From Broken to Beloved-Chapter 118- reputation

Every time he kissed her, Bert felt his craving for that sense of becoming one with her grow stronger—so strong that it was nearly slipping beyond his control. If one day he really couldn’t hold back and ended up "devouring" her...

He raised a hand to tug at the tie around his neck, forcing himself to stop thinking about such intimate images. Otherwise, the one who would suffer was only himself.

There were even moments when he thought he might as well tell her to go register their marriage right away. Once they were married, he could do whatever he wanted without restraint. But he knew very well that a whirlwind marriage was something neither she nor her mother, given their personalities, would be able to accept. So he could only take things step by step—dating, getting to know each other properly—and wait until everything fell naturally into place before talking about marriage.

After Catherine finished straightening her clothes, the heat on her face still hadn’t faded in the slightest. Her mind was filled with the burning sensation of his hand against her skin just moments ago.

Bert stood up and walked over, pulling her into his arms again. Catherine was already a little afraid of him, but this time he didn’t do anything further. He merely leaned close to her ear and said in a low voice,

"Do you know that the way you blush makes it even easier for people to let their imaginations run wild?"

Catherine felt utterly embarrassed.

What could she do about it? Blushing wasn’t something she could control. If he hadn’t done those things to her, she wouldn’t be blushing at all.

So she protested softly,

"Then you shouldn’t do things like that anymore!"

If her blushing made his imagination run wild, then wasn’t he the one suffering for it? Catherine felt that, for his own sake, he really shouldn’t treat her like that again.

Bert deliberately teased her. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Like what, exactly?"

Catherine couldn’t answer. She could only bite her lip and glare at him. Seeing how shy and alluring she looked, Bert couldn’t resist lowering his head to kiss her again.

He didn’t know what was wrong with him—he just felt that no matter how much he kissed her, it was never enough.

When he had spoken with Morrison on the phone the night before, Morrison had even joked with him, telling him to take it easy. After so many years without that kind of life, he warned, Bert shouldn’t go all wolfish and scare Catherine away.

Inside the office, the two of them were wrapped in sweet intimacy.

Outside the office, Channing was growing increasingly frantic.

Only after Bert felt he had sufficiently enjoyed this private time with Catherine did he finally pick up the internal phone and instruct his assistant,

"Let him come in."

Making Channing wait earlier had been deliberate—partly to torment him, and partly, of course, to leave enough time for Bert to be alone with Catherine and indulge in their closeness.

As soon as Channing was informed that he could go in, he hurried straight to Bert’s office.

Although Channing deeply resented the trouble Lucca had caused, now that the plagiarism scandal had been exposed, he couldn’t simply stand by and watch her future be destroyed. What was more, Lucca had spent the entire morning in his office, crying nonstop.

None of them had expected Bert to be this ruthless—to strike first by destroying Lucca’s reputation.

Lucca had originally assumed that Bert might resort to physical retaliation, such as having someone attack her, or even arranging for her to be humiliated the way she had nearly done to Catherine. Because of that, she had taken extensive precautions, even contacting a security company overnight and hiring two personal bodyguards.

But they had all miscalculated.

When Channing stepped into Bert’s office, he froze for a moment.

What he saw was Catherine seated in Bert’s office chair, while Bert stood tall beside her, his posture that of a knight guarding his princess.

That single tableau was enough to reveal how important Catherine was to Bert.

She was sitting in that chair—almost as if she were the one issuing commands.

For a moment, Channing couldn’t tell whether he felt happy or uneasy. He was glad that Catherine was so cherished by Bert; as her father, perhaps he might enjoy some benefits in the future as well. But he was also worried—if Catherine mattered this much to Bert, then Lucca’s actions the night before would surely not be forgiven lightly.

Could Catherine say that she hadn’t really wanted to sit there? Bert was the company’s boss—how could she be sitting in his chair? It felt as though she could issue orders from there herself, which made her uncomfortable.

But he had insisted she sit down. Sometimes, she really felt that his way of thinking was... rather eccentric.

After he had pressed her into the seat, she couldn’t help protesting,

"You’re the boss of the company. This is where you plan strategies and give orders. What does it look like for me to sit here?"

Bert braced his hands on the armrests on either side of her chair and leaned down, gazing at her intently. His dark eyes were filled with genuine feeling.

"I think you’re perfectly suited to sit here."

Catherine looked at him in confusion. He smiled and continued,

"I may be the one who leads the entire company, but you lead me. So in reality, you’re leading the whole company. There’s nothing inappropriate about you sitting here at all."

Those words filled Catherine’s chest—filled it completely with his love, with emotion.

She hadn’t realized that this was his way of declaring something to her, and to Channing as well—declaring her unique and supreme position in his heart.

Although they had officially been together for less than half a day, every word he spoke and every thing he did caused her

Catherine’s feelings for him to deepen and intensify at an astonishing pace. Perhaps in just two or three days, the depth of their bond would equal that of others who had been together for two or three years.

In the past, Catherine had never understood lightning-fast romances like Karl and Marylin’s. Though they looked beautiful, she had always believed such things could never happen to her.

But now, she finally understood why a rational, intelligent woman like Marylin could fall so quickly. If a man loved you enough—if he gave you sufficient security and trust—anyone would leap forward without hesitation.

Women were emotional beings. No matter how rational they seemed, they would eventually succumb to a man’s tenderness.

Catherine had always considered herself rational, yet now she felt her reason slipping out of control whenever she faced Bert.

Because of his words, she no longer resisted sitting in that chair.

At that moment, the stunned look on Channing’s face betrayed his surprise at seeing her there. Bert lazily leaned against the desk and took the initiative to greet him.

"Sorry about that, Mr. Channing. We were just having lunch. What brings you here to see Cici today?"

Bert controlled the entire situation from start to finish; Catherine didn’t need to say or do anything at all.

To be honest, Channing found it stressful to deal with Bert. Bert was sharp-tongued, merciless in speech, and often acted in ways that defied convention. After several encounters, Channing had developed a real headache when it came to him.

Although Catherine was cold toward him as well, compared to Bert, Channing much preferred speaking with her.

But since Bert had opened the topic—and Catherine showed no intention of taking over the conversation—Channing had no choice but to address Bert. He hesitated, then spoke,

"It’s like this... regarding my daughter Lucca being exposed for plagiarism, I wanted to discuss with you whether you might show some leniency and let her off this time."