From Broken to Beloved-Chapter 127- a boyfriend

Lucy was left speechless by Catherine’s words, her face paling slightly as she stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to say.

During the years Catherine had been with Gerald, her attitude toward Lucy had always been gentle and respectful. Even when faced with Lucy’s sharp and malicious provocations, Catherine had never talked back—let alone shut her down so bluntly like this.

As a result, Lucy had always believed Catherine to be the kind of soft, easily bullied person who would just swallow everything. In truth, it wasn’t that Catherine was easy to bully. It was simply that she believed that, since they were all family, they should live in harmony. Moreover, back then she had endured everything for Gerald’s sake, unwilling to put her fiancé in the difficult position of being caught between his mother and herself.

At that time, Catherine truly considered Gerald in every possible way.

But what had Gerald given her in return?

He had abandoned her mercilessly when she was at her lowest. He had gone off with Lucca, personally rubbing salt into her wounds.

Catherine had never spoken of those injuries and that pain to outsiders, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t felt them.

Now, however, Gerald was nothing to her anymore, and there was no reason for her to keep indulging Lucy.

Casting a glance at the embarrassed Lucy, Catherine chose to turn around and leave together with Renata.

But Lucy hurried forward again to block her.

"Cici!"

"I know I treated you badly before. Please, be the bigger person and don’t hold it against me anymore. Help Gerald—please help him, okay?"

As she spoke, Lucy grabbed Catherine’s hand, pleading pitifully.

With Gerald’s family business having reached this point, Lucy no longer cared about her pride or dignity. If the company were to collapse, how would their family survive in the future?

These past few days, Lucy had quietly asked her son about the company’s situation. Gerald had only replied impatiently,

"What’s there to worry about? Whether it goes bankrupt or gets acquired, it’s all fate. If the company’s gone, does the sky really fall? At worst, we start over."

Lucy felt her son spoke far too lightly. She had lived a life of comfort and privilege for half her life—how could she possibly get used to hardship?

And so, left with no other choice, Lucy could only come and beg Catherine.

It was said that MOS Corp. and Washington Co. had been deliberately targeting Gerald’s family. What Lucy couldn’t understand was how the Gerald family had possibly offended those two powerful families—how had they ended up being targeted together?

The Gerald family’s financial strength had never matched that of Washington Co. or MOS Corp. to begin with. Now that the two families had joined forces to suppress them, the Gerald family had virtually no business left in Burg Eltz. If this continued, wasn’t bankruptcy only a matter of time?

Renata unceremoniously shoved Lucy aside and yanked Catherine’s hand free from Lucy’s grip.

"Lucy, who was it back then that dragged her own son to our doorstep, throwing a tantrum and insisting on breaking off the engagement? And now you come begging Cici for help—do you have any shame at all?"

Renata felt not the slightest sympathy for Lucy. Lucy’s behavior was utterly disgusting to her—discarding Catherine mercilessly when she thought Catherine was useless, only to come clinging and begging for help now. How could all the good things possibly belong to them?

Lucy, scolded by Renata, began crying again at the side.

"I had no choice! Am I supposed to just stand by and watch our family company go bankrupt?"

Whether they went bankrupt and lived on nothing or ended up begging on the streets had nothing to do with her. Renata merely sneered.

"Cici has already made herself perfectly clear. She has nothing to do with Gerald, so she won’t help you. And besides, if Cici really did help, I’m afraid her boyfriend wouldn’t be very pleased."

After Renata said this, Catherine felt a bit embarrassed on the side, thinking that her mother really was good at finding excuses.

Lucy froze.

"Cici has a boyfriend?"

Neither Lucca nor Gerald had told Lucy about Catherine being with Bert, so Lucy knew nothing about it. As for that day at the mall when she ran into Catherine together with Lilian and Bert, Lucy had simply assumed Catherine and Lilian were friends—she had never connected Catherine with Bert at all.

Lucy found it hard to believe Renata’s claim that Catherine had a boyfriend. Given Catherine’s reputation, how could any man possibly want her?

Lucy’s expression gave away exactly what she was thinking. Renata let out a soft scoff.

"What? You think that because our Cici had a past like that, no one would want her?"

Renata laughed again.

"Then you’re very much mistaken. Cici’s boyfriend is outstanding in every respect—and most importantly..."

She paused deliberately.

"...he’s the one who holds your Gerald family’s life and death in his hands."

Those final words made Lucy’s face turn ugly in an instant—shocked and humiliated. She asked incredulously,

"Could it be... Bert?"

Lucy had already done some calculations in her mind. The ones maliciously targeting the Gerald family were Washington Co. and MOS Corp. Morrison and Lilian had just gotten married, and it was said that Morrison doted on Lilian deeply, so it couldn’t possibly be Morrison.

