From Broken to Beloved-Chapter 153- be real

Some people, repulsed by Lucca’s words and actions, ended up rejecting not only her but also Gerald and even the Gerald family behind him. Others said Lucca was incredibly lucky—despite her thoroughly tarnished reputation, a promising young man like Gerald was still willing to marry her. Some even claimed that what Gerald felt for Lucca must be true love; otherwise, how could he still be willing to marry her after such a scandal?

Outsiders were, after all, just outsiders. Naturally, none of them knew why Gerald had been forced to publicly announce that he would marry Lucca.

Catherine, of course, also learned of the news, but she felt nothing about it. To her, Gerald had long since become irrelevant—especially now that she had Bert.

As for Lucca, Catherine thought of the evidence she still held, proof that Lucca had framed her.

Originally, Catherine had planned to expose it at Lucca and Gerald’s wedding and completely destroy Lucca. But now that she herself had found happiness—and considering that Lucca had already fallen so far—Catherine wondered if she should just let it go.

However, when she had lunch with Bert that day, he unexpectedly suggested,

"The evidence I gave you before can come in handy at their wedding. Haven’t you always wanted to do that?"

Catherine frowned at him. How did he know she had planned to release the evidence at their wedding?

Because she was puzzled, Catherine asked him directly,

"How do you know I wanted to do that?"

She didn’t remember ever telling him about her plan to reveal the evidence at Lucca and Gerald’s wedding. It was a fairly private decision—there was no way she would casually mention it.

"Do you remember when we first met, the time you got drunk?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Now that their relationship was so stable and they had already crossed that intimate line, Bert didn’t intend to hide anything from her anymore. That included what happened when she was drunk—how he had kissed her, deeply and carefully—and also how she had seen him completely naked right after he got out of the shower.

The moment he mentioned that night she got drunk, a bad feeling surged up in Catherine’s heart.

She rarely drank and had almost no experience getting drunk, let alone knowing what her behavior was like afterward. Now that he brought it up, she started to worry—had she behaved terribly, said something she shouldn’t have, or done something embarrassing?

As these thoughts crossed her mind, her face turned uneasy. Bert then told her how, when she was drunk, she had personally told him that she wanted to release that video at Lucca and Gerald’s wedding.

Catherine looked embarrassed. Sure enough—it really was something she had blurted out while drunk.

But she hadn’t expected things to get even more awkward.

Bert went on to describe in detail how he had kissed her when she went to the kitchen to get water. Catherine was both flustered and annoyed.

"You’re shameless!"

Taking advantage of her while she was drunk—and back then, they had only known each other for a few days. Yet he had already done something like that to her...

Seeing her reaction, Bert deliberately teased her further, describing in an ambiguously playful tone how she had seen him completely naked while he was in the shower.

Catherine was utterly speechless.

She was so embarrassed she wished she could crawl into a hole in the ground. What kind of situation was this supposed to be?

Still stubborn, she defended herself,

"You’re lying. I would never do something like that."

Bert laughed.

"Whether you really did or not—you should have some impression yourself. You can try recalling that night more carefully."

At his reminder, Catherine suddenly remembered the morning after she got drunk. Images had inexplicably surfaced in her mind—explicit images of a man’s body.

So it turned out those hadn’t been dreams at all.

They had been real.

Catherine raised a hand to cover her face. She didn’t want to say anything, and she didn’t want to look at him either.

She swore to herself that she would never drink alcohol again.

All of a sudden, she was swept up into someone’s arms. Startled, she quickly dropped the hand covering her face, only to see him carrying her toward the lounge next door. Catherine struggled at once.

"What are you doing?!"

His voice was low and teasingly intimate.

"What do you think?"

From his tone and the look in his eyes, Catherine could tell exactly what he was thinking. Panic surged through her, and she struggled even harder.

"No, no—this is the office!"

Just the thought of it made her flustered. What had happened between them yesterday was already more than embarrassing enough, and now he wanted to do something like that in the company office...

Catherine felt she absolutely could not accept this.

