Katherine's POV
Douglas hesitated for a moment, his voice faltering, “You’re crying?”
My hand froze. I hadn’t expected anyone to notice. Let alone care.
“That’s not your concern,” I said flatly.
“It’s late. Where are you?” He seemed oblivious to my dismissal and pressed on. “Send me your address. I’ll come pick you up.”
I hung up the phone abruptly.
There was no need for feelings to complicate things between Douglas and me.
I’d already spent five years believing in a relationship that turned out to be nothing more than a rehearsal. I wasn’t foolish enough to expect sincerity from an arranged marriage.
Besides, unlike Cameron, I didn't want to hurt someone and make them believe in a love that wasn’t true.
I took a walk between the lush trees, letting the summer breeze clear my mind.
Time slipped by until a car rushed toward me and skidded to a stop beside me.
The window rolled down slowly, revealing Douglas’s face.
The warm yellow light highlighted his sharp, handsome features.
This man really had his ways—he’d managed to pinpoint my location exactly.
His dark black eyes were shrouded in a dim haze, making it hard to discern his emotions and hard to look away from.
“Ms. Katherine,” he said in a low voice. “Get in.”
I didn’t move.
“You’re my fiancée now,” he added, so casually. “Your safety is my responsibility.”
He seemed to adapt to his role pretty quickly!
Just then, my phone rang. Cameron was calling.
Part of me wanted answers. Wanted him to prove everything I’d heard was wrong, to explain himself, to tell me to come back. Against my better judgment, I answered.
“Katherine, where are you?” he asked, impatiently. “You’ve been in the restroom forever!”
Amid the noise of chatter, I thought I heard Marilyn’s name mentioned.
They were probably discussing her while I was away, reminding me of how easily I slipped to the back of their minds.
I chuckled lightly. “I wasn’t feeling well, so I headed home early.”
“Oh,” Cameron said, uninterested. He didn’t even ask what was wrong. Or if I was okay. “Alright.”
At that exact moment, Douglas opened the car door beside me.
“Get in the car once you’re done with the call,” he urged.
I forced a smile.
“Who’s that?” Cameron asked. I hadn’t even answered yet when Cameron scoffed lightly. “Oh. You called an Uber?”
I didn’t bother correcting him. He probably wouldn’t even care.
“Hey driver,” Cameron said into the phone, his voice suddenly taking on a lazy authority, “make sure you get her home safely, alright?”
Douglas paused mid-motion.
Then to my surprise a faint smile curved his lips as he leaned closer to the phone.
His voice was steady, polite, and unmistakably confident.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll make sure she gets there safe and sound.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Cameron replied impatiently. “You drivers are so thirsty for five stars you’ll—”
Douglas ended the call before Cameron could finish.
I stared at the dark screen, momentarily stunned.
“Did I say something wrong?” he asked.
I shook my head, still processing as he guided me into the car. “Um… no.”
It baffled me that a man I barely knew cared more about my safety then my boyfriend of five years.
The drive was silent.
I had expected Douglas to ask me something—like why I was crying—but he didn’t.
When we stopped outside my building, he suddenly called out to me.
“Ms. Katherine.” He handed me a document. “Take a look.”
I opened it suspiciously, and the words “marriage agreement” leapt off the page.
“Sign if everything looks good,” he said. “We can negotiate the wedding venue later.”
“Let’s do it in five days at Hilton Hotels,” I replied.
“Hilton needs a month’s notice. Surely, you knew that before deciding to marry into my family,” Douglas said.
I sensed he was just pretending to be clueless and smiled slightly. “Mr. Douglas, with your influence in New York, I can’t believe you're unaware of my situation before this union. And besides, didn’t you hear me on the phone when you picked me up?”
Douglas raised an eyebrow, pondering for a moment before saying, “What happened before doesn’t concern me. Wrap up your loose ends within five days and let’s have a happy wedding.”
“We will,” I replied.
When he looked at me, the way he looked at me, I felt this illusion that he’d loved me for years.
But how could that be?
The thought made me laugh at myself. I signed the agreement and got out of the car.
Watching Douglas drive away, I thought to myself, he was quite the gentleman.
Marriage to him might turn out to be uneventful.
That night, Cameron didn’t bother to call, which was unusual. He always called to check in before bed.
Clearly, Marilyn had a significant impact on him.
Even before she returned, she’d managed to disrupt the routine it took five years to build with Cameron.
The next day, I met my best friend Lucia at the racetrack to vent and share the news of my engagement to Douglas along the way.
“What about my brother?” she asked carefully.
I paused, then decided to tell her about how Cameron had been using me as practice.
“That’s outrageous! That jerk! How could he do that?” she lashed out. “You’re so amazing, and he doesn’t appreciate you. He’ll regret this. I swear he will!”
