THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS

’Who is my real rival?’ He sighed helplessly then signaled for the waiter and placed his order.

Few minutes later, the waiter returned with garlic shrimp and a bottle of red wine.

"The main course will be delivered in a moment, please," he informed Shawn.

After the waiter excused himself and left, Shawn poured the wine and proceeded to gently spear the shrimps into Kathleen’s plate.

From under her thick lashes, Kathleen couldn’t help but admire his slender hands as he skillfully worked on the shrimps.

He had always been the one to peel and cut her shrimps for her in the past while she gobbled them down with reckless abandon.

An inexplicable feeling crept up somewhere in her heart as she reminisced about those sweet days in their marriage.

After placing it on her plate, their eyes met and locked for a few seconds but it was broken by Kathleen as she started,

"About the..."

Shawn raised a hand to halt her. "Let’s eat first. We will talk after that."

"I don’t intend to stay long," she objected .

"If I am not wrong, you have not had your lunch yet. Since you are here already, you must eat before you leave."

Kathleen knew she would not be able to win against him, so she stopped arguing.

Moments later by the time the main dish was served, they were already done with the shrimps.

Kathleen’s eyes lit up in delight as she saw the grilled salmon with asparagus and mashed potatoes Shawn had ordered for her. They were all her favorites.

She was surprised that he still remembered her preferences after being apart for over six years.

She did not stand on any protocol but dug right in, after all, the food looked so appetizing and she was starting to get hungry. She had barely eaten anything this morning before leaving the house.

Shawn was beside himself as he watched Kathleen eat. He still could not believe that he was sitting across from Kathleen and they were having a meal together.

The matter that brought them together was temporarily put aside as he allowed himself to just enjoy the sight of his beloved woman.

Kathleen felt Shawn’s eyes trained on her while she ate. When she couldn’t bear it anymore, she glared at him which elicited a chuckle from Shawn.

"Are you not going to have your food before it gets cold?" Her eyes took in the untouched

medium rare filet mignon, sautéed mushrooms and the loaded baked potato which Shawn had ordered for himself.

"Watching you eat is enough satisfaction for me. I’ve missed this sight for so long."

"Whatever, but I won’t spend an extra minute here."

She lowered her eyes and continued with her food, but Shawn did not miss the slight redness around her ears.

Shawn lips spasmed in a smile as he took the first bite of his food.

"Are you not going to ask me how I found my real parents?" She asked as soon as they finished eating.

Before the incident six years ago, Shawn had not spared any resources to try and trace her real parents but did not succeed.

When he had seen how disappointed she got after the lead they thought they had found suddenly proved futile, he had promised her that he would one day reunite her with her parents no matter what it takes.

"As much as I am still baffled about how you ended up as the missing daughter of Director Wyatt, what I am more concerned about is why you lied to me about Jason?" Shawn replied when he heard Kathleen’s question. He also remembered his promise to her.

"I didn’t lie to you. You drew the conclusion yourself," Kathleen said.

"But you kept telling me you loved him each time I asked. So you can’t blame me for thinking that way."

Kathleen snickered, "Which other emotion did you expect me to have for my brother if not love. Remember you were the one who kept asking me if I loved him. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Shawn ignored the sarcasm in her voice and changed the topic. "At least you would have clarified it with me."

"I didn’t see the need. Moreover he was a good diversion."

"Yeah, you successfully fooled me, I must say," Shawn’s tone was filled with self mockery which Kathleen chose to brush aside as he was the one that chose to be fooled.

"So how did you figure out who your real parents were? Do I qualify to know the details?"

Kathleen took a sip from her wine, as she thought of how to filter the information and not divulge too much.

"I met someone when I was away, who felt I shared something in common with the Wyatts and reconnected us," she replied vaguely.

"But that was after verifying that we shared a relationship." She avoided going into the details contrary to Shawn’s expectations.

That would mean telling him about the pregnancy and how Aunt Elizabeth took care of her during the pregnancy until the babies were delivered.

"Is he the father of your child?"

Kathleen was startled and her hands froze for a mini second, which did not escape Shawn’s vigilant eyes.

"What child?" Has he also found out about the children? This is not good.

Her mind went back to Steffan’s initial threat and she couldn’t help but think that he had told him about the children when she failed to reach him.

"The one that called you mom, when you were at the manor to see Nana for the first time," Shawn’s voice cut in through her thoughts.

"Oh," she released a sharp breath and saw Shawn staring at her as if he wanted to bring out her mind and see what was actually hidden there.

"There is nothing of the sort," she was fast to deny, which she regretted almost immediately.

She didn’t know what was wrong with her but she seemed to always lose her bearing whenever she was facing Shawn and the matter of their children.

"Nothing like a child or the child is not yours?" Shawn probed.

It would have been safe to deny that the child was not hers but she felt guilty denying her own children, even when it would have been the most reasonable thing to do. So the answer she finally gave almost caused Shawn a heart attack.

"The child is mine," she admitted boldly.

Shawn’s nostrils flared as he stared at Kathleen, his chest rising and falling in a fast quick pace, almost choking on his own rage. He couldn’t believe that she would outrightly admit to the fact that the child was hers.

He had been hoping that she would say the child belonged to someone else or there was some misunderstanding about the identity of the child.

He didn’t feel the sharp glass shard from the glass of wine he was holding pierce into his palm. Even the blood mixed with sweat trickling down went unnoticed as he uttered in a low guttural sound,

"So who is my real rival? Is he here in Baltimore or not from around here?"

The atmosphere was thick with tension and Shawn’s face red with anger and frustration, as he demanded for answers.

Kathleen raised her brow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Are you still going to hide his identity? Is he that useless that he can’t be man enough to face me and you have to use your brother to shield him all these while?" Shawn uttered, his lips turning down in a disdainful smirk.

"I don’t know what you are talking about." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

I’m talking about the father of your child, Kathleen," Shawn said through gritted teeth.

"I didn’t expect that you would do this to us. What happened to the promise we made to each other to stand together through thick and thin?"

"What happened to a thousand lifetimes that you promised me, that at the smallest storm in our relationship, you grabbed the next available guy to impregnate you. Did you do it to spite me?"

Kathleen, equally upset, took a deep breath, trying to maintain her composure but didn’t succeed. How can Shawn say such despicable things to her?

And to think that she was almost bought over by Cheryl’s persuasion.

She now knows he will never have any good impression about her no matter what she does. He would always think the worst about her whenever he has the slightest doubt.

It reminded her of what happened more than six years ago in their home.

Then, she had left with her head bowed, and her tail in between her legs but this time around, he would pay for thinking the worst of her.

It doesn’t matter if it was a misunderstanding or not, ignorance they say is not an excuse.

Unable to contain her anger, Kathleen rose from her seat and stormed out of the restaurant, unmoved by the curious glances she attracted from the other diners.

If she continued to stay there she doesn’t believe there won’t be a twist in the news trending about them before the end of that evening.

"Kathleen! Kathleen!" Shawn hurried after her. How can she leave without giving him the answers he sought?

"Is she trying to avoid it by fleeing? No way!"