Chapter 12
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Jonathan put on his gloves. "Are you questioning my professionalism?"
I choked on my words and stayed silent. But the moment his fingers touched me, my face still turned red.
Without a doubt, Jonathan's technique was top-notch. I soon felt so comfortable that I was drifting off to sleep.
Toward the end, I think I heard him call my name. But I was too drowsy to open my eyes. He said something to me—or maybe nothing at all—before turning and leaving.
I fell into a deep sleep, and when I woke up, I didn't go looking for Jonathan. I just asked a nurse to pass along a message for me and quietly left.
Wearing a mask, I kept my head down as I walked out of the elevator toward the hospital entrance.
But as soon as I reached the ground floor, someone grabbed my arm. Then came a slap, hard enough to leave me stunned.
When I snapped back to my senses, I saw the cold, furious faces of my two brothers.
"Katherine, you're coming with us to see Mr. Sutton right now."
"I'm not going."
"You don't have a choice."
"Mr. Sutton said as long as you lower your head, he'll consider getting engaged to you. You know very well that if we want our business to improve, Mr. Sutton is the biggest shortcut."
My second brother, Kevin Robinson, was hot-tempered as always. He raised his hand to hit me again. But my eldest brother, Keith Robinson, stopped him.
He looked at me gently, his voice calm. "Katherine, the family is really in trouble right now. If this deal falls through, the Robinsons are finished.
"You're part of this family too. We have always treated you well—can't you help us just this once?"
"Then, have you ever thought about how people will look down on me, how they'll trample on my dignity in the future?" I snapped back.
"You're young, beautiful, well-educated. Mr. Sutton genuinely likes you—he won't treat you badly."
"Katherine, don't be naïve. Do you know how many people would kill for the chance to marry into the Suttons?"
"I told you I won't get back together with Jasper."
I took two steps back, sneering at my two brothers. "If you're so desperate for this great marriage deal, why don't you sell your own daughters?"
"Katherine, if you're going to be this heartless toward your own family, then return everything our parents gave you and cut ties with the Robinsons completely."
"Fine, I will."
Maybe because they saw I was completely unmoved, Keith frowned.
"Katherine, you're young and naïve, easy to make foolish decisions. When you get married one day, you'll understand the importance of your family. Don't wait until it's too late to regret it."
I couldn't help but laugh.
During my teenage years, I'd felt pain, confusion, frustration—I even tried to end my own life.
I couldn't understand why our parents showered my two brothers with love but treated me with nothing but cold indifference. I sank into deep self-doubt for a long time.
But later, I accidentally found out that I was just an abandoned baby the Robinsons had adopted. And they'd only taken me in as a tool for securing a profitable marriage alliance.
How much genuine affection could there ever be for a tool?
Once I figured that out, I slowly learned to save myself, climbing out of the dark dead-end in my heart.
…
I returned the apartment and the car to the Robinsons.
Even the 200,000 dollars I'd saved over the past two years after graduation through work and part-time jobs—I gave it all to my parents.
I would do my best to repay the kindness of being raised. But my marriage? I wanted to hold that in my own hands.
When I left the Robinsons, everyone's faces were dark with anger. That severance agreement, stamped with all their names and fingerprints, said it all.
