Chapter 121 - She Was Wrong

6:15 pm the previous night...

Damien rode the elevator going up the Royal Penthouse. He was wearing casual clothes and had a paper bag in his hand. When he reached the floor, he walked towards the door to the Royal Penthouse and placed the paper bag on the floor. He raised his hand, wanting to ring the doorbell but retracted it at the last minute. Instead, he took out his phone and sent Katherine a text message.

[ I sent someone to deliver your dinner. It's outside your door. Please eat. ]

Damien left and went back to his place. He checked his phone but there was no reply from Katherine. He patiently waited until it was almost an hour later but there was still no response from her. Grabbing his tablet, he accessed the hotel's live security feed and checked the hallway outside of the Royal Penthouse. Seeing the paper bag was still on the floor, he sighed and grabbed his phone to call Katherine.

"Hello~" she answered after several rings.

Damien could hear the shuffle of fabric in the background and her voice sounded like she had just woken up but he still innocently asked, "I sent you food earlier. Did you like it?"

There was a pause before he heard her reply, "Ah… yes, thank you, it was good." 

The door to her penthouse opened and Damien saw her for the first time on screen since Friday. Katherine was wearing his shirt – the one that he left behind a couple of weeks ago after he spilled coffee on it. He watched as she picked up the paper bag from the floor and brought it inside the penthouse. 

He only saw her for a few seconds but he felt better knowing that she was alright. 

"Okay, I just wanted to check up on you," he said.

"I'm okay," she said weakly and he knew right away that she wasn't. "Have you eaten?"

A weak smile formed on his face when he heard her concern. She was the one who wasn't okay yet she still had the time to worry about him. "Yeah, I had the same thing you had."

"Mhmm."

There was silence again and Damien figured he should let her rest more. "You should rest now. I'll see you tomorrow."

They hung up the call and Damien was feeling stumped. He laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling, wondering what he was supposed to do and how much time she needed to be alone. He couldn't possibly let her be by herself for a long time.

After a while, he fell asleep and woke up earlier than usual. On most days, Damien would wake up before five in the morning and be up for his regular work out. However, this time, since he fell asleep earlier, he woke up at 3:30 in the morning. Thinking that he wouldn't be able to sleep anymore, he got up and prepared for his morning routine. 

He crossed over to the next building and got in the elevator going up to the gym. He usually preferred to run outside in the morning but he wasn't feeling up for it at that time, so he decided that he would use the treadmill for several minutes instead. He put on his On-Ear wireless headphones and played the workout playlist from his phone and started running.

Later…

When he had just started on the rowing machine, he noticed someone doing laps in the pool. Ignoring the person, he continued to pump and row, focusing on his workout to keep himself from thinking about his worries. 

Several minutes later, he was already doing pull-ups.

Just as he landed back on the ground, he felt like someone was looking at him from behind, so he turned his head and saw the side profile of the woman at the pool. 

"Katherine?" He raised his brow and watched as she jumped into the water. He realized that it had been her the entire time.

He grabbed his towel and wiped away his sweat all while not taking his eyes off of her. He saw her come back up for a few seconds before she went under the water again. Checking the time on his watch, he thought that it was too early for her to be up as she would normally wake up around seven in the morning. 

Damien headed towards the pool leisurely, bringing his stuff with him and his brows creased together when he didn't see her come up. A little more than thirty seconds had passed and he was impressed that she could hold her breath steadily when he saw bubbles rise up. Dropping his things on the floor, he peered in and saw her motionless underwater. 

He couldn't see clearly as he was above the water but he was sure that she had reached the bottom of the pool. He checked his watch again and it had been more than a minute. For untrained people, they could last 30 seconds — but for those in good health, a minute or two should be the limit. 

Suddenly feeling nervous, Damien swiftly removed his shoes and in a flash, he dove into the water. He opened his eyes, quickly focused on her and found her sitting on the floor of the pool with her knees to her chest and her arms wrapped around them in a tucked position.

Without thinking twice, he swam towards her fast and saw her open her eyes at him. She stared at him and continued to stay in place before her hand raised as if she was reaching out to him. In a second, Damien grabbed her hand and pulled her body up. 

Damien scolded her as soon as they were out of the water but she acted confused — she didn't seem like she was struggling, and it made him even madder. He was raging and didn't know what to think, because to him, it looked like she was trying to kill herself. 

Infuriated, he yelled, "You were under the water for more than a minute!" He was cursing as he wrapped the towel around her securely and patted her dry as much as he could. 

The next thing he knew, Katherine shrugged the towel off of her and pounced on him. He was caught off guard and had to regain his balance. He was surprised to see her reaction and his rage almost instantly depleted as soon as he realized that she was crying.

…

Royal Penthouse

After her outburst, Damien had carried her back to her penthouse and placed her in the square bathtub that was filled with warm water. The floor was wet because they were still dripping when they got inside. 

The two of them were still wearing their clothes – Damien in his workout shorts and Katherine in her swimsuit. 

She sat with her knees up, feeling a little better after crying her heart out earlier. Meanwhile, he was sitting on the edge of the tub, watching her as he wondered what to do for her.

"Do you need anything?" he asked in a soft tone.

Raising her head, she met his lonely eyes. Without thinking much, Katherine reached out and grabbed his wrist. "Join me…" 

Nodding, Damien went inside the tub, settled behind her and leaned back. Instinctively, Katherine sat between his legs and leaned her back against his chest, allowing him to wrap his arms around her waist. They remained still and quiet — their breathing slowly becoming in sync.

"I wasn't trying to kill myself…" she started after a few minutes of silence.

Damien didn't say anything but his hands rubbed her arms as if he was telling her that he was listening.

"I just… I wanted to be in a quiet place. I didn't realize that I…" She sighed. 

"I'm sorry that I scared you…" Katherine shifted to the side a little so that she was facing him diagonally. 

"Don't do that again." Damien's eyes were cold as he stared at her. He was truly worried about what just happened earlier. 

Katherine nodded and laid her head on him. She closed her eyes and succumbed to the feel of his embrace. That's when she realized that she was wrong — under the water wasn't the safest, rather, it was right there in Damien's arms. 

"We can't stay long or we'll get pruned," he whispered and kissed her head.

"Just five minutes more," Katherine responded. 

Giving in, Damien pressed his cheek against her head and closed his eyes. After what seemed to be the longest weekend for the two of them, that early morning was very eventful and he could already feel the long day ahead.

But as of the moment, all he wanted was already right in front of him. He was just glad that she was okay.

As for Katherine, she had finally decided to face whatever it is that was coming for her with caution. As long as Damien was there, she was going to be okay… right?