The crowd was full of paparazzi as always. Catherine's bodyguards kept on pushing them to pave a way for her but the reporters were very eager as they tried to stick their microphones and cameras towards her.
The sky is clear and the city was busy as usual.
She walked through the crowd and climbed inside the car as fast as she could. The reporters knocked and slammed their hands against the car's window as they shouted her name. The car moved forward and a few minutes later they were far from the maddening crowd.
Her phone vibrated and her father's name appeared on the glass screen. She took a deep breath then answered. "Hello."
The voice she knew too well spoke, "Where are you!"
"I'm on my way to the house as you asked me too." She answered, trying her best to keep her voice firm as she felt her hands tremble.
Her father's voice was harsh as always, never tender. "You better hurry." then the call ended.
She closed her eyes and gripped the phone and then it vibrated again only this time her secretary's name flashed on the screen. She answered the phone and held it to her ear, "What is it, Maggie?"
"Ma'am, there is an update on the Grand Prix, it's moved to a further date which will now be on November 19 and the team wanted you to know that the F1 cars are almost ready for a test drive."
"That's good to hear. Make sure that my schedule is free for the Grand Prix, I'm sure investors will go to that event."
"Yes, Ma'am."
She ended the call and looked out the window, they were now driving through a street filled with homes that are known to house the rich and famous. Celebrities and wealthy people are common in this part of the city because of its proximity to the beach. They continued to drive along the busy streets beside a huge park when a kid caught Catherine's attention. He was being pushed to the ground by two kids who were bigger than him and he was crying as they went on bullying him.
She looked at her driver through the rearview mirror before speaking, "Stop the car!"
She hurriedly stepped out of the car and her bodyguards immediately surrounded the perimeter. She walked towards the boys and shouted, "Hey! just what do you think you're doing?!"
The boys who were bullying the kid instantly ran away when they heard her. The kid that they were bullying was still crying as he laid on the ground. She ran up to him and held him up.
"Here let me help you." She said softly, then he looked up at her with his tear-stained eyes.
She could tell that he was trying his best not to cry anymore. She then saw the gashes on his knees and elbows and this made her chest tighten.
"Let me clean your wounds." Catherine carried him up and sat him on one of the benches and took out her handkerchief. She asked her bodyguards to get the first aid from the car and after a few minutes, they went back with it. She set it down beside the kid and started cleaning his wound.
Fred, the head of her security, stationed himself beside her. " Ma'am, I suggest that we leave now. Your Father is —"
"I won't leave this child like this."
Being Catherine's Bodyguard since she was 8 years old, Fred knew that once she has set her mind on something there is no stopping her from doing it...aside from her father.
Fred looked down at his boss as she cleaned the young boy's wounds, it reminded him of when Catherine was of the same age. A young girl carrying an adult's pain.
He dreaded those days when he could hear her cry in her room. His job was to protect her yet how could he possibly when his employer, her father, was the one slowly emotionally destroying her.
He knew the problems and secrets lurking within the Harrington Family as all the other workers in the mansion. Those who've been working long enough for the family also knew about the real cause of the late Florence Harrington's death which has been kept from the media and even from Catherine and her older brother Elijah.
Fred sighed and let Catherine address the boy's condition.
"Why are you on your own? It's very dangerous for a kid to be alone in a park." Catherine wiped the remaining tears off the boy's face.
He sniffed before answering, "My brother and father are fighting again and everyone is busy so I went to the park on my own."
She inspected him and instantly she knew that this kid's family is wealthy just by looking at his clothing. The kid has bright blue eyes and dark hair. She handed him another handkerchief which he took and wiped his nose with it.
"How old are you by the way?" She asked.
"Six." He said shyly.
"And what's your name?" She asked again, trying to distract him from the pain as she cleans his wounds with an antiseptic.
His nose was red from crying and his raven-coloured hair is now a pile of mess on his head. "I'm Theo."
"I'm Cathie."
His innocent eyes looked at her's with a confused expression on his small face, "Huh? Your name is Kittie?"
She laughed at him. "Cathie, it's short for Catherine."
His eyebrows furrowed, "Ohh. Well, I like Cathie better." He smiled.
After a long time, she finally found herself smiling, "Me too."
After she finished cleaning his wounds she sat down beside him on the bench. "Your parents must be looking for you. You can tell me your address so I could drop you off." She offered.
His bright blue eyes widened, "No! Please, just call my Nanny." His small hands clung on Catherine's blazer.
She furrowed her eyebrows, "What? Why?"
Fear is now evident on his face, "My father will punish me if he finds out that I sneaked out."
A wave of familiarity dawned on her as she understood the child's situation. Catherine knew what it felt like to cower in fear, to be afraid of something you can't fight.
"Okay, I understand."
As she looked at this boy it made her remember the memories she tried to forget, memories she tried to bury. Wealth does not equate happiness, yet when the people looked at Catherine all she can see is envy.
What is there to envy in suffering and pain?
