From Broken to Beloved-Chapter 147- Miss Channing

Now that she had been forced into being his girlfriend, there was no point in hiding anymore. All she wanted was to go home as soon as possible and get some rest.

He did agree to let her go home and rest for the time being, but then added casually,

"Then we’ll see each other again tonight."

Riley couldn’t help rolling her eyes hard.

He, on the other hand, asked lightly in return,

"Isn’t an entire afternoon of rest enough?"

Riley didn’t want to deal with him. She walked out of the restaurant first. Since they had driven separately, Ford followed her to where her car was parked.

Beside Riley’s car, just as she stopped and was about to say goodbye, he pressed a hand against her shoulder and pushed her back. Her body hit the car, and he leaned in immediately, lowering his head to kiss her lips.

In broad daylight—in a parking lot with people coming and going.

Riley wanted to hit him, but she couldn’t break free. Whether in height or strength, he completely overwhelmed her.

For a man who had already tasted desire, it was impossible not to crave it again at every moment—especially when she was right there, so beautiful, yet still untouchable. Unable to go any further, he could only quench his thirst through kissing, pinning her against the car and kissing her fiercely.

Riley’s anger was, of course, inevitable.

"Ford, you—"

She had never imagined he could be this shameless. To Riley, the current Ford completely overturned every impression she had of him before.

The Ford she once knew was a gentleman—polite, refined, outstanding.

The Ford standing in front of her now was nothing but a complete rogue.

Ford’s eyes darkened as his large hand brushed over her flushed lips.

"Baby, kissing is a wonderful thing. You should learn to enjoy it."

That only made Riley angrier. She was the one being forced—she was supposed to enjoy it?

She raised her hand and shoved him away, angrily wiping her lips again.

"Get lost!"

Then she got into her car and drove off in a fury. Ford stood where he was, hands casually tucked into his pockets, watching her car disappear from sight before turning back to his own and leaving as well.

After lunch, Catherine returned to her room for a nap. S. could tell she was in a bad mood, but no matter what she asked, Catherine wouldn’t say anything—only that she was tired and wanted to rest.

She slept straight through until evening, only waking when the phone ringing pulled her out of her dreams.

It was a number she didn’t recognize, but she answered it anyway. On the other end was a pleasant, elegant female voice.

"May I ask if this is Miss Catherine Channing?"

Out of courtesy, Catherine replied,

"Yes, this is she. May I ask who’s calling?"

The woman chuckled softly on the other end.

"Hello, Catherine. I’m Marylin. I got your number from Lilian."

Hearing that it was Marylin surprised Catherine a little.

"Hello, Miss Marylin. May I ask what this is regarding?"

Catherine had seen photos of Marylin before and knew she was a strikingly beautiful and charming woman.

Marylin took the initiative and invited her directly.

"Well, last time I mentioned inviting you and Bert out for dinner. We’ve decided on tonight—would that work for you?"

The moment Catherine heard Bert’s name, her head started to ache. She instinctively refused.

"There’s really no need to treat me to dinner. I only did what I should have done as a designer, so I won’t be going."

Marylin laughed and continued warmly,

"But that ring means so much to me. I truly love it, and I really wanted the chance to meet you. Even if it’s not for thanks, we could still become friends, couldn’t we?"

Her enthusiasm made it difficult for Catherine to refuse outright.

She knew that Marylin and Karl wouldn’t be inviting only her—Bert would certainly be there as well. About this invitation, Catherine felt torn: on one hand, she resisted the idea of seeing Bert again; on the other, she genuinely wanted to be friends with Marylin.

Catherine felt that if Marylin could win such passionate and sincere love from Karl, she must be a truly wonderful person. Catherine didn’t have many friends to begin with, and someone as lovely as Marylin was exactly the kind of person she’d like to befriend.

After Marylin’s warm insistence, Catherine finally agreed to attend the dinner.

As for facing Bert—she decided she would simply ignore him when the time came.

Since Catherine had left Bert’s place, the two of them hadn’t had any contact. Catherine wouldn’t call him, and Bert hadn’t reached out to her either.

When Catherine arrived at the restaurant Marylin had mentioned, Marylin and Karl were already there. It was Catherine’s first time meeting them in person. Karl had clear, handsome features and an impressive presence, while Marylin was beautiful and graceful, radiating charm in every movement.

Bathed in the warmth of a happy relationship, both of them carried an air of sweetness and contentment—happiness so obvious that even outsiders could feel it, and so infectious it was hard not to be affected by it.

Looking at such a loving couple, and then thinking about everything she herself had gone through, Catherine felt a faint sense of loss.

When love changes, when it becomes tainted by other things—can it still be called love?

Love should be two people giving everything, loving each other with complete sincerity. Only then is it radiant, only then is it perfect—just like Karl and Marylin.

Of course, Catherine hid those small feelings of disappointment well. Marylin had already approached her, a bright and dazzling smile lighting up her face.

"Hello, Miss Channing."

Catherine smiled lightly and exchanged a few polite greetings with both Marylin and Karl. Marylin said that calling each other "Miss Marylin" and "Miss Channing" sounded far too formal, and suggested they address each other by their first names instead. She asked Catherine to call her Marylin, while she herself would call Catherine "Cici."

Bert hadn’t arrived yet. After the three of them took their seats, Marylin kept the conversation going, chatting as they waited for him. After all, Bert was also one of their guests, and it wouldn’t be appropriate to start ordering before he arrived.

However, after waiting for quite some time, Bert still hadn’t shown up. Karl began to feel puzzled.

"He’s usually very punctual. Why hasn’t he arrived yet? Could something have happened on the way?"

The moment Catherine heard Karl mention that something might have happened on the road, her eyelid twitched involuntarily. Images of car accidents instantly flashed through her mind, and unease crept over her.

Noticing the sudden heaviness in Catherine’s expression, Marylin shot Karl a reproachful look.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Hurry up and give him a call."

To be fair, being suddenly tasked with hosting this dinner put quite a bit of pressure on both Marylin and Karl as well.

They didn’t know exactly what had happened between Bert and Catherine—only that there were some issues between them. Recently, they had been busy communicating with the wedding planners about various arrangements, and originally they had planned to invite Bert and Catherine out for dinner after things settled down, so they could also give them their wedding invitations in person.

But earlier that afternoon, Bert had taken the initiative to call them, asking whether they would like to invite him and Catherine to dinner that very night—and requesting that they be the ones to contact Catherine. That was when they realized something was off. Bert was clearly using them to create a reasonable, legitimate opportunity to see Catherine.

Bert and Catherine had helped them before, so now it was their turn to help. And that was how this dinner came to be.

Karl picked up his phone and called Bert to ask why he hadn’t arrived yet. After exchanging a few words, he hung up and turned to Catherine.

"He says he’s already here—just parking. Traffic was a bit heavy."

Hearing that, Catherine finally relaxed a little. Then she caught herself—why was she so worried about Bert? She didn’t even know what kind of feelings he actually had for her now.

Not long after, the private room door was pushed open. Bert walked in.

He was wrapped in a black down jacket that looked thick and warm, with a large scarf around his neck, bundled up so tightly that almost no skin was visible.

Everyone was a little surprised by his appearance—especially Catherine. She had known him for so long, yet had never seen him dressed like this. No matter how cold the weather was, he was usually in a three-piece suit with a thick wool coat over it. A down jacket was something Catherine had never seen him wear before.