THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS

Steffan’s face twisted in pain and his knuckles clenched. It was quite a miracle that his bones did not snap out of his clenched knuckles.

Unable to bear it any longer, he stormed off into his car and drove away like a mad man.

A slight chuckle escaped Shawn’s mouth as he saw the scene from the corner of his eyes.

As soon as Kathleen heard the car zoom off, she shoved Shawn away from her as if he was a nuisance.

Shawn’s eyes narrowed. "What? After using me, you want to discard me just like that?"

"I didn’t ask for your help, remember? You offered it yourself," Kathleen said with a smirk.

However, with the departure of Steffan, her former apprehension took over.

Her mind was still restless as she remembered the way Shawn had suddenly showed up during her conversation with Steffan.

"You are right. Now tell me what is going on between you two."

Kathleen was stunned. Is that what he should be concerned about?

Wasn’t he supposed to ask about the children and why she kept them away from him?

Is it possible he didn’t hear the part where Steffan mentioned him as the father of the children?

With this understanding, her usual confidence and arrogance returned.

"What is going on between us is my personal business. It has nothing to do with you," she retorted.

"Really? But I want to make it my business from now on," Shawn said, making his stance known.

"Are you seriously going to start this?"

"I never stopped, Kathleen. I am still your one and only true love and you, mine."

"Don’t deceive yourself," smirked Kathleen.

Shawn tried to meet her gaze, but his attention kept drifting, captivated by her radiant beauty despite the tension between them.

"I can’t help but admire you, Kathleen. There’s something about you, even in anger, that’s irresistible. I’m so glad you are mine.

Kathleen was slightly flustered by Shawn’s words.

"I don’t belong to you anymore. I thought I already made that clear the last time we met."

"It was only a one sided decision, Kathleen, and talking about the last time, I was worried sick about you when I heard you were in an accident."

"That’s strange, but I never heard you were admitted to any hospital," Kathleen said with disdain.

Overlooking the apparent disdain in Kathleen’s eyes, Shawn went on to say, "My sickness doesn’t require a hospital to be healed. I only need to know that you are Ok and I will be fine."

"More importantly I’ve been looking for an opportunity to see you and apologize for what I said that day. I’m sorry, please forgive me."

They locked eyes and their expressions immediately tensed as memories of their last encounter lingered between them.

Kathleen’s voice was tinged with frustration as she spoke up. "Shawn, this doesn’t change things between us."

"But I said I was sorry, and I truly am. I couldn’t stand it when I got to know that you already had kids with another man," he explained desperately.

"I know my behavior was unacceptable and I had no right to judge you, but it still hurt to know that I wasn’t the one to bear children with you."

Kathleen was flustered by the pain in his voice and was somehow moved but she needed to persevere to the end despite how she felt.

"Shawn, don’t make things difficult for me. Even if I were to forgive you, I can’t stand your emotional flips. It is draining and frustrating. I can’t deal with that and that is why things have to end between us."

Clasping her two hands in front of her in a prayer sign, Kathleen pleaded. "Let me go, Shawn, I don’t want to die, I still need to stay alive for my children."

Her strained voice cut through Shawn’s heart. It was like someone hanging on her last shred of hope and needed help urgently.

Why is she mentioning death all of a sudden, and with such seriousness? "What are you saying, Kathleen? Nobody will kill you."

"But you can, Shawn. Each time I interact with you, we always argue and I’m the one that always gets into an accident. Do you want me dead, since we are bound to always argue?"

"That is never gonna happen Kathleen. You can put forward any request but anything that will keep us apart is a permanent no for me."

What Kathleen said appeared to be right but he wasn’t going to settle for that.

Apart from the one orchestrated by Mrs Beazel and Spider, each of their heated arguments have somehow ended in an accident that almost claimed Kathleen’s life.

First it was the plane crash and secondly, the recent one on the highway.

Although the plane crash had nothing to do with him since she was on official duty then, the timing made it impossible for it to be ruled out since it happened just after he asked her for a divorce.

But those only happened because they were not in harmony. Shawn felt further accidents can be avoided if only they were together.

"Don’t you understand? We are no longer compatible," Kathleen’s voice cut through his train of thoughts.

"We were before and I am sure we will be again, if we work at it."

Shawn stretched his hand to hold Kathleen’s but she avoided him causing his heart to throbbed with pain.

"You are the one that needs to do the work, Shawn," Kathleen corrected, still moving further away.

Her little action didn’t go unnoticed by Shawn and at that moment he wanted to grab her and imprint his marks on every part of her body that she was keeping away from his touch, but he forced himself to remain rational.

"Then give me the chance Kathleen," he managed to say. "I am willing to do anything to have you back." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"I don’t mind raising the children with you. I am willing to take them in as my own."

Kathleen’s eyes widened in disbelief at Shawn’s unexpected proposal.