Chapter 23
Once stepping into the private room, Katherine saw the large round table covered in fresh seafood.
She didn’t even have to say a word–Derrick knew her tastes and placed all her favorites right in front of her.
The two men standing nearby, arms slung over each other’s shoulders, were totally stunned.
One of them muttered, “Do you think he’s drunk or something?”
The other shook his head. “No way. The drinks aren’t even served yet.”
They exchanged a knowing look, and both cracked up.
The handsome one was Gary Shaffer. He dropped into the seat right next to Katherine and looked at her with open curiosity, though his eyes stayed on her face, not on her belly.
On Katherine’s other side, the one with flirty eyes a total playboy type–sat down
too, just as curious.
“Mrs. Graham?” Gary held out a hand and said, “I’m Gary Shaffer. You can call me Gary”
Katherine gave him a polite nod, reached out, and shook his hand lightly. “Hi, nice to meet you.”
“My turn.” The playboy cleared his throat and straightened his posture. Im Lucas Morgan, Barely counts as Derrick’s friend. Nice to see
you.”
Katherine shook his hand as well, flashing a faint but polite smile.
She knew Gary. In her last life, she met him a few times-but that was years later, after she took over Lawson Corporation and started going after Riverbend Group.
The Lawson family’s power could never truly shake Riverbend Group, but Derrick, knowing she was the one pulling strings, actually offered to back down and let them take less from the projects.
Later, pushed by Charles and Mia, Katherine started airing every bit of dirty laundry from their marriage to smear Derrick’s public image.
Derrick never denied anything and even agreed to apologize publicly.
Those things dragged Riverbend Group’s reputation into the mud, sending its stock bouncing up and down.
Gary confronted Katherine over it, trying to get her to spare Derrick
Gary told her. If you can’t stand him, then fight him fairly. Using emotions as a weapon is too lame and dirty.
Back then, Katherine was too extreme, convinced Derrick was two–faced and sent Gary to meddle
After Gary’s mediation, Katherine’s retaliation only got nastier. She even blamed Christopher’s dementia on Derrick.
Now, looking at Gary’s teasing grin and amused eyes, Katherine felt a heavy, complicated mix in her chest.
She thought. Had I listened more and trusted less.. If I hadn’t blindly believed Charles and Mia, would things have ended differently?
“Not comfortable?” Derrick’s voice broke her thoughts.
He’d been watching her closely. Noticing her complicated looks, he shoved Gary’s head aside and physically pushed both men away
from her.
Looking wounded, Gary protested, Tm a charming and funny guy. What’s wrong with being friendly?”
Lucas, seeing how things were going, shot Gary a look and said, “Quiet, dude. Can’t you see the lovebirds don’t want anyone else in their
They both knew Derrick was married, but not much else—just that his wife was a lot younger and there’d been some kind of misunderstanding between them before They hadn’t asked anything about it
Still, neither of them expected that in such a short time, the two would already be expecting a child.
7:52 PM P
Chapter 23
It was a weird feeling–watching a friend they’d run around with for years suddenly about to become a father.
Gary let out a sigh. “Man, what if by the time our baby is born, the rest of us are still single?”
He thought, If that really happens, that’d be pathetic.
Derrick snorted, “That’s my baby, What’s it got to do with you guys?”
Right then, two men walked in from outside, catching that last line. One of them grinned, “Derrick, what, you got some other best buddy behind our backs!”
Gary lit up, went over, and pulled the speaker into a hug. John, finally. Get over here.”
|
Gary dragged John toward Derrick and said. “C’mon, only you’ve got the mouth to shut him up. Lucas and I couldn’t get a word in.”
John Elliott arched his brows, brushing Gary’s arm off. “Oh please. You sure you didn’t poke at him first? Why would he be harsh to you?”
Lucas clapped his hands like he’d just watched a magic trick. “Well said.”
The other guy, shorter and quieter, had a cool, distant vibe. He looked at Katherine and said, “Hi, glad to see you. I’m Kevin Perkins, -doctor at Ceblue Medical Center. If you ever need any help, don’t hesitate to call me.
He handed her a plain white business card with just his name and number printed neatly.
Katherine took it and tucked it away carefully. Tm Katherine. Nice to meet you.”
“Eh, don’t bother with him,” John said, throwing an arm around Kevin’s shoulder. “He works in the ER. Always busy. I’m the director at Ceblue. I’ve got plenty of free time.”
Lucas scoffed, “Are you proud of being useless??
Kevin smirked. “Of course. Doing nothing and still getting paid. Don’t tell me you’re not jealous.”
The two of them looked ready to go at it, bur Derrick cur in before it could happen. “Hey, time for dinner.”
His voice was cool, but the faint smile on his face gave him away
He added, “She’s eating for two, y’all know? Mealtime’s gotta be on schedule.”
Everyone at the table knew a few minutes late wouldn’t kill anyone, but Derrick clearly couldn’t pass up the chance to show off.
John blinked like he’d just seen something wild. Kevin’s brows shot up too. Lucas and Gary, having already been through Derrick’s show–offy routine, stayed calm.
Gary shrugged at John and Kevin, saying, “See? That’s why I insisted you guys should.come tonight”
Standing behind Derrick Gary said in a sarcastic tone, “Guess someone ain’t able to keep up his untouchable image for long?”
In the past,
whenever they met
- up.
Derrick was always the quiet, serious one
Now, he slid in every chance to brag about Katherine and the baby.
The four guys could already guess what future dinner topics were gonna be.
Katherine smiled to herself, thinking. To my last life, I never met any of Derrick’s friends. I didn’t think I’d meet start of this life.
all right at the
The Derrick sitting here now is nothing like the one I used to know.
If I’d taken the time to learn more about him before, maybe things wouldn’t have ended the way they did. But at least now, chance to make it right‘
