Chapter 36
Katherine didn’t talk much on the ride back. She wanted to tell Derrick everything that happened today, but she could feel that his mood was off.
She decided to save it for when they saw each other, so she just kept chatting to soothe him.
She couldn’t help thinking, ‘Geeze, he’s like a kid. Can’t be without me for a second, and I have to be the one to cheer him up.‘
When they got back to Riverbend Manor, Katherine told Wyatt to dive home. “No big plans tomorrow. Get some rest. You had a hard day.
She stood at the gate saying goodbye to Wyatt, her voice soft.
Wyatt felt a little tug in his chest, and he replied, “I’m just doing my job. You-”
He didn’t get to finish. Out of the corner of his eye, past the dark gates, he caught a shadow blending into the night. Wyatt swallowed whatever he was about to say and simply waved at Katherine. “I’ll get going.”
Inside, he was muttering, ‘Good luck.‘
Derrick had been standing there, watching Katherine step out of another man’s car and talk to him in that soft tone. Something inside him cracked.
Even though logic told him that it was just his trusted assistant, the emotional part of him screamed to rip apart anyone who looked at
her.
In his opinion, she should always be at his side, where only he could touch her.
But that wild thought vanished the second Katherine turned toward him, her eyes catching the light in the dark.
Derrick stepped out of the shadows, deliberately letting his shoes scuff the ground so he wouldn’t scare her.
“Derrick?” she called out.
Her faint floral scent reached him just as she put out her hand. His much bigger, warmer hand closed around it instantly.
“Yeah, it’s me.” He guided her toward the house, mindful of her slight night blindness. “Tired, huh?”
The moment he asked, her shoulders sagged. “Yeah, super tired. I’ll tell you later.”
After a shower, Katherine flopped into bed and patted the space next to her. “Come on, I have to tell you about today.”
As soon as Derrick sat down, she curled up against him, head on his chest and her leg draped over his.
She spoke up, “I realized we were totally being watched. I told Wyatt to just drive off, and guess what? When we came back, that car was gone. I’m smart, right? Or we would’ve been stuck waiting forever.”
Her face lit up as she reenacted the scene, like a kid reliving a game they’d just won.
She was only 24, after all, and that was just her nature.
When she finished, she tipped her chin up proudly. “Well? Pretty sharp of me, huh?”
Derrick nodded. “Yes. You’re the best. You say right through them.”
The praise made her beam even more. “Of course, you know who I am.”
They drifted into more random chatter.
Derrick’s days were dull–just endless proposals and projects with zero fun.
Katherine didn’t mind listening though. When she heard he’d made a female assistant cry, she winced. “Wow, you’re mean. You should
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Chapter 36
try being nicer.”
Derrick’s gaze darkened as he looked down at her leaning on him. “You want me to be nice to other girls?”
Katherine sighed, “I mean, be nice to girls. Actually, don’t be too hard on anyone. Stop calling people useless, alright? It kills their confidence.”
Derrick said nothing for a while. When Katherine was already half–asleep, he finally murmured, “Alright, I won’t.”
Katherine mumbled into the pillow, “Mm, that’s better.” She then shifted into a more comfortable spot.
The next day just happened to be payday at Riverbend Group.
The female assistant Derrick had made cry came into work with a heavy heart. But when she checked her account, she froze–her account had an extra six grand.
Clutching her phone, she rushed to the finance office to ask if there’d been a mistake.
The accountant glanced at the record and said, “That’s Mr. Graham’s compensation for yelling at you yesterday.”
There was a moment of silence. Then she suddenly had the urge to storm into Derrick’s office and shout, “Sir, please yell at me every day!
Katherine, on the other hand, had worked late her very first day, so the next morning, she slept straight through until noon.
She lay in bed for a while, staring at the bright sunlight pouring through the window, thinking, ‘Yep, nothing beats having a job. It’s the only thing that makes us appreciate how good a lazy day really feels.
Maeve.came knocking to call her down for lunch. If she still didn’t eat soon, the baby was going to complain.
Yawning, Katherine shuffled downstairs, only to see Ethan sitting on the couch.
“Mrs. Graham,
for a check–up,” he said.
Katherine was more than used to this routine by now. Sitting down, she let him run through the usual tests.
“Well? Is everything good?” she asked.
N
She was pretty sure nothing was wrong. Yesterday, she’d only been sitting in the car for a while, and nothing could cause trouble. “Yes. No worries,” Ethan said while packing up his kit.
He never dined in the house because Derrick didn’t like it. Truthfully, he didn’t like anyone in the house except Maeve. Even the cleaning staff had to work under Maeve’s direct watch.
That afternoon, Katherine was stretched out in a lounge chair in the garden, soaking up the sun, when her phone rang.
“Mrs. Graham, I’ve decided to sign with you,” Jasmine said.
Katherine wasn’t surprised to get the answer, but she was still happy. After all, this would be the first artist she signed to her company.
“Anything in the contract you want changed? You can ask for whatever you need,” Katherine said.
“No, it’s already great, Jasmine replied.
She’d had a professional lawyer look it over, and the lawyer said the terms were lenient. As long as she didn’t cross any hard lines or damage the company’s reputation, there weren’t many restrictions.
She could even date, as long as she did her job. The profit split was rare in the industry–thirty to the company, seventy to the artist.
The lawyer even joked that this was a charity case. The most important thing was that the breach penalty wasn’t huge. She’d only need to pay back whatever the company spent on training her.
With terms like that, the lawyer said if she still tried to ask for more, she’d just look ungrateful. Thus, Jasmine wasn’t about to push her
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luck.
TOWN MA
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