From Broken to Beloved-Chapter 87- She didn’t wish for muChapter

Catherine noticed that after Silvia spoke, Amy also turned to look at her, eyes narrowing with a contemplative expression.

Feeling guilty for no reason, Catherine grabbed her water cup and took a sip to cover her discomfort before replying to Silvia.

"How is that possible? You must’ve seen it wrong. How could the boss be wearing a ring identical to the one I designed?"

Silvia shook her head.

"No, I saw it really clearly."

She recalled her experience in the director’s office just moments ago. The boss had called her in only to discuss a few fashion design concepts. Bert had been sitting behind his desk, long, strong fingers interlaced atop the tabletop. From where she stood, she had seen everything clearly.

She had even been so shocked that she spaced out for a few seconds, completely missing part of what Bert had said to her.

Catherine braced herself and continued to deny it.

"Maybe it just looks similar. Get back to work already."

Then she straightened in front of her computer and pretended to focus.

But internally, she was panicking. Who would’ve thought Bert would put on the ring immediately? In Catherine’s mind, her design wasn’t high-end enough—not something someone of Bert’s status would ever wear. She truly hadn’t expected him to actually put it on.

Silvia didn’t press further, only muttering to herself that maybe she really had seen wrong.

But Amy, sitting across from Catherine, stared at her delicate profile for a long moment before getting up and leaving the office.

She headed straight for Bert’s office.

The moment she entered, she went straight to the point.

"The person you said you were interested in... you meant Catherine, didn’t you?"

Bert looked up and chuckled, glancing at her without denying it.

"You really do observe things carefully."

Amy felt her chest tighten. She couldn’t stop herself from asking,

"Why her? She’s so... ordinary—"

Amy had originally wanted to say useless, but realized that sounded too harsh, so she replaced it with ordinary.

In Amy’s eyes, Catherine was painfully plain.

Her personality, abilities, even her looks—not to mention her background—none of it matched Bert. A man like him should be paired with a dazzling socialite, someone who at least had something that women like Amy, who admired him, could accept.

But Catherine?

What did she have?

If one had to say something, maybe her face was gently pretty—but far from stunning.

During Catherine’s second-round interview, Bert had mentioned to Amy that she should help guide new hires. Amy had felt something strange at the time but couldn’t put her finger on it, so she hadn’t thought much of it.

But now, after hearing Silvia mention Bert wearing a ring Catherine designed, that lingering sense of wrongness finally clicked into place.

If Catherine really was the person Bert had feelings for, then Bert’s earlier "suggestion" about mentoring new employees suddenly made perfect sense.

Everything Bert had been doing... was paving the way for Catherine.

"Helping the new hire" was really about helping Catherine.

But what was so special about her that Bert would treat her so carefully?

As someone who admired him, Amy couldn’t help the surge of jealousy. Hence her earlier words.

But the moment the word ordinary left her lips, Bert’s expression already went cold—so all the harsher things she’d wanted to say were swallowed back down.

Amy knew Bert was charming, magnetic even—but he was also a man people instinctively feared.

"There is no ’why.’" he said.

His tone left no room for argument. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Bert replied in a calm, almost indifferent tone,

"I don’t think she’s ordinary at all. In my eyes, she’s the best."

It was open, unreserved protection.

Just a few simple words—yet they made his stance unmistakably clear, wiping out every inappropriate thought Amy had entertained. To say she wasn’t devastated would be a lie. She had assumed that if Bert could fall for someone like Catherine, then she, Amy, might have had even more of a chance.

But with just a few sentences, he placed Catherine somewhere she could never reach.

A man’s unwavering defense of a woman—nothing praised her more clearly than that.

Amy couldn’t utter a single word.

Bert’s tone softened slightly.

"Not choosing you isn’t because you’re not good enough. And choosing her isn’t because she’s particularly outstanding either. It’s simply because she suits me best. She’s the one who makes me feel what love is."

He had been deliberately stern earlier, wanting to warn her off—to make sure she wouldn’t develop ill will toward Catherine now that she knew Bert’s feelings. He didn’t want her giving Catherine a hard time behind the scenes.

But judging from Amy’s reaction, she wasn’t the type to lose her head to jealousy. She seemed like someone who could accept defeat with dignity—and that was something Bert appreciated. So he hadn’t asked her to resign.

Had he sensed even the slightest hostility toward Catherine, he would have fired her without hesitation. He would never keep someone who might harm Catherine anywhere near him.

His single sentence—she’s the one who makes me feel what love is—said more than any declaration of love or praise ever could.

Amy swallowed all her disappointment, jealousy, and envy, and forced herself to look at Bert calmly.

"I understand. I’ll get back to work."

Then she turned and walked out.

Amy headed straight to the restroom, where she spent a long time trying to steady her emotions before returning to the office.

As for Catherine—Amy didn’t truly resent her.

She was deeply disappointed, yes, but modern women should know how to win with grace—and also how to lose with dignity.

And fate—well, that wasn’t something anyone could force.

After Amy left, Bert lowered his gaze to the ring on his right index finger. He had put it on the moment Catherine gave it to him. His assistant mentioned that Silvia had already seen the design, so he intentionally summoned her back into his office, making sure she noticed that the ring on his hand was the very one Catherine had designed.

Now the upper management knew. Only the regular staff remained.

So he quietly used Silvia as a messenger—let the employees discover his connection with Catherine on their own. And look, Amy was already the first to catch on.

That evening, when Catherine returned home from work, Renata told her that Channing had visited earlier. Catherine tensed up immediately.

"What did he say? Did he upset you again?"

After what happened last time—Channing angering Renata so badly she collapsed—Catherine had come to believe that nothing good ever came from his appearance.

Renata chuckled softly.

"He said he divorced Tracy and... that he misses how good I used to be to him."

"What?"

Catherine had been sitting on the sofa, but she shot to her feet so quickly it was as if she’d been spring-loaded. She was beyond speechless. Calling Channing disgusting didn’t even begin to cover the fury surging through her.

How could he be this vile?

He abandoned Renata without hesitation years ago, then enjoyed decades of luxury with another woman. And now that he’d fallen out of grace, he suddenly remembered Renata’s kindness?

Even someone as gentle-tempered as Catherine trembled with outrage.

She didn’t think his words were repentance.

She thought they were an insult.

Renata, however, reached up to pull her back down to the sofa, as if she were the one calming Catherine.

"I’m not angry. Why are you so angry?"

Catherine frowned deeply.

"Mom, you’re really not angry? Not even a little?"

She was terrified that Channing might upset Renata again—upset her enough to cause something irreversible. If she could help it, Catherine wished Channing would disappear from their lives forever.

Those who had never endured the terror of life and death would never understand that kind of fear and desperation.

She didn’t wish for much.

She only wished Renata could stay alive, stay healthy, stay with her.