From Broken to Beloved-Chapter 145- Did he truly love her?

Bert was certain that Catherine loved him; she just couldn’t accept the fact—at least not yet—that he was the man from two years ago. A bit of playing the wounded party would probably work in his favor.

With Riley’s comfort and gentle persuasion, Catherine finally felt some of the weight lift from her heart.

In truth, she knew it herself. The reason she was so torn and in such pain all came down to one thing: she cared too much about him, loved him too deeply.

Because she loved him so much, she was afraid—afraid that what he felt for her might not be love.

As for what happened two years ago, now that she had calmed down, it no longer stirred such intense emotions in her. Just as Riley had said, if the man from that night was him, then she ought to feel fortunate. At least her first time had been given to the man she loved.

Back then, she hadn’t known, and she had been heartbroken for a long time. But now that she did know, that knot in her heart finally loosened.

To have given herself to him—truly, that was a blessing beyond measure.

So now, she no longer cared whether the man from two years ago had been him or not. The only thing she cared about was this:

Did he truly love her?

Was it really because he loved her that he treated her with such tenderness, that he cherished her in every way, that he promised her marriage?

Riley could tell that Catherine truly cared about Bert.

She cared far more than she ever had about Gerald before. Although she had dated Gerald on and off for several years, while her relationship with Bert hadn’t been going on for very long, it was hard not to sink deeply into it—Bert treated Catherine genuinely well, and he himself was an undeniably charming man.

True love has nothing to do with how long two people have been together; otherwise, things like love at first sight wouldn’t exist.

No matter what, Riley didn’t want Catherine to be hurt again emotionally. And a woman’s intuition told her that Bert was serious about Catherine. With his kind of personality, he really didn’t seem like someone who would force himself to endure something he didn’t want. There was no way he’d spend an entire lifetime with Catherine merely out of guilt or compensation.

He wasn’t that kind-hearted—hmph!

The only explanation Riley could come up with was that he’d initially helped Catherine out of a sense of responsibility or compensation, and later genuinely fell in love with her.

But when it came to matters of the heart, nothing truly counted unless the people involved said it themselves. No amount of well-meaning—or ill-intentioned—speculation from outsiders could solve anything.

So Riley could only comfort Catherine in her own unique way, her tone light and playful.

"Just sit back and wait it out. He’s already getting up there in age—if anyone runs out of patience, it’ll be him. We’re still young and beautiful. Whether he needs to explain himself or win you back, he’ll come knocking on your door sooner or later!"

Catherine had still been feeling rather tormented, but Riley’s words made her burst out laughing—an uncontrollable, genuine laugh, simply because it was too funny.

And with that laugh, Catherine’s mood noticeably lightened. That was probably Riley’s charm.

Later, Riley drove Catherine home. Catherine didn’t tell Renata anything about what was going on between her and Bert; she didn’t want Renata to worry.

Renata had assumed Catherine would be out until evening since she was on a date, so she was a bit puzzled to see her return so soon.

"Date’s over already?"

Catherine casually made up an excuse.

"Yeah, he had something to take care of."

Then she went straight to her room. Riley’s luggage was still there—Riley had just dropped her off but had been summoned back by a phone call from Ford.

Riley complained bitterly, gritting her teeth as she vented to Catherine.

"He insisted on dating me. He even threatened that if I didn’t agree, he’d go straight to my house to talk to my mom. I had no choice but to say yes. You know my mom’s temper—I don’t want to get beaten to death."

"Fine, we’ll date. Who’s afraid of who? We’ve already slept together anyway. I’m not worried about him getting anything more out of me. In a few days, I’ll just find an excuse to dump him."

She huffed angrily.

"Or maybe he’ll get tired of me in a few days and dump me first."

Catherine didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. This was the first time she’d ever heard someone talk about dating while constantly thinking about breaking up. She couldn’t help but try to persuade her.

"I actually think Ford’s pretty decent. Don’t be so resistant toward him. Who knows—maybe the two of you really will end up together."

"Oh, please. We’d be lucky if we don’t end up as enemies."

Just thinking about Ford’s sly, crafty, fox-like expression made Riley angry. Someone as simple-minded as her was from an entirely different world than someone like him. Didn’t people always say that those who walked different paths couldn’t work together? How could the two of them possibly become lovers—or even husband and wife?

Seeing how strongly Riley rejected the idea, Catherine could only use Riley’s own words to comfort both of them.

"Alright then. Let’s just wait and see, and let things take their natural course."

The two of them had almost found love at the same time—yet neither relationship was going smoothly.

Ford called Riley and asked her out to lunch, saying that eating together was a must for couples on a date. Riley went reluctantly, fuming all the way. Ford had already made a reservation. Seeing her obvious unwillingness, he raised an eyebrow and teased her.

"I just lent you my place so you could comfort your friend, and now you’re acting like this. Burning bridges after crossing the river?"

Riley shot him a glare after sitting down.

"Hey, you didn’t have to lend it to us. Nobody forced you!"

She showed zero appreciation. Ford didn’t continue arguing about it. If a man insisted on nitpicking every single remark with a woman, then he really wouldn’t be much of a man at all.