Chapter 8
Aaron was seated in the hotel lounge, pretending to read a magazine, but really waiting for a glimpse of Katherine and to talk to her. He knew she had been avoiding him. Every request he made for the hotel service had been passed to another person.
He sighed; this was proving difficult.
There must be a way to get to her, and luck being on his side, he heard the soft chatter of children. He smiled and changed his seating position, dropping the magazine so the kids would recognize him.
The kids might be the key for him to meet Katherine because how Katherine behaved that day hinted at something.
The girl's unmistakable voice shouted, "Uncle Piano!" The little girl ran to him. She greeted him with a cheeky grin while her twin brother—whom Aaron noticed was shy—hid behind the girl.
Aaron crouched to their level and ruffled their hair. The kids were cute. Their personalities contrasted with each other. Their parents must be happy to have them, he thought.
Well, his plan worked—now that he caught the twins' attention, he needed to warm his way around them and get to Katherine.
He smiled. "You two again? What are you doing here?" he inquired. He wanted to know why the children were always here after school. Were any of their parents working here?
"We came for our aunty," Jasmine responded.
"Your aunty?" he asked.
"Aunty Kat."
Aaron was shocked. He looked from the girl to the boy. The girl had black hair and russet eyes, which mirrored his own eye color, while the boy had two different eye colors—heterochromia.
He blinked. His head throbbed from the new information he had acquired. He smiled again. "So where are you going?"
"We're going to her office! Do you want to come?"
The girl offered, though she didn't really ask. He'd have followed them anyway. He needed to know more. Aaron chuckled and agreed to walk with them.
"So what's your name?"
"I'm Jasmine Prescott!"
"He's Hanith Prescott."
Aaron's steps faltered. Prescott. They bore the same last name as Katherine—was it possible? Could they really be…?
"If Kat is your aunty, what about your parents?" The twins went quiet, glancing at each other. Something in their silence tugged at Aaron's chest.
Jasmine eventually responded, "We just have Mommy... and Uncle Matt."
Aaron smiled with his eyes and patted their hair. His eyes found Hanith again—those eyes. One russet. One emerald.
It can't be right?
But could it really be?
He felt his heart skip at the thought.
"Aunty Kat, look who we brought!" Jasmine's cheerful voice pulled Aaron out of his reverie, and he noticed they had arrived at Katherine's office. Her name was boldly written on the door.
Aaron sucked in a breath. There she was. His Katherine. As her eyes lifted and met his, time stalled. Her pen slipped from her fingers and clattered onto the desk.
Katherine's eyes widened—not at Aaron being here, but the fact he had come with her children, standing behind them. Katherine's stomach twisted. The last thing she ever wanted was for him to talk to her babies. Their babies. Not like this. Not now.
She quickly stood, crossing the room before he could step inside. Her office—her safe space.
She wouldn't let him invade the one place where she still had control.
Katherine thought being in her office, buried in work, would prevent her from meeting him until their stay was over, but she had been deceiving herself. She had forgotten her children could bring him to her.
She broke away from the locked gaze, masking the shock on her face, avoiding Aaron's gaze. If she looked him in the eye again, she was scared she would cry. So she bent to her children's level. "Jasmine, Hanith, why don't you go find Uncle Matthew? Tell him I'll be done soon." Her voice was firm yet gentle.
Jasmine and Hanith looked from their mother to the 'uncle piano' and hesitated, but eventually left.
Aaron watched how her warm expression, voice, and posture changed when the twins were there, shifting to nothing when they were gone.
"So this is where you've been hiding?"
Katherine folded her arms, standing at the door without inviting him in. "You shouldn't be here," she said, then added, "Sir."
Aaron clenched his fist. He didn't like how she addressed him. He wanted her to call him Aaron like she always did. And he wanted to relish that voice of hers calling his name again.
"Kathe—" he started, but was interrupted.
Katherine cut in, "Miss Prescott."
He didn't know what to say. Katherine wasn't giving him a chance; she wasn't willing to hear him. But he wouldn't leave here without achieving something.
"They look like you," he commented. The twins really did look like her, especially Hanith. The shyness of him reminded Aaron of Katherine when she first entered his house as a maid years ago.
Katherine raised her brow at his statement. Her heart seized. She wanted to refute it but decided against it. It didn't seem worth it.
"You're a guest. This is my workspace. Leave."
"Kathe—"
"Miss Prescott," she corrected again.
"Why are you pretending like we don't know each other?" Aaron asked.
"I don't know you. Not before, not now, and not in the future."
Aaron could feel frustration build inside him. He understood why Katherine was behaving like this, but he couldn't accept it. He wouldn't allow her to deny the memories of them together—their love, their hope, their dream. Aaron stepped closer.
"W-what are you doing?!" Katherine screeched. Panic surged in her seeing Aaron come closer. She was afraid of showing weakness. Her reaction—his closeness—would mess with her.
"I waited for you… After I left that house, I came back, asked about you—"
"The past is past, and your wife won't like you lingering around here." The word 'wife' Katherine said felt like a knife piercing him, and her wavering voice, laced with hurt, made his heart ache.
The sharp reminder that Katherine gave him stung his heart. He didn't want her to misunderstand the relationship between him and Amanda. They were just married on paper.
Aaron's jaw tightened. He wanted to pull her close, tell her everything. He couldn't lose her again.
"It's just a contract—"
"What's just a contract, darling?" Amanda's voice cut in like a knife dipped in sugar, and Aaron felt like plummeting his fist into the wall. Why did she have to come now? Was she stalking him?
"What are you doing here?" Aaron turned to Amanda and asked harshly.
She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I heard my husband was talking to—" Amanda glared at Katherine, "a staff member."
Katherine immediately schooled her face into professionalism and smiled politely. "Mr. Knight here was asking about—"
"Hold it. I'm not asking you for excuses," Amanda said. Amanda had been keeping an eye on Aaron since they arrived at this hotel. Aaron had changed. Though he was indifferent to her, he was still okay. But now, his gaze and actions were out of the norm. She looked at the staff from head to toe, and she didn't understand why Aaron had been so infuriated since the first day.
I need to do something about her, Amanda thought as she walked closer to Aaron, latching onto his arm possessively.
The moment Amanda's fingers curled around his arm, Aaron's entire body tensed. Her touch felt foreign—wrong—especially now, seeing Katherine's eyes zero in on the linked arms. He wanted to quickly pull away, but Amanda craftily held onto him tightly.
"We're due for the couple's spa session at 10, remember?" she smiled sweetly.
"Enjoy your stay, Mr. and Mrs. Knight." Katherine stood still, her face blank, but her fragile heart was breaking. This was the man she once loved—now a married man. Not to her, but to that woman on his arm.
Aaron glanced back, watching her slipping away again from his clutch.
Fuck!