Rebirth: The New Bride Wants A Divorce-Chapter 424: You think I planned this

Daniel had barely set foot inside his office when the door flung open with such force that his head snapped up instantly.

"Miss Kathrine, I told you the boss is—" Henry’s words died the moment he saw Daniel standing there.

Henry froze, color draining from his face. He immediately lowered his gaze when Kathrine shot him a sharp glare, her eyes blazing with barely contained fury.

"I didn’t know he was back," Henry muttered apologetically, taking a step back.

"Henry, you can go," Daniel said calmly, already reading the storm written all over Kathrine’s rigid posture and clenched fists.

Henry did not wait to be told twice. He exited quickly, closing the door behind him and leaving the room wrapped in suffocating silence.

Kathrine stood near the entrance, unmoving. Her hands were balled into fists at her sides, her shoulders tense as if holding herself back from doing something reckless.

"So," she said finally, breaking the silence, her voice tight with fury, "is this how you operate now? Pulling strings behind my back?"

Daniel studied her quietly. He could see the anger vibrating beneath her skin, the betrayal etched across her face. Yet, he remained unmoved.

"You should think twice before accusing someone," he replied evenly.

That only fueled her rage.

"Oh, come on, Daniel," Kathrine snapped, a bitter laugh escaping her. "Do you really think I don’t know what you’ve been up to all this time?"

She stepped further into the room, the door closing behind her with a soft but decisive click.

"I was willing to stay silent," she continued, her voice rising. "I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt because Anna asked me to. Because she believed there was something more to you."

Her eyes hardened. "But I can’t ignore the truth anymore. You can never be trusted"

Daniel’s expression did not change, but something dark flickered in his eyes.

"You are still the same man," Kathrine said sharply. "The man who wants to destroy my family."

"That’s your assumption," Daniel replied calmly.

"No," she shot back. "It’s my conclusion."

She took a deep breath, as if steadying herself, then continued, her words tumbling out with pent up rage.

"I knew you always had ulterior motives. I just didn’t want to accept it at first. But I heard you, Daniel."

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"At our wedding," Kathrine said, her voice trembling not with fear, but fury. "I heard you speaking on the phone. You didn’t know I was there. You didn’t know I was listening."

Daniel frowned, confusion briefly flashing across his face.

"You said it so clearly," she continued, every word deliberate. "You said you wanted to destroy the Bennetts."

The room seemed to tighten around them.

Kathrine laughed bitterly. "And here I was, standing in a wedding dress, believing I was marrying a man who wanted a future with me."

Daniel’s jaw clenched.

"You don’t understand—" he began.

"Oh, I understand perfectly," she cut him off. "Enough to know why I ran."

She met his gaze head on. "You want to know the real reason I escaped my wedding, Daniel? It wasn’t fear. It wasn’t doubt. It was instinct."

Daniel went silent.

"I knew if I stayed," she said, her voice dropping, "I would be signing my family’s death sentence."

She paced slowly now, anger spilling over. "I know you’ve been trying to dismantle everything we built. Slowly. Carefully. Piece by piece."

"That’s not—"

"You didn’t join my father because you saw potential," Kathrine snapped. "You joined him to break him. To bleed him dry while pretending to save him."

Daniel’s expression turned grim.

"You studied the company, its weaknesses, its desperation," she continued. "You positioned yourself perfectly. The savior. The solution. And all along, it was part of your plan."

Daniel said nothing.

"You didn’t need to rush," she went on. "You were patient. You always are. You wanted to watch it crumble from the inside."

Her words struck deeper than she realized.

Daniel’s gaze dropped slightly, his mind racing backward.

And then it hit him.

That day.

The memory surfaced with brutal clarity.

Norma’s voice echoed in his mind. The call she had made just days before the wedding. Her sharp warnings. Her calculated words about the Bennetts, about power, about timing.

He had been so focused on the conversation, so certain of his privacy, that he never noticed the faint movement behind the door.

Someone standing there.

Listening.

Daniel inhaled sharply.

Kathrine noticed the change instantly.

"So it’s true," she said quietly, her anger giving way to something colder. "You remember it now, don’t you?"

Daniel lifted his eyes back to her, his composure finally cracking.

"You were there," he said slowly.

"Yes," Kathrine replied. "I was."

Silence crashed between them.

"I heard enough to know you were never on our side," she continued. "Enough to know that loving you would cost me everything."

Daniel took a step forward. "Kathrine, that conversation—"

"Was enough," she interrupted firmly. "Enough to make me run. But I never realized that my parents would force Anna to take my spot. If I had known I would have exposed you right there!"

Kathrine’s eyes burned as she stared at Daniel, fury and pain tangled together. What hurt the most was the thought that her sister had fallen for a man who, in her eyes, knew nothing beyond manipulation and power plays.

And now, a far more unsettling question gnawed at her.

Did he truly love Anna... or was that too part of his scheme?

"But now I won’t stop," Kathrine said coldly. "I will unmask your intentions, Daniel. I won’t let my sister suffer under the name of your fake love. I will expose you."

She turned sharply on her heels, ready to leave.

"It has nothing to do with Anna."

The words stopped her mid step.

Slowly, Kathrine turned back, disbelief etched across her face.

"And you expect me to believe you?" she scoffed.

"Believe it or not," Daniel said, his voice low but steady, "my love for Anna is real. Despite her being the daughter of a family I despise more than anything, I still fell for her. Deeply." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Kathrine turned fully now, and the moment her eyes met his, her breath hitched.

There was no calculation in his gaze. No cold strategy.

Only raw intensity.

"You accuse me of manipulation," Daniel continued, his composure finally slipping, "but have you ever stopped to ask why I’m even targeting the Bennetts in the first place?"

His voice sharpened.

"You speak as if they’re innocent victims. As if they haven’t destroyed lives without ever looking back."

Kathrine stiffened.

"No matter how wicked they are," she shot back, "that doesn’t justify using my sister as collateral."

"I never did," Daniel snapped. "And I never would."

Silence followed, heavy and charged.

"You think I planned this?" he went on, anger bleeding through. "That I married Anna as part of some grand design? If that were true, I wouldn’t be standing here trying to protect her from everything I am."