401 Us Against The World 2

If you don't learn to forgive, you will be your own prisoner. If you hold on to your anger, it will only hurt you… And I don't want you to hurt. I want you to be happy. Always… Always choose happiness instead of hatred. Because no matter what, as long as you're happy, we're happy.

The words that her mother told her when she was young pierced through her heart. It gutted her and left her bleeding. Hurting. It made her weak. For the longest time, she had this overwhelming heaviness in her heart. It was a mixture of longing, hatred, guilt, love, loneliness, and a lot more that she couldn't recognize.

The guilt that was clawing in her heart whenever it had the chance was something she thought she would have to live with for the rest of her life. And it wasn't fair for Damien… It wasn't fair that he was always there yet she couldn't give her all.

What her mother said hit her so badly that even if it was said a long time ago when the reason wasn't even remotely related to how she was feeling right now, it was as though they were telling her exactly what she needed to hear from them. Even when they're no longer there.

Katherine was broken. She was a broken soul who was trying to survive from a gleam of hope that she so badly wanted to hold on to. She wasn't hurting only because she lost her parents… She wasn't hurting only because Damien was from the Park family… And she wasn't only hurting because of the many lives she took when she was in Shadow... She was also hurting because in the midst of looking for justice for the people responsible for her parents' deaths, she lost herself and she forgot everything that her parents taught her: To always choose happiness.

Ever since that night, she had been living her life with a burden that she shouldn't have carried. She was young. A mere child. She was the only one responsible for her own happiness and yet she failed to do what her parents wanted her to. No wonder she couldn't truly be happy… No wonder even when she was smiling, she wasn't truly free…

The pain and guilt that she tried to lock away in her heart would still find its way out and eat her up from the inside because she couldn't forgive herself. And she couldn't… because she became the person that she wasn't supposed to be. She became the person that she hated. She worked in an organization that murdered her parents. Granted that she didn't know… But that didn't change the fact that she indeed became one of them. 

But enough was enough. For her to be truly happy, she should learn to forgive. Forgive herself for all the things that she did. For her to stop hurting, she needed to reach for her happiness, grasp it firmly in her hands and not let it go.

When Damien appeared in front of her wearing a rolled-up white dress shirt, black suit pants, and eyeglasses that she loved seeing on him, her mind was emptied and all she wanted to do was kiss him. And that's what she did.

When she broke the kiss, she slowly looked up at him, her eyes glistening with tears. "I choose you…" she whispered. 'I choose my happiness. And you're mine… So I choose you,' she said the rest in her thoughts because she was too overwhelmed at the moment to speak more.

"What?" Damien was baffled, his heart throbbing at the sight of her tears. He wiped them with his fingers as he tried to make sense of what was happening to her. "What happened? Why are you drenched? Wait—How did you know I was here?"

Sniffing, Katherine tried to recall how she got here but everything was all blurry now that she couldn't think straight. So much was happening with her at the moment.

A cough sounded from a distance and she turned to the side only to find a few men wearing business suits in the living room looking at them like they were watching some live soap opera. It was only then that she realized that they weren't alone. 

Katherine suddenly became conscious about being there. Her hands clutched his shirt tighter, hyper-aware that what she just did was inappropriate but she didn't know what to do anymore. She gulped and loosened her grip as he wanted to back away. "I… I'm sorry. I'll just—"

"Gentlemen," Damien addressed the men, his body strategically covering Katherine's because her clothes were all wet and they became see-through. "My apologies… But I'm afraid we have to call it a day."

"Of course, Chairman Park," one said and the others followed. They got up and headed to the elevator with Markus guiding them. Soon, Katherine and Damien were the only ones left in the massive penthouse. 

The place went quiet and he slightly put a distance between them so he could study her better. "Care to tell me what's going on?"

She suddenly became conscious about her appearance that she brought her arms across her chest. "Um…"

Exhaling out a sigh, he grabbed her hand and pulled her with him, bringing her to his room on the second floor. "Come, you need to change. You're going to catch a cold like that. Didn't I tell you to bring an umbrella? What do I do with you? Seriously… You didn't even respond to my message all day and now you show up unannounced looking like a wet chick drenched in the storm. You just got sick a couple of days ago. Do you want to get sick again? Do I have to always—"

Damien swallowed the rest of his words when Katherine pulled her hand from his grip and the next second, her arms went around his waist. She hugged him from behind, her front pressed against his back and she held him tightly. "I'm sorry…"

His eyes landed on her arms that were firmly locked around his waist. Then he looked past his shoulder to peek at her. Something was definitely wrong with her tonight.

"Don't be mad anymore… I'm sorry…" she repeated.

His heart quivered. He could feel her slightly shaking because she was soaked. He wasn't totally mad. Just worried. Turning around, he tilted her chin up so he could meet her eyes. 

"I realized a lot of things. And I'm sorry I couldn't do it sooner. I don't care about anything else anymore. I just want to be happy," she said.

"You need to tell me what happened to you so I will understand. But we need to change first."

Katherine nodded and she tiptoed to kiss him again. Because she couldn't help herself. What was she doing? She loved this man. That's all there was to it. Other things shouldn't matter.

Unsure why she was acting weirdly that night, he still kissed her back. He deepened the kiss and squeezed her once before letting go. "I swear, Kitten... if you keep kissing me like this, I might not be able to control myself."

She pursed her lips into a thin line and a blush crept on her cheeks. She actually didn't mind.

"Come on." Damien grabbed her hand again and led her to the master bedroom.