From Broken to Beloved-Chapter 123- You’re wonderful

In Catherine’s eyes, the whole thing was incredibly simple. She couldn’t understand why, when it came to him, it had turned into something so relentless and unforgiving.

Left with no other choice, she continued following behind him. When they reached his car, Catherine quickened her steps and moved in front of him, frowning as she looked up at him.

"Bert, what exactly do you want?"

Bert stopped. Narrowing his eyes, he looked at her with a cold expression. Her small face was full of grievance brought on by his deliberate silence, and at the sight of it, the anger in his chest instantly eased a little.

In truth, Bert didn’t even know what he wanted himself. He only knew there was a ball of fire lodged in his heart.

There was a saying—the deeper a person loves, the more selfish they become.

So perhaps no one could understand the sudden flare of his temper, including her. She probably didn’t understand it at all.

Even he didn’t fully understand himself. Maybe it was because he longed for this love too much. Maybe he cared about this relationship too deeply. So much so that even the slightest hint of being ignored by her triggered overwhelming insecurity and anxiety, which then exploded into this unreasonable outburst.

Having calmed down somewhat, Bert realized that he was, in fact, being unreasonable. His expression softened a little. He opened the car door, grabbed her hand, and pulled her along.

"What are you doing?" Catherine asked, frowning.

"Eating."

He tossed the word at her irritably, stuffed her into the passenger seat, then got into the car himself and drove off.

Since they were going to eat, Catherine had no objections. She had already called Renata earlier to say she wouldn’t be home for dinner, that she was eating out with Riley.

They had only been driving for a short while when Riley’s call came through. On the other end, she asked anxiously,

"Cici, how is it? Did you manage to calm him down?"

With Bert sitting right beside her, Catherine couldn’t exactly say whether he’d been soothed or not. She hesitated, unable to give a clear answer.

The moment Riley heard that hesitation, she knew things still weren’t resolved. She immediately raised her voice and began offering advice.

"It’s fine! There’s no man who can’t be soothed. One kiss will do. If not, then two. If that still doesn’t work—just keep kissing him until he gives up!"

Riley’s voice was loud to begin with, and after a bit of alcohol, it was even louder. Bert, sitting right next to Catherine, heard every word perfectly.

Catherine: "..."

What kind of terrible advice was that?!

She quickly covered the phone and whispered,

"Okay, okay, let’s stop here. You two eat properly."

Then she hurriedly hung up, fearing what else Riley might say.

After ending the call, Catherine stole a glance at Bert, her face faintly flushed. Seeing that he still wore a cold expression and focused solely on driving without saying a word, she couldn’t help thinking—

Do I really have to use Riley’s method?

Bert drove straight to his apartment. Catherine had assumed "eating" meant going to a restaurant, but instead, they ended up at his place. After getting out of the car, she was still a little stunned when he pulled her into the elevator.

He still didn’t speak to her, yet his large hand held hers tightly. When other people entered the elevator, he instinctively lifted an arm around her shoulders, shielding her.

Catherine lowered her gaze to their interlocked hands and couldn’t help smiling.

On the surface, he was still pretending to be angry—but inside, he wasn’t anymore, was he? Otherwise, why would he still be holding her hand? Why would he still protect her like this?

Once inside, Bert let go of her hand, changed his shoes, and went straight into the kitchen. Catherine stood there for a moment, then followed him in. She watched as he washed his hands and took ingredients out of the refrigerator.

She stepped closer and took the initiative to break the silence.

"Are you going to cook?"

Bert snorted.

"What else? Should the two of us survive on thin air?"

Catherine: "..."

Fine. He won.

Though his words were sharp, the thought that he was still willing to prepare dinner for them despite being so angry softened her heart inexplicably.

What happened that evening—although his anger had been somewhat unreasonable, she wasn’t entirely without fault either.

If she had agreed to bring him along to dinner with Riley, this misunderstanding probably wouldn’t have happened at all.

After biting her lip and hesitating for a long while, she finally decided to try Riley’s method to melt his anger.

She walked over and wrapped her arms around Bert just as he was holding the vegetables and about to step away from the refrigerator. Under his deep, dark gaze, she rose onto her toes and, trembling slightly, pressed a kiss to his lips.

For Catherine, kissing a man while fully conscious like this—for the first time—made her heart race.

She felt nervous.

And unbearably shy.

She didn’t know how he would react to her initiative—whether he would remain unmoved, or whether this would finally bring them back together. She had no idea at all. Overwhelmed by her nervousness, she simply closed her eyes, refusing to look at Bert’s reaction.

Almost the moment her lips touched his, one of Bert’s hands instinctively slid to her waist. As she clumsily sucked at his lips, the groceries he was holding in his other hand were casually dropped to the floor. Both of his hands came around her waist, pulling her firmly against him as he returned her kiss with unrelenting intensity.

His lips were burning hot as they covered hers, sweeping away all of Catherine’s thoughts and awareness.

Of course Bert had heard every word Riley shouted over the phone—about how one kiss wasn’t enough, and two might be needed. From that moment on, all the way home and up until now, he had been waiting for her.

Don’t ask him why he was so certain she would try Riley’s method. He knew her too well. If he kept ignoring her, she would definitely do something—because she couldn’t stand seeing others unhappy, especially him.

So what was supposed to be a simple dinner preparation quietly transformed into an inescapable tangle of closeness. Bert’s large hand pressed against her hip as his warm, damp lips lingered at her collarbone.

"Catherine..." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

He murmured her name against her neck. A jolt of electricity ran through her body, the tingling numbness nearly making her legs give out. She clutched his strong arm tightly just to steady herself.

The more intense the moment, the more Bert liked calling her by her full name. To him, it carried a sense of ceremony, of gravity. Stirred by his voice and the warmth of his lips, Catherine answered in a trembling whisper,

"Mmm..."

His voice was low, restrained, hoarse.

"I’m really hungry."

Blushing deeply, Catherine hurriedly pushed at him.

"Th-then hurry up and cook."

"That’s not the kind of hunger I mean," he said, pulling her even closer, making his desire unmistakably clear. Catherine instantly understood what he meant by eating her, her face turning even redder as she kept pushing him away.

"I really am hungry..."

She truly was. After all that turmoil, neither of them had eaten yet—how could she not be?

Bert held her close for a little while longer, brushing against her cheek and temple, before finally letting her go.

With that fervent kiss, all the earlier unpleasantness between them vanished without a trace.

Still, Catherine looked into his eyes and sincerely explained once more,

"I really had no intention of going on a blind date. I didn’t know Riley had arranged any of that. I just wanted to talk to her."

After saying that, she lowered her gaze and added softly,

"You’re perfect to me. How could I possibly go on a blind date with someone else?"

Because she believed he was the best—the most perfect—that was why she had fallen in love with him.

Bert’s anger had long since dissipated. Truthfully, he had never wanted to lose his temper with her. He didn’t even understand why he had gone mad back at the restaurant.

Perhaps it really was because he cared too much—so much that he became anxious, fearful, almost hysterical over the possibility of losing her. He realized he would need to control his temper better in the future.

And now, with her eyes lowered and her voice so gentle, Bert hated the version of himself who had lost control even more. He lifted a hand, lightly cupping her cheek and tilting her face upward. His voice was filled with regret and self-reproach.

"You’re wonderful," he said softly. "I was wrong."