By the time Shaun returned home from his morning run, he was startled to discover the grand feast spread out across the table.
"You..."
"Shaunny, I felt bad that you ate the cat pudding last night so I'm making it up to you with this breakfast spread," Catherine said thoughtfully as she served him a bowl of oat porridge.
There was a strange expression on his face. "It's alright. You've already been punished last night."
She stood there with a tight feeling in her throat. "I was truly grossed out after having the cat's food last night," she replied slowly a couple of seconds later.
He lowered his gaze to the ground without commenting further.
"Are you going to work? Should I drop you off at the subway station?" he asked before heading to the door once he finished his breakfast.
Catherine was startled but soon shook her head from side to side. "I was fired." The desolation was audible in her voice.
It was obvious from his forehead that he was frowning. He was told that she was working at her family company. The relationship between her and the Jones family seemed pretty tense. "Alright, you can focus on looking after Fudge at home."
Pfft, she was not going to spend her time cat sitting.
"I'm planning to look for another job. But don't worry, I'll not let it get in the way of looking after Fudge."
"Whatever," he muttered and left the house.
...
For the next couple of days, Catherine kept herself occupied looking for a job.
There were plenty of openings for interior design or architecture-related roles. However, in order to disguise her background as the young lady of the Jones family, she had to keep her previous professional experience a secret.
Besides, other big-scale companies were only willing to hire her as an assistant, given her young age.
Left with no better alternative, she chose to work with a small company called Imperial Design.
The entire office was only slightly over a hundred square feet. Both their designers took care of everything including designing the plans and giving out advertising leaflets outside the office.
This was her first time doing such work. She felt rather self-conscious in the beginning but soon became more natural at the task.
Some passersby would accept her leaflets but more often than not, people would just walk past as if she was non-existent.
About an hour later, she was drenched in sweat and her cheeks were reddened by the heat.
Although it was fall, the weather was unusually hot today.
Another person walked past without acknowledging her. Just then, a black Lamborghini pulled to a stop in front of her.
This took her by surprise. It was Ethan's car.
"Cathy, why are you handing out leaflets in the streets..." Rebecca stepped out from the passenger seat.
Catherine felt a knot in the center of her chest. Ethan once said the passenger seat of his car only belonged to her. The irony!
"Where else would I be? Summit?" Her words reeked of indifference.
Rebecca pursed her lips as if she was upset. "I didn't mean that..."
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"What's with that tone? Your sister is being kind toward you." Ethan suddenly got out of the car and slammed the door behind him. "Take a good look at yourself. You're the young lady of the Jones family. Don't you feel ashamed of yourself?"
Catherine lifted her gaze, only to see the disgust on his handsome face. An intense pain filled her heart as if someone was carving a hole out of it with a chisel.
"Why should I be ashamed? I'm working honestly by handing out leaflets instead of stealing from others."
"Ethan didn't mean it like that. He thinks you shouldn't be doing something like this. Cathy, come back to Summit," Rebecca said immediately, "Look, we've just secured a renovation deal with the developer of Mandarin Garden regarding their luxurious studios. We're talking about over a thousand suites, so the profit could well be over millions. Come assist me. Shouldn't us sisters work together to make Summit better?"
Catherine, who was already feeling agitated from being exposed to the hot sun for an hour, became more irritated. "Don't you get tired from being a hypocrite every minute? Can you stay away from me? I don't have the energy to entertain you."
"That's enough," Ethan shouted at her, annoyed. "Rebecca is offering you a hand out of kindness but you simply assume the worst of her. You're unbelievable."
"Me?" Catherine could not believe her ears. "Are you too blind to see what kind of woman she is? Would we have separated if not because of her?"
"Rebecca loves me too much, but you? You reprimand the two of us for the way things have turned out but you don't even love me like she does."
"Fine, my love doesn't compare to hers. Leave, get out of my sight right now." Catherine lost all control and threw the stash of leaflets at the two of them.
"Mad woman!" Ethan stepped in front of Rebecca and slightly nudged the other woman away from them.
Catherine lost her balance and fell to the ground. The leaflets were scattered all across the floor.
By the time she looked up, Ethan was already leading Rebecca toward the car with their fingers interlocked.
Rebecca looked over her shoulder to smile smugly at her sister.
The Lamborghini then disappeared into the distance. Catherine was in excruciating pain. It was as if someone had skinned her alive.
She did not expect Ethan to stand up for Rebecca like that, even willing to hurt her because of the latter.
It seemed obvious that the distance between them was growing further.
Catherine had not felt defeated before this, but right at this moment, she felt like she had lost everything.
...
Shaun had just driven out from the court. While waiting for the traffic light to turn green, he noticed that the side of the road was covered in leaflets. A woman dressed in a white shirt bent down from the waist to pick up the leaflets one by one.
He frowned slightly as he recalled Catherine wearing that same outfit before he left the house this morning.
The light turned green. He made a U-turn and parked his car by the roadside. He walked toward the woman, bent over to pick up a leaflet, and handed it over.
"Leave me alone," she said in a choked-up voice, thinking it was Ethan who had returned. "I don't want to see your face..."
She lifted her gaze. Though her vision was blurred by the tears that were welled up in her eyes, a genuine look of surprise washed over her face when she recognized the delicate features.
"Shaun... Hill."
He twitched his brows into a frown. She had been addressing him as 'Shaunny' lately and it felt strange hearing her calling him by his full name.
"Who upset you?" He noticed the tear stains around her red puffy eyes. It was evident that she had been crying.
The woman had always acted cheekily in front of him. This was the first time that he saw her cry.
Frustrated, Catherine bit her lip as she secretly insulted the man. 'It's all because of your stupid nephew. Did they not teach you manners in the family? He's selfish, unfaithful, and has a head full of sh*t.'
However, she knew better than to tell the truth. "I... Someone threw my stash of leaflets to the ground," she replied, looking aggrieved.
Shock washed over his face as he looked at the leaflet in his hand.
He did not expect her new role would have her handing out leaflets on the streets. He learned from his investigation that this woman grew up in a pampered and spoiled environment.
"You claim to have graduated from the University of New South Wales but this is the kind of work you do?"