As for Dave, the helmsman of Burg Eltz, he was also a married man. He and his wife usually kept a low profile and rarely showed off their affection, but it was said that Dave’s wife had just given birth to a son for Burg Eltz. Word on the street was that Dave had now become a devoted family man.

That left only the single Bert.

So... could it really be Bert?

Lucy suddenly recalled the scene at the mall that day, when she had seen Bert shopping with them. At the time, she had even wondered why Bert would be willing to accompany a group of women like that. Now it seemed clear—he had gone for Catherine.

Once she figured this out, her chest tightened with rage, as if she were about to spit out a mouthful of blood.

Catherine stepped forward and linked arms with Renata.

"Mom, stop it. Let’s go home."

Renata was never one to stir up trouble for no reason. If Lucy hadn’t shown up to disgust them, Renata wouldn’t have brought up Bert just to provoke her.

Now that Lucy was standing there, so angry she seemed to have lost all reaction, Renata said nothing more and simply went home with Catherine.

After walking a few steps, Catherine let out a soft laugh. Renata glanced at her, and Catherine’s eyes lit up as she said,

"You praised him just now—said he was outstanding in every way."

Although Renata had never opposed Catherine dating Bert, she had also never openly approved of him.

Seeing the delighted look on Catherine’s face, Renata cooled her expression.

"I said that on purpose just to annoy her. You’re taking it seriously?"

Catherine clung to Renata’s arm and swayed it playfully.

"I’m taking it seriously anyway."

Renata had no way to deal with her and simply let her think whatever she liked.

In truth, it wasn’t that Renata didn’t approve of Bert. She had seen clearly how well Bert treated her daughter.

She just felt it was too early to give her approval—to keep Bert on edge a little—and also thought that agreeing to their relationship so quickly would be rather hasty.

After all, Catherine had been hurt once before. This time, Renata was determined to carefully look out for her daughter.

As for Lucy, it took her a long while to recover after standing there alone. Her chest felt heavy and suffocating, as if a huge stone were pressing down on it. Being trampled underfoot by someone she had once looked down on was not a pleasant feeling at all.

After learning about Catherine and Bert being together, Lucy vaguely felt that she might know why Washington Co. and MOS Corp. were suppressing the Gerald family—perhaps it was because of Catherine.

However, Catherine and Bert had only just started dating, whereas the Gerald family’s company had been excluded and targeted by Washington Co. and MOS Corp. for two years already. How was that supposed to be explained?

Lucy racked her brain but couldn’t make sense of it, and in the end, she could only leave empty-handed.

That night, when Catherine spoke with Bert on the phone, she told him about Lucy coming to see her, and also mentioned how Renata had praised him. On the other end of the line, Bert chuckled softly.

"Looks like winning over your mom is just a matter of time."

Then he added,

"About what you mentioned last time—your mom wanting to invite me to dinner—how about this weekend?"

Bert was eager to meet Renata, to talk with her and quietly feel out why she still hadn’t fully accepted him.

"Alright, I’ll talk to my mom about it,"

Catherine agreed.

That night, Bert had a social engagement and had only just gotten home.

In truth, he didn’t attend many of these events—only the ones he absolutely couldn’t avoid.

He’d had a bit to drink. Hearing her voice now, thinking of her soft presence, his mind couldn’t help but wander. He reached up, tugged off his tie, tossed it aside, and sank into the sofa, speaking in a low voice,

"I didn’t get to see you at all today. I miss you."

Bert had been busy all day—he hadn’t even returned to the office at noon, and in the evening he’d gone straight to the reception. Aside from seeing her briefly in the morning when he picked her up for work, they hadn’t met again.

In the quiet of the night, his voice sounded especially pleasant. With the hint of alcohol, it grew even deeper and more intoxicating. Hearing it made Catherine’s heart tremble slightly.

"It’s already so late. You should hurry up and get some rest," she said softly. "Besides, we’ll see each other tomorrow morning, won’t we?"

After all, he picked her up every day—missing each other for just one evening wasn’t that big a deal.

Bert chuckled softly on the other end of the line.

"Alright. Then I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Go to sleep early—I’m going to take a shower."

"Mm..."

After Catherine hung up the phone, her cheeks were faintly flushed.

When he mentioned going to take a shower, her mind inexplicably began to wander to thoughts of his body. She could already tell just from the way his clothes fit that he was solidly built, strong and perfectly proportioned. Even Riley had coveted him—how could he not be impressive?

Ever since they started dating, they had kissed more often, and there had been a few moments of intimacy as well. Each time, it was he who gently took her hand and placed it at his waist, with no fabric between them. Beneath her palm was lean, taut muscle, the kind of touch that made her own body heat up and soften in response...