From Broken to Beloved-Chapter 168- wedding photos

"Thank you..."

Turning her head to look at Bert, who was preparing to drive, Catherine still said it out loud. Even though he always told her not to thank him, at this moment she felt that only those two words could express what was in her heart.

Bert smiled.

"Just saying it isn’t enough. You need to show it with action."

Seeing the mischievous glint in his smile, Catherine immediately thought of certain blush-inducing scenes. Embarrassed, she bit her lip and shot him a glare. Honestly—did he do anything all day besides teasing her about that?

After helping her finally vent the resentment she had carried for two long years, Bert was in an excellent mood. Seeing her flushed, shy expression, he couldn’t help teasing her further.

"What are you thinking about?"

He pretended to be completely serious. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"That’s not what I meant by ’action.’"

Catherine froze. Had she... misunderstood?

She really couldn’t help it. Ever since they crossed that line, he constantly said shameless things out of nowhere, catching her off guard every time. So whenever he smiled like that, her thoughts inevitably drifted in that direction.

But now, seeing how proper and composed he looked, had she really overthought it?

Bert didn’t quite know what came over him. Just looking at her gentle expression made him feel as though he were under a spell, and the words slipped out before he could stop himself.

"What I meant by action is—how about marrying me?"

Catherine was stunned. It took her a moment to process his words before she softly asked,

"Is... is that a proposal?"

Realizing that he had suddenly brought marriage onto the table, Bert instinctively denied it.

"No."

Then he explained,

"How could a proposal be this simple and shabby? There’s no ring, no gift."

The unspoken meaning was clear: when he proposed, it would be grand—and there would be a ring, and gifts.

Catherine smiled.

"You don’t need to propose. You don’t need to prepare anything. I’m willing to marry you."

She looked at him with a bright, gentle smile—no hesitation, no fear. Her determination to become his wife was calm and unwavering. She didn’t need a proposal, or gifts, or even a wedding.

Because she loved him—deeply, to the very core. And when love reached that depth, those formalities simply didn’t matter.

This time, it was Bert’s turn to be surprised—if only for a moment. Then he frowned and immediately rejected her words.

"No, that won’t do."

"Even if you’re willing to marry me, I still have to propose properly. And we must have a wedding. Those are formalities that can’t be skipped."

Bert understood perfectly well that she had agreed so readily because she loved him. But to him, taking her home with just a simple sentence felt far too perfunctory.

If it were still fashionable to be married in an eight-sedan bridal procession, he would absolutely use that grand and ceremonial method to bring her home.

Catherine found the way he was being so serious about this utterly adorable, and couldn’t help laughing.

"I wouldn’t have guessed you were such a stickler for formalities."

He lived so freely and unapologetically—who would have thought he’d be this particular about something like this?

Bert started the car and said solemnly as he drove,

"If other people have it, then I must give it to you too."

Catherine felt a little helpless.

"But plenty of people don’t. Some couples don’t even have a wedding and still end up together."

He remained firm.

"I don’t care about what they don’t have. I only care about what others do have."

That was how Bert thought. What others lacked didn’t matter to him—but whatever other women received, he would absolutely give to her. He couldn’t help it. When he loved someone, he loved with this kind of possessiveness and willfulness.

How he chose to love the woman he loved was his own business. No one was allowed to interfere—not even Catherine herself.

In the end, Catherine surrendered to his insistence and stopped arguing.

Fine. Let him do as he pleased. As long as she knew he loved her, that was enough.

Because of the massive uproar at Gerald and Lucca’s wedding, the news broke almost immediately—exposing Lucca’s despicable actions and also revealing Catherine and Bert’s relationship.

After seeing the headlines, Riley called Catherine. Her voice was solemn, deliberately mimicking a news anchor.

"Your best friend, Miss Riley, sends her heartfelt congratulations from Phuket in the great southern lands of the motherland. Wishing you and Mr. Bert a long life together and many children—"

Catherine nearly laughed herself to death at Riley’s antics.

"Why are you in Phuket?"

Riley sounded utterly exhausted.

"Don’t ask. I have no idea what I did to deserve this. The company randomly sent me to Phuket for a shoot. What’s worse is I’m paired with Ford—and what’s even more soul-crushing is that we’re shooting a wedding-themedphotoshoot."

Hearing this, Catherine felt that something about it sounded a little strange. A wedding photoshoot?

Before Catherine could say anything, Riley excitedly launched back into talking about her and Bert.

"Cici, I saw the news! The things your Bert said were so cool. ’Thank you for that night that gave us such a wonderful fate,’ and ’in a few days we’ll be legally married’—Lucca must be furious, right?"

On the other end of the line, Riley showed absolutely no restraint as she gleefully mocked Lucca. For everyone who stood on Catherine’s side, Bert’s actions—and Lucca’s miserable downfall—were nothing short of well-deserved. She had brought it all upon herself.

As Catherine’s best friend, Riley naturally wished for Lucca to suffer as much as possible. When she saw the news, she had practically cheered out loud.

Riley then enthusiastically suggested,

"By the way, since your relationship has progressed this far, shouldn’t you be getting married already? If you’re planning to take wedding photos, I can introduce you to the photographer who’s shooting us this time. He’s really good."

It was only then that Catherine finally realized what had felt off.

"Riley, are you sure the wedding photoshoot you’re doing with Ford is for an advertisement... and not actually your ownwedding photos?"

What Catherine really meant was to remind Riley that she had very likely been set up by Ford—using the excuse of shooting a company wedding-themed ad to secretly take their own wedding photos.

After Catherine finished speaking, Riley froze on the other end of the line for a long while. Then she completely lost it and screamed,

"Ahhhhhhh—!"

"Ford, you bastard!"

And with that, she hung up. Catherine figured Riley must have gone off to settle the score with Ford.

Catherine couldn’t help laughing. That Ford—his schemes really did run deep. Still, she also felt that there was something rather sweet about it. Riley was the kind of girl with an exceptionally simple, straightforward mind; having someone like Ford, who was a bit more calculating, might actually be a good thing.

Just like her and Bert. She herself wasn’t someone who liked to scheme or plan against others. With Bert by her side protecting her, she had even less need to worry about such things. He would take care of all the planning; all she needed to do was be herself.

Phuket.

Riley didn’t finally find the time to call Catherine until the very last set of photos was finished. To begin with, she herself had found the whole situation baffling—why would the company suddenly arrange for her to come all the way here to shoot an advertisement, and a wedding-themed one at that?

Only after Catherine’s reminder did Riley realize something was off. So that was it—this whole thing had been designed and arranged by Ford. She and Ford weren’t even signed to the same agency, but the two companies often collaborated. On top of that, Ford’s family background, combined with his growing fame, meant that senior management on both sides paid him a lot of attention. Pulling off an arrangement like this would have been easy for him.

Riley wasn’t the scheming type at all. It took Catherine pointing it out for everything to finally click. Furious, she immediately stormed off to confront Ford.

Ford’s room was right next to hers. Over the past few days, the two of them had actually been getting along peacefully enough.

As long as Ford didn’t provoke her, Riley treated him as nothing more than an ordinary friend. Ford hadn’t made any overly intimate moves either, which suited Riley just fine—after all, she had absolutely no desire for people to know she was involved in any kind of romance with him.

Now she stood in front of Ford’s door, knocking fiercely.

"Ford, open the door!"

There was no response from inside. Riley, seething with anger, knocked again.

"If you don’t open it right now, I’m kicking it in!"