Chapter 22

Encouraged by Miranda, I found Katie's phone number and arranged to meet her at a coffee shop to confront her. She was wearing a white dress again, sitting quietly across from me.
"Do you want me to leave Kenneth?"
She still looked so innocent,
"Then please go back and tell him not to like me anymore. My heart only has his brother, he knows about it."
I didn't say anything, just picked up the coffee in front of me and took a sip. Let's see how she acts.
"If it's because I showed up in his room that morning, I can explain." She continued.
"I actually went to ask him for his brother's contact information. I pushed him away, we didn't do anything."
I still didn't say anything, just rubbed my temples with both my fingers since I was starting a slight headache. Why do men like this type of women? Kenneth really fills in his duty as a second choice. I couldn't help but give him a thumbs up.
"Do you like him?" I didn't feel like beating around the bush with her, so I asked directly.
She hesitated for a moment, "No, I don't."
I paused for a moment, she was more honest than I had imagined.
"So, if you don't like him, why do you rely on him for every little thing?"
"I..." She bit her lip, struggling with her words, "He and I have been good friends since we were kids. He's also my best friend."
Well said, I almost applauded her. Such a childhood sweetheart, a super pleaser.
"You know he likes you, yet you still treat him as a second choice, someone’s whose job is to only please you?"
"No, I just... see him as a brother." She defended herself.
I completely lost my patience.
"Don't piss me off, I've looked up the information, you're actually three months older than him."
Clearly not expecting me to be so blunt, her face instantly turned red.
"Why would you say that about me?"
Her acting skills were on point as tears started welling up in her eyes. It seemed like if I said one more word or even glanced at her, her tears would burst out like broken ice. The beads of the thread fell down.
"You like his brother and enjoy his care for you. You do ambiguous things under the banner of friendship and treat him as a substitute. Does he not look different from his brother? Don't tell me you just fell in love with the same face."
"I have never made him like me," she said, and her tears eventually fell down.
"But you don't reject his kindness towards you, giving him hope and stringing him along," I calmly looked at her.
"Mrs. Evans, although you are married to him, you cannot define the feelings that grew between him and me as we grew up together. If he knew how you humiliated me like this..." she cried, raising her head and glaring at me.
Hmph, hypocrite, she brought him up to pressure me. Threaten me?
"Waiter, please help me change this cup of coffee. It's gotten cold and a little disgusting,"
I remained silent for a few seconds and smiled as I called the waiter.
Katie saw me relax a bit, perhaps thinking that her threat had worked, and looked at me triumphantly.
"Oh, you grew up together since childhood."
"Yes, Kenneth, from childhood to adulthood - how many times he was beaten by his father, how many times he ran away from home, his first time receiving an award, the first time he cried... I know all of it," she spoke with a proud expression.
I understood the underlying meaning of her words: who are you? You're just a halfway-marriage partner whom Kenneth doesn't like.
"You certainly know," I remained completely calm, "his brother Kelvin, with a calm personality, was a top student from childhood to adulthood and deeply favored by their grandfather. Kenneth, on the other hand, had a rebellious personality, often skipping classes and getting into fights, with poor grades.
"When comparing the two, you think Kelvin has more potential and is more likely to inherit the family business, so you chose Kelvin. But what you didn't expect was that Kelvin, despite his good grades, was solely focused on scientific research and went abroad, showing no interest in the company.
"Meanwhile, Kenneth, who didn't love studying, came back after graduation and inherited the family business, leading it to its current position.
"You regretted it, so you clung onto him under the pretext of looking for his brother."
"..." she remained speechless.
I picked up the coffee and took a sip, "Do you want me to continue?"
I was even getting angry at myself. Every time I thought about those diary entries written in math books, my heart ached for Kenneth. He has seen all kinds of beautiful women now, so how could he still long for her? It's just a first love complex. But she used it as a capital to exploit him. Exploiting someone's genuine feelings, it's an outrageous crime. In an instant, she stopped crying, and her face even contorted.
"Katie, if you want to change your fate, first see if you have the ability to do so. You made the wrong choice from the start, and now you want to take it back? It's too late."
After saying that, I didn't bother wasting any more time with her and stood up, intending to leave. However, she stood up frantically, grabbed the cup of coffee that was just brought over and poured it on me.