“Whether he regrets it or not is irrelevant to me now,” I replied calmly. “Once the marriage happens, I’ll have no ties to him. Which means you can’t tell Cameron about the engagement, Lucia. I want to break the news to him myself.”
“Got it.”
I decided to blow off some steam on the track. I climbed into my familiar ride, and as soon as I touched the steering wheel, all my worries and pain seemed to fade away.
I shifted gears, focused on the acceleration, letting the loud roar of the engine stimulate my senses powerfully.
The moment the car crossed the finish line, my mind went blank and I felt an exhilarating rush.
Lucia sprinted over with a bottle of water in hand.
“Three minutes thirty seconds!” she exclaimed excitedly. “Cameron’s best was three minutes forty seconds during the championship race! When he finds out you race too and are actually better than him, he’ll lose it!”
Exactly. Cameron thought I knew nothing about racing, that I was just some lovesick person throwing money around to become a team coach. That I did all that for him.
I took a sip of water and replied casually, “I’m the only child in my family. There’s a huge business waiting for me to inherit. How could I just throw everything away for racing?”
I gestured towards the tracks. “This only allows me to scratch the itch ever now and then.”
Lucia looked at me, sighing, “Are you really going through with the marriage?”
I could tell her concern stemmed from knowing how much I’d put into the last five years.
“Love isn’t everything,” I said, smiling lightly. “I love him, but I love myself more.”
Lucia hesitated, “After five years, can you really walk away?”
Even now, that question took me by surprise. Could I just forget the past five years just like that? Just the same as Cameron apparently did.
I shrugged slightly, answering her rationally, “Appendicitis grows on the flesh, and if it goes bad, the pain only gets worse unless you remove it.”
My feelings for Cameron had become rotten flesh within me.
It had to be cut out.
Lucia looked contemplative, no longer pressing me.
Around two in the afternoon, Cameron called.
“Katherine, I have an ex-teammate coming into town tonight. Where are you? I’ll come pick you up so we can give her a warm welcome!”
“I’m at the racetrack.”
“Why? There are no races today,” he said, confused. “You don’t even know how to drive, what are you doing there?”
I didn’t feel the need to explain. “I’ll be waiting for you. Just come over.”
With my engagement with Douglas secured, it was time to deal with Cameron.
Before long, Cameron texted that he’d arrived.
When I walked out of the racetrack, I saw him chatting with Rex and Leo.
As I got closer, I could make out something about “Hilton Hotels” and “proposal.”
Oh.
So that was what this was about. My planned proposal to Cameron.
“I’m telling you bro,” Leo said, lowering his voice but not nearly enough, “it was legit. Ms. Katherine went all out.”
“What?” Cameron nearly choked on air. “She went all out for the proposal?! Shit, what am I going to do?”
“I even heard she got you a custom ring and everything,” Rex added.
“Cu… customed ring?” Cameron looked as if he needed to sit down.
Oh my god, I thought, biting my lip to keep from laughing. This was better than cable.
“And that’s not even the craziest part,” Rex continued. “She booked a suite at the top floor. City view.”
Cameron started pacing, dragging a hand through his hair in frustration. “Why would she… I mean… when did she plan all of this?”
Rex clapped Cameron on the back, clearly enjoying his breakdown. Hell, I was too. I couldn’t believe that this was the man I wanted to marry.
“Well,” Leo laughed, “you gotta do something or you’re going to be a married man soon.”
“No, no, no,” Cameron muttered. “This is bad.”
Cameron groaned, burying his face in his hands.
I leaned back against the wall, thoroughly entertained.
No heartbreak.
No lingering affection.
So this was what it felt like when you stop loving someone and start seeing them clearly, I wondered.
Honestly?
Best show I’d seen all week.
When Rex and Leo left, I made my way over to Cameron.
I noticed he seemed a bit distracted when he didn’t notice I was standing in front of him.
“Hey, you’re here? Let’s get going,” he said with an awkward smile.
I climbed in first, and when he joined me, I said, “After the gathering tonight, there’s something I need to discuss with you.”
“What? Why?” he panicked.
“I had something planned but—”
“Katherine,” he interrupted, “I think we’re still young, and I haven’t…”
There it was. He was trying to talk his around something that wasn’t going to happen anyway.
He had no idea I’d already decided to let him go.
Just pure, unfiltered comedy at this point.
When I didn’t answer, he grew more frantic. “What I mean is, I don’t want to get married so quickly.”
I took a deep breath and looked at him. “Look, Cameron, I actually think…”
Suddenly, a phone call interrupted me.
I glanced at his screen and noticed that the incoming call was from Marilyn.
Marilyn—the woman who had rejected his confession and dismissed him for being inexperienced.
Cameron had used me as practice because of her.
Almost immediately, Cameron rushed to answer.
Her spoiled voice echoed in the car, “Cameron! I can’t get a ride at the airport. Hurry and come pick me up!”
Cameron smiled, his tone softened immediately, “Yes, my lady!”