Rebirth: The New Bride Wants A Divorce-Chapter 515: A man drawing a line

"Leave your son?" Kathrine asked calmly, her fingers resting lightly against the edge of the table. "Why?"

Her voice did not tremble. It did not rise. She had expected this from the moment Marcus texted her.

He would not confront Ethan again.

He had already tried.

Kathrine had seen the disappointment in Ethan’s eyes the night his father suggested she was not suitable. Ethan had stood firm, but the quiet fracture between father and son had been impossible to ignore.

When persuasion failed with Ethan, Marcus had chosen a different route.

Her.

Marcus arched a brow, studying her as though measuring how much pressure she could withstand.

"Because you are not a match for him," he said evenly.

The words were precise. Controlled. Deliberate.

"He needs someone worthy to stand beside him. Someone who strengthens his position. Your name," he continued, his gaze sharpening, "is drowning in scandal and distaste. It brings no advantage. No respect. No leverage."

Each sentence landed like a calculated strike.

Kathrine did not interrupt him.

But her jaw tightened slightly.

Marcus leaned forward just enough to close the distance between them without raising his voice. "Ethan is not merely a man in love. He is an heir. Every association matters."

There it was.

Not concern for happiness.

For image.

For power.

For legacy.

His words were harsh. Cruel, even. Yet they were spoken with the calm composure of a businessman negotiating a contract.

And she was the liability.

Kathrine held his gaze. "So this is about reputation."

"It is about survival," Marcus corrected smoothly. "Our family name was built carefully. It cannot afford reckless attachments."

A faint, almost imperceptible bitterness stirred within her.

"Reckless," she repeated softly.

Marcus did not blink. "You were not my first choice for him."

That much was obvious.

There had been a time when Marcus had considered persuading Ethan to marry strategically. When Ethan resisted the blind dates his mother arranged, Marcus had briefly thought Kathrine might be useful. A temporary solution. A compromise.

Stephane, Ethan’s mother, chose with her heart. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Marcus chose with his head.

At that time, he had weighed benefits.

But Ethan rejected the idea outright.

Then came the revelation that Ethan was already dating her.

Marcus had stepped back.

Observed.

Waited.

And now, he was here.

"You tolerated it," Kathrine said quietly, piecing the timeline together. "Until I stopped being useful."

Marcus’s expression remained unreadable. "You misunderstand."

"Do I?"

A beat of silence.

"You were... manageable," he admitted at last. "Temporary relationships rarely survive the pressure of our world. I assumed this would be the same."

"And now?"

"Now," Marcus said calmly, "Ethan is serious."

The statement carried weight.

He was not afraid of affection.

He was afraid of permanence.

Kathrine exhaled slowly. "So your solution is to remove me."

"It would be kinder if you left on your own," he replied.

Kinder.

The word almost made her laugh.

"You believe he would simply accept that?" she asked.

Marcus’s gaze hardened slightly. "He will recover."

It was said with the confidence of a man accustomed to controlling outcomes.

"You underestimate him," she said.

"I know my son."

"Do you?" Her tone sharpened for the first time. "Because the Ethan I know does not bend easily. Not when he believes in something."

A flicker of irritation crossed Marcus’s face, gone as quickly as it appeared.

"You speak as though this is a romantic rebellion," he said. "It is not. The world he is stepping into is unforgiving. You carry baggage he does not need."

The accusation lingered heavily between them.

Kathrine straightened slightly. "You mean my past."

"Yes."

"And what of his?" she countered softly.

Marcus’s eyes cooled.

"That is irrelevant."

"Is it?" she pressed. "You speak of stability, yet you underestimate the strength of your own son’s choices."

Marcus leaned back again, reassessing her. She was not defensive. Not pleading.

That unsettled him more than tears would have.

"You think this is about pride," he said quietly. "It is about protection."

"Protection," she echoed, her lips curving faintly. "Or control?"

The word hung there.

Sharp.

Uncomfortable.

Marcus’s fingers tapped once against the table before stilling. "You are intelligent. That is evident. But intelligence does not erase perception. The public remembers. They whisper. They judge."

"And you fear that," she concluded.

"I manage it."

Kathrine’s gaze softened, but not with surrender. With clarity.

"You are asking me to walk away so you can maintain order."

"I am advising you," he corrected.

A heavy silence settled between them again.

Finally, Kathrine spoke, her voice steady.

"You assume I am here because of advantage. Because I need what your son offers."

Marcus did not respond.

"But you are wrong," she continued. "I am with Ethan because he sees me as I am. Not as a strategy. Not as a liability."

Marcus’s expression hardened slightly at that.

"And you believe that is enough?"

She held his gaze without hesitation.

"Yes."

The air between them grew taut.

Marcus had expected resistance.

He had not expected conviction.

He studied her carefully, as though recalculating.

"This is not over," he said at last, his tone returning to cool composure. "If you care for him, you will consider what I have said."

Kathrine rose slowly from her seat.

"And if you care for him," she replied evenly, "you will trust the man you raised."

For the first time, Marcus did not immediately answer.

Kathrine inclined her head politely, prepared to leave with her composure intact. But the moment she turned, her steps faltered.

Standing just a few feet away, hands in his pockets, jaw tight and eyes blazing with restrained fury, was Ethan.

"Surprise?" he said quietly.

The single word carried no amusement.

Both Marcus and Kathrine froze.

For a split second, no one spoke.

Marcus rose slowly from his chair, surprise flickering across his otherwise controlled expression. "Ethan, you—"

"We are not done," Ethan cut in, his tone low but edged with unmistakable warning.

Kathrine’s heart skipped. She had never seen him like this. Not impulsive. Not visibly angry. But right now, tension radiated from him in waves.

His gaze shifted from her to his father.

Not as a son seeking approval.

As a man drawing a line.