Marshall frowned at Peter for a good while before speaking. “No, I do NOT see that.”
Peter begun eating as he went on. “It’s true, though. Whenever Kathy’s with you, your whole face
completely changes.”
“Find yourself an eye doctor is what you should do,” sneered Marshall.
Turning to Katherine, Peter said in a hushed voice, “He won’t admit it, but he knows I’m right.”
Taking a peek at Marshall, Katherine was a little bit touched. Marshall was supremely patient with her
today, and she was getting worked up for it. It was probably because Marshall had seldom been so
gentle with her, but the moment he showed some kindness, she couldn’t restrain her helplessly hopeful
heart.
Exhaling, Katherine busied herself with eating her lunch.
Neither Marshall nor Katherine was in a good mood, so both remained quiet during the meal. Peter,
having tried starting a conversation to no avail, shook his head in resignation. It was just like these two
to get passive aggressive with each other again and again. They were incredibly childish in this regard.
Lunch was finished in complete silence.
Katherine declined to be carried by Marshall, asking Peter to help her walk upstairs instead.
When she had settled in her room, Katherine asked Peter to leave.
Peter was almost out of the door before he turned around to speak quietly, “I can tell, Kathy, that you
like him.”
Katherine froze for a second, not knowing what Peter was up to.
Peter paused to think before adding, “I know that you’re divorced, but that doesn’t mean it’s over
between you two. I mean, you’re living with him, so there’s an advantage! It’s not impossible to make
him fall for you.”
“How much did you have to drink before you came here?” asked Katherine, looking at Peter as if he
were a lunatic.
Peter tusked. “Oh please. Do I really have to be so blunt about it?”
Looking into the hallway, he made sure Marshall wasn’t coming before he spoke. “Clara Henderson is
clearly interested in your ex-husband. Do you want to see them together?”
Shaking her head, Katherine was decidedly candid. “No, of course not. You know perfectly well that I
don’t get along with Clara.”
“There you go, then,” responded Peter immediately, “you have to lock down your ex if you don’t want
them together. It won’t suffice to simply keep an eye out for Clara. I’m telling ya, you still got a chance
since Marshall isn’t interested in young Ms. Henderson – yet.”
As Katherine kept silent, Marshall got keener. “Come on, Kathy! Don’t you get it? You’re usually
smarter than this.”
Katherine glared, not wanting to lose the fight; but before she could retort, Peter went on.
“They aren’t together now simply because Marshall doesn’t like Clara, but if he starts developing
feelings for her, there will be nothing you can do. So, what you need to do now is to prevent him from
falling for Clara, which could be achieved simply by making him fall in love with somebody else instead
– yourself, for example. Get it now?”
Katherine did. Katherine couldn’t stop Marshall from falling for Clara by watching out for the latter. What
she needed to do was to deal with not only Clara, but also Marshall.
The thing was that her despair increased at the idea. “It’s easier said than done. I was married to him
for almost a whole year without making him fall for me. And it’s even more hopeless now that we’re
divorced.”
“You’re still living under the same roof, aren’t you?” Peter asked indignantly, “there’s your opportunity.
Publicly you’re still married, and that makes things even easier. You gotta be flexible with this kind of
stuff.”
Scowling, Katherine pondered for a while and sort of got it.
She nodded slowly. “I think I know what you mean.”
“Terrific,” said Peter, satisfied, “well, I’ll leave you to it then. Think about your next steps. You’ve got
this.”
Peter went out the room after speaking, closing the door from outside.
Sitting on the bed, Katherine looked down at her legs.
Clara had no shortage of opportunities to be around Marshall already, and he could easily develop
feelings for her. As such, Katherine needed to do some sabotage, just like Peter said.
Katherine had always been a devious witch, anyway. She resented the fact that perfect Ms. Clara
Henderson always had her way with everything in life. Well, not if Katherine could help it.
However.
She wasn’t sure how to make Marshall fall for her, at all. Because she did try before, and it was
completely in vain; in fact, it could very well make Marshall dislike her even more.
Katherine ruffled her hair. Her mind was clogged with too many ideas to sort through.
On the other hand, Peter had gone downstairs to clean up the dining table. When he walked out, he
found Marshall smoking in the yard.
“I’ve got everything tidied up,” said Peter as he approached, “and Kathy’s resting. I’ll be off then.”
Marshall turned around to look at him. “Do some digging for me on Bennett & Co. Give me everything
you can find.”
“Bennett,” asked Peter, “as in Hector Bennett?”
“Mm-hmm,” replied Marshall, “I want results as soon as possible.”
“What do you want me to focus on?” considered Peter.
Marshall exhaled a grayish cloud of smoke. “Patrick and Alexis Bennett. They aren’t the most
thoughtful people, so there must be some mistakes they’ve made at work, or some secret
maneuverings they’ve done. Let me know.”
Ariel Kingsey had always resented David Bennett’s effective control of the company and had always
tried to insert her children into upper management. Hence, it was very likely that those three had done
some scheming behind everyone’s back. Marshall didn’t care if Kevin Bennett knew about it; he simply
wanted to expose the Bennetts’ family affairs to the world, whatever it took.
Peter accepted the task immediately. “I’ll get back to you on Wednesday morning.”
“Good,” said Marshall lightly as he gazed at the sky.
No sooner had Peter left than Marshall received a call from Kyle.
Marshall had known Kyle for quite some time now, but they weren’t particularly close. Everyone in the
Grant household disliked Kyle for being unruly, as it was a most undesirable quality for a businessman.
Kyle was a passable choice for a casual friend, but one should think twice before confiding in such a
guy.
Kyle, too, never used to contact Marshall frequently, only calling when something was up. Marshall
couldn’t figure out why he should be calling now.
He stared at the phone for a while before picking up. “Kyle.”
“How’s Kathy?” asked Marshall, who sounded far less domineering than before. Which meant he was
feeling guilty, because Alexis Bennett had aimed at him, so essentially, it was he that got Katherine
hurt.
“She’s fine,” replied Marshall, adding, “what happened with the Bennetts after we left?”
“What do ya think?” answered Kyle irately at the mention of the Bennetts.
As Hector’s friend, Kyle was naturally hostile towards the rest of the Bennetts. He had confronted them
a couple of times before, but that hadn’t stopped them from making Hector’s life difficult. A forgetful
bunch, the Bennetts.
Kyle had asked old Mr. Haverford to turn against the Bennetts before, but the older gentleman had
glared at him and called him a fool. Business was all about profits, Mr. Haverford had said, and it was
certainly against the rule to plot to bankrupt a company simply because one disliked its owners. Such
recklessness could destroy one’s own business before one destroyed someone else’s.
Therefore, Kyle could only chew out the Bennetts verbally when he saw them. Anything further was out
of the question.
Listening to Kyle’s complaints, Marshall smirked. “I got an idea.”
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