Chapter 139 Mostly Because of You

He stood watching her reaction, then said, "Sorry, I was nervous."

Kate was stunned for a long time, even after Joseph left. She was thinking of his face, of his words, of his kindness, then she smiled.

**

Later that evening, Kate and Lisa met for dinner. Kate explained everything that happened between her and Joseph.

Lisa was shocked, "Joseph is so good to you now. Are you sure you are not back together?"

"You are the one who tells me not to forget the pain from the past; I think you are right. Besides, what I want is love rather than sympathy and guilt. If he doesn't love me, I don't want to be with him ever again!" Kate said.

"But you never ask him if he loves you. How can you know? And you know how cold Joseph is; he will rarely put himself down and beg you. Tell me honestly, do you still love Joseph?" Lisa asked seriously.

Kate blushed and denied her accusations.

"I will not be scammed by you. I can clearly see the answer by the look on your face!" Lisa advised her, "If you really can't let go of your feelings for him, you should give him another chance. I know it won't happen overnight, but you can start working on it until he wins you over, and your negative emotions are gone."

"Yes, it is better to wait. It is too easy to forgive and then lose it all. I am such a coward; I just don't want to be hurt again…" Kate whispered she had never admitted that she was afraid of losing Joseph.

"I heard that Joseph would be starting something on his own," Lisa smiled.

"Yes," Kate nodded.

"Although his ability is unquestionable, the power Smith Group had compared to him alone…" Lisa didn't want to say too much and sound as if she was degrading Joseph. However, she read the analysis and comments on the internet, and some made a lot of sense, "Some people say that the relationship between Joseph and Samuel is not good. With Samuel being president of Smith Group, he will ensure his success is made public, just to convince them he can surpass Joseph's abilities."

Kate understood how bad the relationship between them was, and the business industry was like a battlefield at times. There were insightful businessmen, who respected Joseph but would rely on Smith Group because they had to consider their own companies.

"Kate, I heard from Nick that..." Lisa hesitated whether to tell her.

"What?" Seeing Lisa hesitating, she knew it had to be something extraordinary.

"Nick told me multiple times not to tell you, and if I did, Joseph would beat him!"

"Then you promise me when I tell you that you will not run to Joseph. It will cause problems between Nick and me, if you do," Lisa explained.

Kate frowned and nodded, "Okay, I promise."

"The truth is that he was dismissed as president of Smith Group because he went against his grandfather. He was unwilling to give up helping White Group, so his grandfather fired him in a rage…" Lisa was as shocked as Kate when she heard the reason. It meant he cared for Kate.

"What do you mean?" Kate didn't understand, "After I took over White Group, I stopped working with Smith Group. How did this happen?"

Was Joseph lying to me? Was it not Cassie's intention to have Wilson Group help me? Did he use Cassie as an excuse? Kate wondered.

"Even though Joseph promised his grandfather not to help you, he can still find those companies willing to help secretly. It is all because of you. Nick said that Joseph had taken over Smith Group because of the pressure put on him. Now, that he has given up the job, not only for you but also to be out from under the pressure of his grandfather's unreasonable threats," Lisa was terrified that Kate would feel guilty. Hence, she quickly said, "In the end, this was inevitable. Don't take any of it too seriously."

"Do you think I can pretend not to know?" No matter what anyone thought, part of the reason had to do with her.

Lisa grabbed her hand and asked nervously, "Kate, are you going to find Joseph?"

"Don't worry; I won't ask him."

"Actually, it doesn't matter if you want to ask him. It is no big deal to have Nick angry with me, but I don't want you to lose out on this chance. Don't lose the opportunity to be together again because of this."

"Don't worry; I won't make things awkward between you and Nick."

After saying goodbye, Kate went to the hospital to Cassie.

**

Joseph was in Cassie's room, peeling an apple for her.

"My dear, you can go back to your own life. There are nurses here to take care of me, so you have nothing to worry about," Cassie told Joseph as he handed her the apple.

He replied, "Kate told me to take good care of you. I cannot leave."

If Joseph had been there for anyone else, other than Kate, Cassie would have been uncomfortable, but she was happy it was Kate.

"Kate is so considerate," After a sigh of relief, she joked, "You care so much about Kate, why not be brave and take the initiative to win her back?"

"Don't think your son is a brave man?" He asked and then smiled, "Haste makes waste. Besides, I don't want to make her uncomfortable; I bullied her so much before. I want to be kind to her now."

"Yes, she has been sensitive since her mother died and then to find out her father was lying to her. She is very strong, or else she would have broken down."

"In fact, we are quite similar in some respects," Joseph lowered his head, "Neither of us wants to lose. However, she has no management experience and dared to take over White Group because she didn't want all of her mother's efforts to be in vain. I took over Smith Group to continue my dad's dream."