Chapter 9 Don't Insult Me Like That

• The night after dinner and feeding her mother, Katherine tosses and turns in bed, unable to sleep. She gets up and decides to go to the garden, walking through it and admiring all the flowers. Unaware of Ethan watching her from afar while talking on the phone.
• "I need to hang up, we'll talk tomorrow,"he says, hanging up the phone and observing her.
• Katherine bends down and starts picking some roses, finding them beautiful. She smells each one of them and in that moment she is at peace, which is quickly destroyed when Ethan approaches.
• "Don't you have anything better to do?"She stares at him, doesn't respond, and ignores him, continuing to walk in the garden as he follows her. "Do you have any usefulness, Katherine? You are so useless, tell me, wife,"he mocks her. Katherine smells a rose as she starts counting mentally, using it as an escape from his rudeness. "You are so worthless, so irrelevant, your presence in my house bothers me. I don't know why such a ridiculous woman like you exists,"he continues. Katherine stops and stares at him, her eyes reflecting a mix of sadness and hatred. "What's wrong? Don't you like hearing how useless, idiotic, ridiculous you are, and how much I despise and hate you? I will remind you of this every day, and if you can't handle it, go to my grandmother and tell her we're getting a divorce. Because I can only feel pity and disgust for you."
• Katherine once again smells another rose, holding it out towards Ethan, who despises her passivity and slaps the rose, shattering it. She drops the stem on the ground, gives him an emotionless look, and walks away, leaving him alone, fueling his hatred and contempt. Ethan doesn't know what to do to make her give up on the marriage, as he doesn't want to disappoint his grandmother, so he waits for Katherine to give up. The next morning, Ethan goes to his company, and Katherine continues with her routine, spending the day with her mother. It's getting harder for her every day, as she becomes more aggressive, missing the drinks. Katherine sits in her room, thinking about her life, running her hand over her belly, feeling like she's not carrying a baby at all, with no changes in her body yet. During lunch, Ethan returns home and orders her to come down for lunch, but this time he eats in silence, without provoking her.
• "Tonight we're going to a party, be ready when I get back,"he says. Katherine just stares at him and says nothing. Ethan is planning to take her to a high society party, intending to humiliate her, as he believes she is not worthy of attending such events. "Do you understand, Katherine? Damn, you're so stupid, you even struggle to give a response."
• "Yes, I understand, I'll be ready when you get back."
• Ethan finishes lunch, gets up, and leaves to go back to the company. Katherine always breathes a sigh of relief when he is not around. She can be herself and doesn't have to pretend, like she does in front of him and Amelia. In the evening, she starts getting ready for the party. She didn't bring many things when she went to Amelia's house, so she doesn't have anything suitable for a party next to Ethan. She puts on a tight black dress, does a bun in her hair, and light makeup with red lipstick. She puts on her heels, even though she looks beautiful, she knows she won't measure up to the women who will be present at this party. She goes downstairs and sits on the couch, waiting for Ethan. When he arrives, he watches her and goes up the stairs with a slight smile on his lips. He gets ready and when he comes down, he is a true gentleman in a tuxedo with perfectly styled hair.
• "Let's go, Katherine,"he says. She gets up and he watches her, giving a slight smile, and before she notices, he goes back to his serious face without showing emotions. "You look ridiculous, Katherine. Couldn't you find a better outfit? You are so inferior to me,"he says as he leaves, while she follows, sighing to control her anger. Ethan opens the car door for her. "Thank you."
• He goes to the driver's seat and drives in silence to the club where the event is taking place. He gets out and opens the door for her. For a moment, Katherine thinks he is a gentleman, but quickly remembers his rudeness. Ethan hands the keys to the valet and walks towards the entrance, while Katherine follows him in silence. Upon entering the ballroom, Katherine knows how much she will be ridiculed, as all the women are wearing dresses from top collections and expensive jewelry, all very elegant. She feels the eyes of everyone on her and the judgment of each one there, as if they were small stabs in her chest.
• "Ethan, you look wonderful today. So good to see you here,"says a brunette woman with a suggestive smile on her lips.
• "You look gorgeous, as always. You are a wonderful woman,"he replies, while watching Katherine walk away towards the bar. He follows her. "Katherine, you are not allowed to leave my side. You are my wife and will stay close to me. Isn't that what you want? Then fulfill your role."
• "I just came to get a drink to get through this night,"she tells the waiter, ordering a whisky.