***
After waiting for Theo's nanny to come and pick him up, Catherine eventually went back on her way to her parents' house and after two hours she finally arrived.
As she got out of the car she was greeted immediately by their maid Rosa.
"Catherine!" She kissed her cheek and embraced her.
Rosa used to be Catherine's nanny. For Catherine, Rosa became the mother figure that she needed when her mother died. Rosa knows the painful events that happened to Catherine which shaped the woman she is now.
"Is he inside?" She asked.
Rosa's smile turned upside down as she released her. Wrinkles are now more visible on her face, her eyes now showing the effects of ageing.
"Yes, your father is inside." Her hands cupped Catherine's cheeks before continuing, "He is not happy that you are late and I advise you not to make it worse. You know your father."
"Is Elijah here too?" She asked. Elijah, her older brother whom she hasn't seen in months, did not want to come home.
Their father pressured Elijah to run the business even though he did not want to so Elijah went his own way and studied abroad. He eventually became a diplomat and that's why the burden of running the business was laid to Catherine by their father. He was hesitant at first, he said that a woman cannot be trusted to run a multi-billion company.
She wanted to prove him wrong and so she did.
"No, he still refused to come home," Rosa replied.
Elijah would occasionally visit Catherine at her house but every time she asked him to visit their Father he would always refuse, and she doesn't blame him.
When they entered the house she's immediately greeted by her father's presence.
"You are late!" His voice boomed across the room.
Catherine's hands quivered yet again so she balled them to fists and kept her voice distant and cold. "I'm sorry, there were problems at the company that needed my immediate attention." She answered.
He took out a brown envelope and laid it on the table in front of her. She grabbed it and sat down on one of the sofas. "What is this?" She asked as she pulled out the contents of the envelope.
Robert Harrington took a sip of his 35-year-old wine before answering, "King George Van Doren has been a great friend of mine. We've known each other for years and I could say that on this particular business offer we share the same...ideals."
He stood up from his chair, the same dark auburn hair that she inherited from him is now filled with white streaks of hair that shows even the wealthiest and powerful person in the world is not obsolete.
"He and I viewed wealth and security in the same way. A man can buy the security of his family if he has the money for it." He smiled wickedly as he stared at the fire glowing from the furnace.
"The King wants his country to thrive more than those who are also ruled by monarchs, he wants to secure the stable growth of their economy and with that their whole country."
Catherine merely scanned the papers, "This is a proposal and a contract." She stated, not bothering to finish reading the papers. She looked up at her father and he nodded. "Yes, indeed."
"I don't see why you needed me to come here just to discuss a proposal and a contract, you could have just mailed this to me at the office." She went back to read the last pages.
"It's not just a contract." The malice in his eyes grew darker.
Catherine furrowed her eyebrows as she continued to read the pages intently, the agreements that were set on the contract were becoming more specific, as she read on her heart felt like it stopped beating as she reached the following arrangements.
Her lungs felt tighter and her body was shaking. She looked up at her father and saw him waiting for her reaction.
"A marriage between me and the King's son?" She breathed heavily as she tried to contain her emotions. Anger was building up in her chest and it felt harder to breathe.
Her father's stern voice resounded across the room. "Our company can provide them with the means to further secure their reign and the future of their country that is why they offered me this in exchange for our company to further expand our business with the help of their family's connections. Your brother is not the one running the business that is why I can not place the problem on him, but if you disagree I have no other choice but to force your brother to take your place and bare this responsibility."
"— and perhaps, what's the use of having a daughter if not for things like this," he added.
Catherine's eyes widened, the ache in her chest was now spreading across her body like a wildfire. "How could you?" She barely managed to whisper.
He continued, "...I can easily set up an arrangement between him and the king's sister if you disagree with this."
Her chest felt tight and it felt as if every breath she takes was burning her lungs. Her own father's greed threw her in this situation, trading her off like a piece of meat to whoever could satisfy his desire for wealth and power.
She cannot risk Elijah's future and freedom for her own. Catherine knew how much his brother fought to have the freedom that he has now, a life without their father's control. She gripped the papers in her hand and glared at it, wishing it could burn down to ashes.
She stood up and forced herself to be firm like a child acting bravely in front of danger. "You signed the papers already without consulting me." even speaking was painful, it's as if her throat was closing up.
"You would not have agreed to it, and besides its already taken care of." He spoke as if her opinion meant nothing to him.
"You are offering your daughter in exchange for investors and the company's expansion?!" Catherine struggled to stop her tears from falling.
"You are willingly bidding Me!" Her throat felt strained as she voiced out her anger.
"You cannot disagree with this arrangement, Catherine. You are the one in charge of the business and that means you shoulder the company's future and our family's legacy along with it, and this is the way to secure that future!" His voice was commanding and harsh.
Catherine was at a loss. She balled her hands and gripped it tight until her knuckles turned white. She can either destroy her brother's future or her's. She needed to decide for both of them.
She closed her eyes and with a heavy heart, she answered.
"Then let this be my burden and not his."
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