Chapter 166: Just who are you? Just what nonsense is she spouting? Anna’s thoughts raced. Wasn’t she the one who wanted to break my marriage and steal my husband?
For a moment, she was speechless. Her lips parted, but no words came. Then, a shiver ran down her arm — the faintest brush of energy that made her look to her side.
Daniel.
He sat beside her, calm — too calm and the stillness in his demeanor sent unease rippling through her.
’Is he upset... or am I just imagining it?’ she wondered, blinking as her gaze flicked toward him.
Her question was answered a moment later.
"And what makes you think I’ll listen to you, Kathrine?" Daniel’s voice sliced through the air, low and sharp, thick with restrained anger.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop instantly.
He is upset, Anna realized, the tension rolling off him like a storm barely held at bay. Her fingers twitched against the couch, but before she could speak, Kathrine’s calm voice cut through.
"Is that what you plan to do now that I’m back?" she asked, her gaze steady, tone eerily composed. "If anyone’s the culprit here, it’s me. So why should Anna suffer for our mistakes? Wasn’t the entire marriage deal meant to bring peace between the two families?"
Her words carried something sharp — not guilt, but provocation. Her eyes glimmered with a strange defiance that didn’t go unnoticed. Even Daniel’s expression darkened, his gaze narrowing slightly.
He could see what she was doing — pushing, testing, trying to expose something she shouldn’t know.
Does she somehow know about Anna’s plan to divorce me? he wondered grimly. Did they talk about it openly?
Daniel leaned forward, his tone calm but laced with authority. "That’s not for you to decide, Kathrine. The deal was made between your father and me — and in that deal, I hold the upper hand."
Kathrine’s lips curved faintly, her composure unshaken. "So it means," she said softly, tilting her head in understanding, "you plan on keeping this marriage."
Her tone was neutral, but the underlying challenge wasn’t lost on either of them.
Anna’s heart skipped. Her sister’s words hung between them like a lit match hovering over oil — and in that moment, she couldn’t tell whether Kathrine was trying to apologize, provoke, or destroy what fragile peace they’d managed to build.
"Of course I do," Daniel said, his voice calm but resolute.
The firmness in his tone made Anna’s head snap toward him, eyes widening slightly. But before she could process his words, he continued—
"But—"
He paused, his gaze locking onto Kathrine with a look so cold it could cut glass.
"—that doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you."
Kathrine’s smile faltered for a heartbeat before she forced it back into place. "Then I suppose," she said evenly, "I’ll just have to work harder to earn your forgiveness."
Her words were polite, her tone soft but behind that calm exterior, her mind was racing. What exactly did he mean by that?
Kathrine hadn’t come here merely to apologize. No — her true purpose was far more deliberate.
She wanted to see for herself how deep this bond between Anna and Daniel truly ran. Rosaline’s vague remarks about their marriage had left her suspicious, uncertain if the union was genuine or merely convenient. Anna had spoken nothing of Daniel during their encounter yesterday, and that silence had only fueled her curiosity.
Now, standing before them watching Daniel’s arm still resting protectively behind Anna, seeing the subtle shift in his eyes whenever his wife moved, Katherine felt her doubts crumble into something sharper.
There was something about Daniel that unsettled her—something she hadn’t seen before.
’Just who are you really, Daniel?’
Her gaze flickered, a glint of calculation flashing briefly in her eyes before she masked it with another poised smile.
"Well then," she said lightly, rising from her seat with graceful composure, "I won’t overstay my welcome. I only wanted to speak my piece."
The polite tone did little to hide the tension simmering beneath her words.
As she stood, Daniel leaned back slightly, his expression unreadable, while Anna watched her sister carefully — uncertain whether Kathrine’s visit had been an apology, a warning, or something far more dangerous.
"I’ll take my leave now," Kathrine said finally, her smile poised, graceful — and utterly unreadable. She clearly had no intention of lingering any longer than necessary.
She turned toward the door, her heels clicking softly against the marble floor.
"I’ll walk her out," Anna offered quickly, already rising to her feet out of instinct more than anything else.
But before she could take a single step, Daniel’s hand closed around her wrist, firm but unhurried.
"No need," he said, his voice calm yet final. "She can walk herself out."
The authority in his tone left no room for argument. His eyes didn’t waver, and Anna could sense that whatever he was thinking — whatever storm brewed beneath that steady calm — it was best left unchallenged for now.
From the corner, Mariam flushed slightly and bowed her head, murmuring something under her breath before slipping away quietly. The air in the room thickened once she was gone, silence stretching taut between the couple and the fading sound of Kathrine’s footsteps.
Outside, once the muffled voices behind her had vanished, Kathrine’s composure finally cracked.
The pleasant smile she had worn so effortlessly slipped from her face, replaced by a grim, calculating expression. Her shoulders stiffened as she reached the steps, and for a moment she turned — casting one last glance over her shoulder, as if she could still see through the walls of the mansion and the man inside it.
Daniel’s voice. His expression. The ease with which he had dismissed her.
It all echoed in her mind.
He had let her go too easily.
And that, more than anything, unsettled her.
"I must be careful with this man," she murmured under her breath, her tone low and laced with wary realization.
With that, Kathrine straightened, slipped into her car, and drove off — her smile long gone, but her mind racing faster than the wheels beneath her.