Catherine pursed her lips again and said,
"With all those sches of yours, how could my mom possibly stand a chance against you?"
After spending so ti with Bert, Catherine had co to realize that he was indeed a sly old fox. She never knew when she was being led into one of his setups—just like today. It had been nothing more than an invitation to dinner, yet he had sohow managed to completely change Renata’s attitude toward him.
She didn’t know what had co over her. A sudden surge of jealousy welled up in her chest, and before she could stop herself, the words slipped out—
"Be honest. All these tricks of yours... you’ve tested them on plenty of other won before, haven’t you? That’s why you’re so good at it now."
The mont the words left her mouth, Catherine regretted them. But it was already too late to take them back.
She was thoroughly annoyed with herself, because the woman who had just said that sounded no different from those insecure, jealous types who fell into fits of envy at the slightest provocation.
Clearly, Bert was a little taken aback at first as well. Then he laughed, his dark eyes deep as he fixed them on her.
"If I’d ever put even a fraction of this kind of effort into another woman," he said, "I wouldn’t still be single now."
He made no attempt to hide his confession—that he had never been this serious about any other woman before. Whether in his tone or his expression, he had never looked so earnest or sincere. Catherine chose to believe him, without reservation.
Still, he might be trustworthy—but the won out there were terrifying.
Since she had already started acting overly sentintal, Catherine decided she might as well go all the way.
"What if so young girl out there tries to seduce you," she said, "throws herself at you—what then?"
That was just how society was these days: n cheating at the drop of a hat, won barging into other people’s relationships without hesitation.
And truth be told, Catherine lacked confidence. Whether it was her looks, her family background, or her personal abilities, she wasn’t outstanding in any sense. Yet she alone had received this kind of love from him. Even as she felt sweet and intoxicated, she couldn’t help but feel anxious.
Because he treated her so well, she fell deeper and deeper—and the deeper she fell, the more afraid she beca of losing it all.
Bert laughed, not finding her jealousy ugly or unbecoming in the slightest. On the contrary, he enjoyed it. She was usually far too composed and sensible; seeing her jealous ant she cared about him, and that was sothing he longed for.
"There won’t be any other young girls," he said softly. "In my eyes, you’re already the young girl. You’re enough."
The warmth and depth in his gaze, along with those words that struck straight at her heart, smoothed away Catherine’s sudden jealousy and her lingering unease.
Fine then. With his talent for sweet talk—
What choice did she have but to surrender?
She thought the topic would end there, now that she had been soothed. But instead, he held her gaze firmly once more, raised an eyebrow, and said,
"And what if so young guy starts eyeing you? What would you do then?"
Catherine froze.
She hadn’t expected him to turn the question back on her. She knew her own earlier doubts had co from a place of insecurity—but what about him? Why would he ask that?
Could it be... that he was insecure too?
His tone was serious and sincere. He took her hand, holding it in his palm and gently rubbing it with his thumb.
"I’m so much older than you. To you, I’m no longer young—so of course I get scared. I feel insecure. I feel uneasy."
Bert ant every word he said. Those worries accompanied him every single day.
That was also why he had felt especially anxious that day when he saw her together with Ford—because he was afraid she might be moved by another man, or even taken away from him.
"That won’t happen," Catherine said softly. "Just like you said there won’t be any other young girls, I won’t have any ’young guys’ either—or any other man."
She lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck, praising him with a touch of shyness.
"Having you is enough for too. And I don’t think you’re old at all—I think you’re just right."
What she loved was the maturity and steadiness that ti had polished into him, the calm confidence and ease he carried with him.
Those were things no so-called "young guy" could ever possess—of course, not every older man had such qualities either. But she was lucky. The man she had t was exactly the one she had always longed for.
Not too much. Not too little. Just right.
And most importantly—he loved her too.
The corner of Bert’s lips curved slightly. With a faint smile, he lowered his head and gently brushed a kiss against her lips, expressing how satisfied he was with her answer.
Renata pushed open the kitchen door, intending to step out and ask Catherine sothing. Instead, she caught sight of the two of them locked in an embrace, kissing. She imdiately shut the door again.
Young people these days...
For dinner, Renata prepared six dishes and a soup—not an excessive spread, but just right. There were only three of them, after all, and anything more would have gone to waste. What mattered was the sincerity.
She had even deliberately made dumplings, thinking that this was probably sothing Bert, as a grown man, wouldn’t be particularly good at.
And she was right—Bert really wasn’t. He loved dumplings, though, and hadn’t expected Renata to make them. When Catherine ntioned earlier that there would be dumplings later, he had been genuinely touched.
His relationship with his own mother had never been especially close. Bert didn’t think that had anything to do with whether soone grew up in a single-parent household—there were plenty of single mothers who raised their children well and shared warm, loving bonds with them.
This was purely a matter of personality. Most mothers in the world were selfless—but there were selfish ones too.
Unfortunately, his mother belonged to the latter group. After Daniel abandoned her, her temperant changed even more drastically, and over the years, the distance between them only grew.
Because he himself had grown up lacking familial warmth, Bert had never once, before Catherine, considered marriage with another woman—nor had he ever wanted to have children with anyone else.
He didn’t want his own misfortune to be passed down to his children.
But now that he had t Catherine—soone with a clear sense of right and wrong, a gentle and kind heart, and a childhood and family background marked by the sa absence of happiness—Bert believed she was soone worth letting go of all those long-held convictions for, soone worth building a family with.
He believed even more strongly that once they beca a family, they would never abandon one another. Because of that, he felt no fear at all about the prospect of an unhappy marriage, and he no longer resisted the idea of having children with her.
Bert had brought two bottles of red wine himself, so that was what they drank with dinner.
The atmosphere at the table was relaxed, warm, and cheerful. When they were nearly finished eating, Catherine took the initiative to stand up and go boil the dumplings.
Renata glanced at Bert, signaling the start of a conversation between a mother-in-law and her future son-in-law.
It was clear that Renata was happy that evening—but she was also rational.
Nothing mattered more than her daughter’s happiness. So there were certain things she still needed to say to Bert.
Her tone and expression were solemn and earnest.
"To be honest, I never imagined that Cici’s partner would be soone as wealthy and accomplished as you," Renata said. "As her mother, my only wish has ever been for her to find a man who truly cherishes her. This child has suffered so much since she was little—following , enduring hardships and injustices far beyond what children from complete families ever have to face."
As she spoke, Renata couldn’t help feeling a wave of bitterness. Her eyes reddened slightly. That small girl, walking alongside her all these years, had borne far more than she ever should have.
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