Rebirth: The New Bride Wants A Divorce-Chapter 322: No one should know about it
A few minutes later, all four of them were seated at the table, facing one another.
An awkward silence settled almost immediately.
Kathrine sat stiffly beside Ethan, suddenly far too aware of where her hands were, her posture, the heat still lingering on her cheeks. She kept her eyes on the table, pretending to be fascinated by absolutely nothing.
Ethan cleared his throat once, then reached for his glass, only to set it back down without taking a sip.
Across from them, Anna leaned back in her chair, arms crossed once again, her expression unreadable but far too knowing. Beside her, Daniel avoided eye contact altogether, suddenly very interested in adjusting his cufflinks.
No one spoke.
The clink of cutlery from nearby tables filled the silence, each second stretching longer than the last.
Kathrine shifted in her seat, opening her mouth as if to say something, then closing it again.
"So," Anna finally said, breaking the tension with deliberate calm, "are you going to speak."
Daniel coughed into his fist.
Ethan glanced at Kathrine, then back at Anna, offering a polite smile that did little to ease the atmosphere.
"Yes.," he echoed.
The silence returned, thicker than before, as all four of them sat there, painfully aware that whatever had just happened was far from being over.
....
"So you’re telling me," Anna said slowly, her eyes widening as she stared at them both, "that to stop your mother from arranging blind dates for you, you two decided to get into a fake relationship?"
Disbelief laced every word.
Kathrine pressed her lips together, then nodded.
Anna turned fully toward her sister. "And you agreed?" she asked, her voice rising slightly.
She was still trying to process everything, but seeing Kathrine nod so easily made her wonder if she had completely lost her mind.
Sensing the tension tightening around the table, Ethan stepped in.
"I know what you’re thinking, Anna," he said calmly. "But trust me, it’s only temporary. Just until things settle down. Then we’ll end it."
Anna’s gaze shifted back to him, unimpressed.
Temporary. Fake.
Her eyes flicked briefly to Kathrine, to the faint flush still lingering on her cheeks, to the way she avoided Ethan’s eyes.
They didn’t look like they were pretending.
They didn’t look fake at all.
Anna inhaled deeply, forcing herself to stay calm.
’No wonder she wasn’t answering my calls,’ she thought, her gaze lingering on Kathrine’s guilty expression.
She leaned back slightly, then locked eyes with her sister, her look sharp and unmistakable.
’You are explaining this to me later.’
Kathrine swallowed and pressed her lips together again, nodding faintly in surrender.
This conversation was far from over.
***
Outside the restaurant, Daniel slowed his steps and then stopped, turning toward Ethan. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
"Are you sure about Kathrine?" he asked.
Ethan frowned slightly. "As in?"
Daniel held his gaze. "Are you sure you’re fake dating her?"
Even Daniel surprised himself with the question. He hadn’t planned to interfere. His wife had barged into what was clearly a private lunch and dragged him along, and yet, after what he had witnessed inside, doubt had crept in whether he liked it or not.
That hadn’t looked fake.
Daniel could have warned Ethan outright. He could have told him to be careful, to not play with something he might not be willing to lose. But things were never that simple. He had no right to dictate Kathrine’s life, and Ethan was not a man who would take kindly to warnings disguised as authority.
This was his choice. His risk.
Ethan, for his part, looked momentarily surprised by Daniel’s bluntness. But instead of taking offense, he exhaled slowly and nodded.
"It’s fake," he said.
Daniel studied him in silence, searching his face for hesitation, for uncertainty, for anything that contradicted his words. He found none. Or perhaps he found too much control.
After a moment, Daniel gave a small nod.
"Good," he said quietly.
But even as he turned to leave, one thought lingered in his mind.
If it was truly fake, it wouldn’t have looked that real.
Meanwhile, a little distance away, Anna and Kathrine stood facing each other, their voices low but serious.
"Mom is up to something," Anna said firmly. "And I need you to find out what it is."
Kathrine frowned. "So you’re saying I’m getting another task added to my list now?" she asked, clearly unimpressed. "Do you have any idea how much I already have on my plate?"
"Yes," Anna replied without hesitation.
Kathrine arched a brow. "Wow. No sympathy at all."
Anna didn’t smile. "She asked Daniel to drop all the charges against the Stewards without telling Dad or anyone else. That’s not normal. I need to know why."
Kathrine studied her for a moment, then sighed. "Fine. I’ll do it," she said. "But on one condition."
Anna blinked in surprise. "Kathrine, since when do you need to put conditions? Are you running short on money now?"
Kathrine rolled her eyes. She was still getting used to this new, no-nonsense version of her sister.
"Relax. I’m not asking for money. Luckily, we’re not bankrupt yet," she said dryly.
She paused, then looked Anna straight in the eyes.
"You stop looking at me like I’m about to ruin my life," Kathrine added. "Whatever I’m doing, fake dating included, is my decision. Deal with that first. No one should know about it."
Anna held her gaze, then exhaled slowly.
"...Deal," she said, though the hesitation in her eyes didn’t fully fade.
And both of them knew this agreement was only the beginning.
Back in the car, Daniel glanced through the windshield, watching the two sisters from afar. An unexpected thought crossed his mind, fleeting yet unsettling, but he dismissed it just as quickly.
The moment Anna opened the door and slid into the passenger seat, the thought vanished.
He started the engine, and soon they drove away, leaving behind more questions than answers.
***
[Ethan’s car]
"So," Ethan said casually as he watched Kathrine settle into the seat and buckle up, a hint of mischief slipping into his voice, "should we continue what we started?"
".."
