speaking again.
"My daughter is rather thin-skinned..."
Even then, he was still making excuses for Lucca. Catherine, standing nearby, felt there was truly no saving him.
She was grateful that Channing had exited her life early on, grateful that she had been raised by Renata, a teacher, from a young age. Otherwise, Catherine couldn’t help but wonder whether she herself might have grown into someone as shameless and ill-bred as Lucca.
"Thin-skinned?"
Bert’s expression darkened further at Channing’s defense, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
"Then why wasn’t she thin-skinned when she stole someone else’s boyfriend? Or when she bribed street thugs to assault your other daughter?"
The merciless words once again left Channing utterly at a loss.
Bert had reached the end of his patience. At this point, Lucca hadn’t even bothered to show up in person, and after all this time, Channing hadn’t offered a single word of apology. If he was here on Lucca’s behalf, shouldn’t he at least apologize properly to Catherine first?
Apologize for Lucca’s despicable conduct last night.
But Channing hadn’t.
From the depths of his heart, Bert felt nothing but revulsion toward Channing and that entire family.
Catherine, for her part, felt no sympathy at all for Channing’s predicament. She thought he deserved it. With such selfish, self-serving behavior, it was no wonder the company he ran was now facing bankruptcy.
After being mocked twice in succession by Bert, Channing finally grasped how ruthless Bert could be. His face crumpled, and he suddenly began to sob uncontrollably.
"Bert, Cici, you’re both designers—you know better than anyone how devastating accusations of plagiarism can be to a designer. If this news isn’t withdrawn and continues to spread, Lucca’s entire future will be ruined—"
By the end of his plea, Channing had forced out a few tears. Instead of softening Bert, it only made him angrier. Especially when he recalled how cruelly Channing had treated Catherine back then, Bert let out a cold scoff.
"Someone like Lucca still counts as a designer? Her very existence is an insult to the word."
Bert’s stance plunged Channing into utter despair. Finally, Bert stopped circling the issue and strode forward, stopping directly in front of him. With a cold laugh, he said,
"President Channing, let me ask you this. Now that you’re here crying and begging for Lucca—where were you when Catherine was in trouble?"
"Did you ever say even a single word for her?"
Bert was tall to begin with, and standing so close only amplified the oppressive pressure he radiated. Question after question forced Channing to retreat several steps in panic.
"I—"
The reason Bert had agreed to see Channing in the first place had never been to negotiate. It was to humiliate him—and, more importantly, to reclaim justice for Catherine over what had happened two years ago.
Why was Channing reacting like this now that Lucca was in trouble, when Catherine had been so mercilessly abandoned back then?
"Can’t answer, can you? They’re both your daughters—so why do you treat them so differently?"
Bert cast a cold glance at Channing’s stricken expression before delivering his verdict, merciless as a devil from hell.
"I’ll be honest with you. No matter how much you beg, I will not let Lucca off. This is the punishment she deserves."
"And it’s the best comfort I can offer for everything Catherine has suffered."
Catherine, who had remained silent all this time, felt waves of bitterness and emotion surge through her heart.
Two years had passed. She herself had nearly let go of her resentment toward Channing and Lucca—yet he still remembered, still wanted to fight for her, still sought to soothe her scarred heart in this way.
How could she not fall in love with a man like this?
"Cici... Cici—"
"Please, I’m begging you. Save your sister, won’t you? She can’t be ruined like this—"
Seeing that there would be no mercy to be found with Bert, Channing turned instead to Catherine, who had remained silent all this time.
He had always believed that his eldest daughter was gentle, soft-spoken, and kind at heart. Surely, he thought, such pitiful pleas would move her.
Catherine merely looked at him and asked calmly,
"Have you ever considered that if I truly let her go this time, and she finds someone again to do to me what she did last night... what should I do then?"
"I’ve already been destroyed by her once. Do you want her to destroy me a second time?"
Channing had no answer.
Catherine continued, her voice steady and unyielding.
"So I will not forgive her. And I certainly will not show mercy."
Every word she spoke was soaked in the blood of wounds she had carried in her heart for years.
The deeper they had once hurt her, the more ruthlessly she returned it now.
Channing had thought her stance might soften. Instead, her words were even more merciless than Bert’s. He staggered back several steps in despair, his face turning ashen.
In truth, Channing wasn’t entirely unaware. His family had been excessively harsh toward this eldest daughter—and toward Renata. They had dared to be so cruel only because Catherine was gentle and easy to deal with, because they never believed she would amount to anything.
Who could have known she would one day meet a man like Bert?
Had he known then what her fate would become, perhaps the one abandoned would have been Lucca instead.
And it was all because Gerald had never been strong enough—never strong enough to protect her.
If Gerald had possessed even a tenth of Bert’s resolve, no one would have dared treat Catherine so cruelly.
That included Channing himself. Tracy. Lucca. Even Gerald’s parents.
Had Gerald truly loved her and stood firmly at her side, Catherine would never have suffered what she once did.
Feeling that Channing had been humiliated enough and his own anger sufficiently appeased, Bert pressed the intercom and summoned his assistant to see Channing out.
After finally managing to get an audience with Bert, Channing was unwilling to leave empty-handed. Even if Lucca’s matter was beyond saving, there was still the four million tied to his company. Swallowing his pride, he blurted out,
"Bert—putting that matter aside for now, about the remaining four million—"
Bert let out a cold laugh.
"President Channing, I trust you know I’m a man of my word. Since you failed to meet my conditions, how could I possibly give you that money?"
Channing knew this well enough. But Renata’s attitude had left him at a dead end, and so he could only complain helplessly,
"But Cici’s mother refuses to accept any goodwill from me at all—"
Bert cut him off without hesitation.
"That’s none of my concern."
The assistant had already entered. Bert lifted a hand, signaling for Channing to be escorted out.
Still unwilling to give up, Channing continued shouting as he was dragged away,
"Lord Washington! Lord Washington—!"
Bert did not spare him a single glance.
After Channing was taken out, Catherine turned to Bert in confusion.
"What four million? Why would you give him four million?"
She couldn’t understand why Bert would help someone like Channing. In her eyes, his bankruptcy was inevitable—and entirely deserved.
Bert answered calmly,
"I told him to go ask your mother to reconcile with him. If she agreed, I’d give him four million to help him through the crisis."
