From Broken to Beloved-Chapter 149- Catherine, I love you.

Bert’s previously calm, unreadable eyes slowly filled with a smile after hearing her words, and he answered obediently,

"Alright."

The tone of his voice and that faint smile made Catherine feel inexplicably annoyed. After saying goodbye, she quickly turned and got out of the car.

What annoyed her was how she couldn’t keep herself in check—how she had still ended up voicing her concern.

Bert remained seated in the car, watching until her figure disappeared into the apartment building, before finally driving away.

In truth, Bert could have taken this opportunity to say something to Catherine—to explain himself. In fact, everything he wanted to say, everything he wanted to explain, had long been prepared in his mind. Yet he chose not to do so.

Because he felt it still wasn’t enough.

He wasn’t sick enough yet, and her concern wasn’t deep enough either. In such circumstances, whatever he said would lose much of its impact, and she might not fully accept him.

Bert never fought battles he had no chance of winning—especially when it concerned his lifelong happiness.

And so, on the way back, he didn’t stop to buy any medicine, letting his illness run its course.

Monday marked the beginning of another busy week. No matter how many heartbreaking things had happened over the weekend, one still had to pull themselves together and throw themselves back into work. Catherine was exactly like that—after adjusting her emotions, she stepped into the office and got back to work.

Of course, Bert didn’t come to pick her up that morning. Catherine wasn’t surprised at all. Given how tense their relationship was right now, it was only natural that he wouldn’t.

Late in the morning, Amy returned from a trip to the lord’s office.

As she passed Catherine’s desk, she stopped, frowned slightly, and asked in a low voice,

"Did Lord Washington not come to work today?"

Catherine was confused.

"I don’t know..."

Amy added another remark,

"Isn’t Lord Washington your boyfriend? You don’t even know whether he came to work?"

Then she added again,

"And doesn’t he pick you up every day?"

This time, Catherine was left speechless. She hesitated for a long while, unable to come up with a proper response. Was she supposed to tell Amy that she and Bert were fighting and in the middle of a cold war? She wasn’t someone who liked putting her private life on display.

This, she thought, was probably one of the downsides of office romance—once you fight or go cold on each other, the whole company knows.

Amy glanced at her again before finally telling her the truth.

"I just went to see Lord Washington. His assistant said he didn’t come in today. Apparently, he’s down with a severe cold and a fever."

After saying that, Amy turned and went back to her desk. Catherine, however, could no longer remain calm.

A severe cold and a fever?

Hadn’t she told him to buy some medicine on his way back last night? How could he have ended up with a fever anyway?

She picked up her phone, intending to call him, but then thought that if he was running a fever, he probably wouldn’t be in the mood to answer. After hesitating with the phone in her hand for a moment, she finally stood up and left the office to look for Bert’s assistant.

When Catherine arrived, Bert’s assistant was anxiously heading out. Catherine stopped him.

"How is he now? How did he end up with a fever?"

The assistant reported honestly,

"Lord Washington didn’t come to work this morning. I only found out he was sick after calling him. I originally thought it was just a mild cold, and he even had me deliver several important documents to him. But when I got there, I realized he was actually bedridden with a high fever!"

Catherine’s heart clenched tightly.

"Did you tell him to go to the hospital? Or at least take some fever-reducing medicine?"

The assistant sighed.

"I suggested taking him to the hospital, but he stubbornly refused. I bought him some medicine when I went—cold medicine and fever reducers—but he wouldn’t take any of it. He even sent me back to fetch another document and bring it over. This is basically risking his life."

This time, Catherine was truly alarmed.

"I’ll go check on him."

Then she added,

"I’ll bring him the documents he needs. You should go take care of your work."

Although Catherine didn’t want Bert to keep working while he was sick, she didn’t know whether the documents were critically important. If they involved major company business, delaying them would be a responsibility she couldn’t afford.

So she decided to take them over first, assess his condition in person, and then decide whether he should be allowed to continue working at all.

The assistant was clearly relieved and grateful when he heard this.

"Thank you so much. I’m completely swamped right now."

After handing the documents to Catherine, he added,

"When you go see Lord Washington, he’ll definitely be very happy. This is the key to his place. When I left earlier, he asked me to take it—he said he was going to sleep for a while, and that he might not be able to get up to open the door when I came back."

Catherine’s heart sank slightly. She took the documents and the key, then turned and left.

At this point, Catherine couldn’t think about anything else anymore—there was only worry, nothing but worry.

If it were just an ordinary cold, she wouldn’t be this anxious. But the problem was that he already had a fever and was refusing treatment. The thought of it made her feel as if ten thousand ants were gnawing at her heart, a mixture of panic and concern that wouldn’t let her rest.

After informing her supervisor at the office, she grabbed her bag, left the company, hailed a taxi, and went straight to Bert’s place.

On the way, Catherine couldn’t help blaming herself. Why did she have to be stubborn with him? If she had known it would turn out like this, she should have gone with him to buy medicine last night and watched him take it.

When she opened the door, the entire apartment was silent. A wave of panic rose in her chest. Her voice trembled as she called Bert’s name, then she kicked off her shoes and hurried straight toward his bedroom.

Bert was there, lying on the bed with his eyes closed, seemingly asleep.

At a glance, he looked utterly exhausted. His eyes were shut tight, his brows drawn together. Against the dark navy bedding, the scene felt even heavier to Catherine. A severe cold combined with a high fever—no matter how strong a man was, this was enough to bring him down.

Her eyes stung. Slowing her steps, she walked over quietly and sat down by the bed. The first thing she did was reach out to feel his forehead—it was burning hot.

Her eyes reddened again. She was just about to grab the thermometer nearby to check his temperature when the man on the bed suddenly opened his eyes. Her red-rimmed, tearful expression fell straight into his deep, dark gaze.

Catherine froze for a moment, then felt embarrassed. She quickly looked away, trying to steady her emotions—but in the very next second, she was pulled forward and ended up sprawled against him. In a hoarse voice, he asked,

"So you finally came to see me?"

The scorching heat of his fever made Catherine shiver. She hurriedly raised her hands to push him away.

"You’re burning up like this—hurry up and take some medicine."

He completely ignored her words. Holding her, he rolled over and pulled her into his arms, his tone intimate and gentle.

"Catherine, I love you."

His words, mixed with the heat of his breath, brushed against her ear, burning her skin—and aching straight into her heart.

Catherine hadn’t expected to hear such words. For a moment, she simply froze there, letting him hold her, her eyes red as she looked at him, her mind utterly blank.

All she could see was his handsome yet weakened face, his deep eyes like jet-black gemstones, and hear his low, murmured confession as he said,

"I admit that at the beginning, helping you was indeed because I wanted to make up for something. After all, I took away the most precious thing a girl has—her virginity. But very soon after that, I fell in love with you."

"Because you are so very beautiful."