In just a few steps, Bert carried her into the lounge. The room’s decor and furnishings had all been personally selected and designed by him—understated yet luxurious.

He set her down on the large bed, and Catherine was genuinely on the verge of tears. She pressed her hands against his chest, pleading,

"Bert, don’t be like this..."

"Like what?" Bert asked with a soft laugh. "What do you think I’m going to do?"

He chuckled quietly.

"I just want to hold you and take a nap for a bit."

Catherine: "..."

She continued to struggle.

"I don’t have the habit of taking naps. You sleep if you want—I’ll go back downstairs and work..."

Bert, of course, wasn’t about to allow that. Holding her close, his tone carried a hint of grievance.

"We can’t live together at night and be close then—can’t you spare a little time at noon to keep me company?"

It was both a veiled complaint about spending his nights alone and a subtle suggestion that she move in with him.

At his words, Catherine’s struggling and protests gradually slowed to a halt. He was right—aside from having dinner together in the evenings, they hardly had any time alone. She lived with Renata, and Renata would never allow her to stay out overnight.

Midday was the only time they could be close and stay together like this. And so, the hands that had been pushing him away slowly withdrew.

He, however, took it a step further. Lowering his head, he began to kiss her lips unhurriedly. The kiss deepened, growing more and more intense, until in the end, he got exactly what he wanted.

After it was over, Catherine was so annoyed that she didn’t want to pay him any attention at all. She turned her back to him, sulking, while he wrapped his arms around her from behind and coaxed her with endless patience.

"Then why don’t you hit me?"

Catherine twisted her body even farther away, making it very clear that she was ignoring him.

What would be the point of hitting him? He’d already done everything he wanted to do. Besides, she wasn’t the type to resort to violence to solve things—that was Riley’s style!

Just as she was fuming, a long, slender hand with distinct knuckles appeared in front of her eyes. He continued to coax her gently.

"Then why don’t you bite me instead?"

Catherine stared at that beautiful hand, her mind filled with images of how those very hands had just ignited flames across every inch of her body. Her face flushed even redder. She turned her head back and glared at him fiercely.

"Why are you so violent? Who wants to hit you or bite you?"

Bert leaned in and kissed the corner of her lips.

"Then what should I do?" he asked softly. "Tell me—what would make you stop being angry?"

Catherine had no answer to that question at all, so she could only glare at him in silence.

There was a hint of a sigh in Bert’s voice.

"When are you going to move in with me? I really want to start living together as soon as possible. It’s not just for the convenience of doing things like this—it’s because I truly want to enjoy the warmth and comfort of something called a family."

Bert’s words made Catherine’s chest ache faintly, her heart softening for him.

On the other hand, what he described was something she longed for as well. She, too, had grown up with almost no experience of familial warmth, never truly having a home of her own.

She had always hoped that one day, someone would appear in her life—someone who would give her a warm home, cherish her, protect her, love her. Then they would have a pair of children and live peaceful, steady days together.

Now that such a man had appeared, of course she was willing.

But thinking about the fact that she lived with her mother, she nestled into his arms and spoke softly.

"It’s too soon for us to live together... it wouldn’t be easy to explain things to my mom."

Saying this meant that, in her heart, she had already accepted the idea of living with Bert. Bert began to plan quietly—perhaps he needed to take some steps to get Renata to agree to it sooner rather than later.

Of course, if Catherine moved in with him, Renata would move in as well. Renata’s health wasn’t suited to living alone right now, and Bert didn’t mind that at all. To him, Renata was the most important person in Catherine’s life, which meant she was important to him as well. He would take good care of her, too.

"I’ll figure something out."

After reassuring Catherine, he added,

"I’ve arranged to have dinner with my father tomorrow night. You should come too."

At the mention of meeting Daniel, Catherine instantly grew nervous.

"S-so soon? I’m not ready at all..."

They had only just made up, hadn’t they? And he was already taking her to meet his father?

Seeing her small face scrunch up with tension, Bert couldn’t help but laugh.

"It’s just a meal together. Why are you so nervous?"