• "No way, my woman doesn't drink. She will have water,"he tells the waiter, making her life difficult. Katherine breathes, as she needs to control herself.
• "Ethan, you are more handsome every day,"says the blonde approaching and giving him a kiss close to his lips. "This is your pathetic wife, isn't it? I won't forget her face alone at the altar on the wedding day,"she says, laughing, looking Katherine up and down. "You look so poor."
• Katherine drinks her water, to refrain from insulting that woman. For much of the night, she watches women flirting with Ethan and many mocking her simplicity and their marriage. Katherine is getting exhausted.
• "I'm leaving,"she says, getting up from the table and heading towards the door, not giving Ethan a chance to respond. He signals the security to bring her back.
• "You're not going anywhere, Katherine, we're only leaving when I want to. Behave like the wife you insist on being, you know very well how to solve this, do it now, so I don't have to deal with you."
• A group of women and some men approach them and Ethan joins them with Katherine by his side, she follows silently and without the slightest desire to be there. At every moment she hears jokes and insults about her and remains silent, receiving disdainful looks from everyone there, including from Ethan, when he starts mocking her too, she begins to count mentally, but not even that can calm her down and her anger overflows causing her to explode.
• "You're right, my wife really is ridiculous, she can't do anything right, even serving me she struggles, I've never seen such a useless and pathetic woman like her, I feel sorry for her. "He says, staring at her. "I don't know how my grandmother thought it was a good idea for me to marry her."
• "I don't have to serve you, I feel sorry for you, for being so empty, you're the ridiculous one, not me, you don't even have the courage to ask for a divorce, because you don't want to disappoint grandma, you're just a little man, pathetic, spoiled, and cowardly. And all you have to offer are rudeness, which goes in one ear and out the other, because you, yes, are irrelevant to me, or haven't you realized that I ignore you all the time? And you know why, Ethan, because I don't care about anything that comes from you, so being by your side is the same as nothing to me, because it's insignificant. Do you have anything else to add about me to your lovely friends, Ethan? Or can I go now? If you want, I can stay here and continue listing how much of a jerk, weak, and idiot you are."
• "Enough, Katherine, shut up."
• "What? Should I ask for permission to speak now? Or do you have the right to speak only? "She takes a shot of whiskey from the passing waiter and drinks it in one gulp, staring at him. "I'll drink whenever I want, because I'm in charge of myself, not you. "At that moment she regrets, remembering her pregnancy.
• Ethan is stunned by her outburst of anger, in front of everyone, he finds her interesting when she's defending herself and reacting to insults, and whenever she does, he can't hide his smile, he drinks his whiskey so she doesn't notice, just as he is admiring her, he wants to punish her, for daring to speak to him in that way. He grabs her by the arm, this time he doesn't use force, just drags her out.
• "How dare you speak to me like that? What do you want, Katherine?"
• "I'm just returning your kindness, I don't want anything but to please you, my dear husband."
• "Don't be sarcastic with me, don't make me teach you a lesson, you don't know who you're dealing with, so don't dare speak to me like that again, do you understand?"
• "I will talk to you, just as you talk to me. If you don't want rudeness, don't be rude, because I'm tired of you attacking me. This won't work, I won't ask for a divorce. If you insist so much, be a man and ask yourself. "She says as she gets into the car, as soon as the driver parks it.
• Ethan runs his hand through his hair, sighs, and gets into the car. He drives in silence towards home, watching her with closed eyes. He smiles at various moments, and when Katherine opens her eyes and sees his smile, with his dimples showing, she can't help but notice how handsome that jerk of a man is. She shakes her head and closes her eyes again. When they arrive at the mansion, she gets out of the car, slamming the door and giving him a cold look.
• "Katherine, wait now. I want to talk to you. "She stops and stares at him.
• "Don't repeat this behavior in front of anyone, don't insult me like that, you're nobody to talk to me like that. If you dare to do it again, I will kill you. Be warned, Katherine."
• "Then kill me now, because if you dare to ridicule me in front of so many people again, I will retaliate. So please, kill me, so that your lovely grandmother can bury me in the grave that was reserved for you, too bad you woke up before. Let my body rot there, while I wait for your death, so we can spend eternity together. Still, it will be better than this life I have by your side. You are sick, your whole family is, and I hate you all. "She says as she goes up the stairs.
• Ethan never loses sight of her, until his gaze can no longer reach her in the hallway. He finds her increasingly interesting, every time she stands her ground, his interest in her changes and that always makes him smile.