Chapter 23

CHAPTER23

Katherine waited for something to happen as she flailed in the air. Whether it was to be severe injury or death, one of the two awaited her.

Instead, she fell on something much softer than the concrete stairs. Something much warmer. For a moment, she thought that she was in heaven, the entire fall erased from her memory. But as she opened her eyes and let out a loud shriek, she saw that her soft cushion was none other than Gerald’s arms.

Katherine looked up at him for a moment, attempting to catch her breath as her heart thudded against her ribcage.

“You caught me! You caught me!” she gasped, clinging onto him as if he were the only thing keeping her alive.

Gently, Gerald helped her back up to her feet but still held onto her tightly.

“What have you done!” he yelled, his voice impossibly cold that it sent a chill up Katherine’s spine.

Simon staggered back, shocked that Gerald had somehow caught her when he thought his brother was tending to their mother. “W-what…” he stammered.

“I knew you were lying about Mother,” Gerald spat, his arm still holding up the majority of Katherine’s weight. “What is wrong with you?”

“Your crippled wife has ruined too many things, Gerald,” Simon shot back, but kept a fair amount of distance between them in fear. “And she has corrupted the last bit of common sense you had!”

“You tried to kill my wife,” Gerald growled.

To Katherine, it seemed that he might transform into some powerful creature and tear his own brother to bits due to his livid expression. She had to remind herself that Gerald Chambers might just be the most powerful creature of all.

Ever so carefully, she regained her balance. She felt as if she were floating, the shock still coursing through her small body.

“Do you have any idea how much I had to sacrifice, Simon? How many sacrifices I had to make because you were a spoiled, mean-spirited brat?” Gerald asked, slowly starting to approach Simon, who was stuck in a corner of large, potted plants.

“Mother wouldn’t have favored me if you didn’t kill her husband! Our very own father!” Simon shouted back.

Katherine stood at the side, watching Gerald’s much more muscular figure corner him. She didn’t interfere. This time, she believed Simon deserved his older brother’s wrath.

“I did not kill him! And you are no one to judge mistakes of the past, as you had just tried to kill my wife and unborn child!” Gerald spat back, slamming his palm into Simon’s chest, causing him to stumble back against the back of a potted plant. “You just want to have the title, going so far as to injure the woman I love to prevent her from carrying my children! You sick, sick man!”

“She cannot even walk properly, Gerald. You have gotten your hands on damaged goods, and I believe you to be too embarrassed to admit it! And if by some chance you do love her, I think you might be just as crippled as she is!” Simon said, wringing his hands frantically. “I would save the Powell bloodline if I could get your rotten wife and any children she gives you out of our lives!”

“Simon, you are done,” Gerald uttered flatly, his posture stiff. “You are done.”

“I am done?” Simon frowned as if his brother had started to speak nonsense. “What am I done with, exactly?!”

“You are no longer part of my family, my household, and you’ll no longer receive a penny from me. You are now your own, and if you cannot support yourself, I suggest you ask Mother for aid,” Gerald said, starting to step away from him. “I do not ever want to see you again, not in this life nor the next.”

Simon looked back at his brother, dumbfounded for a brief second. Then, he started to laugh. Crazily. It took Katherine a while to notice what he was laughing at. He was laughing at her.

“Congratulations!” Simon cackled, bending double. “You rendered the Duke of Powell just as pathetic as you are!”

Katherine opened and closed her mouth, wanting to shout something back, but no words would leave her lips. She had become frozen in time and space.

“You can’t get rid of me! I am your brother!” Simon laughed again as if what Gerald had said had been some joke only he could catch.

Gerald looked at him blankly.

“I am your brother!” Simon yelled once more, realizing his brother was being serious. Gerald had turned his back to him, keeping his head down as he walked back to Katherine.

But before Gerald could step any closer, Katherine yelped as she saw Simon lunge at him, nearly knocking him over.

Chaos ensued. Simon swung his arms in all directions, a couple of blows landing on Gerald’s chest.

Gerald stood unmoving, looking down at his brother fiercely. More blows landed on his chest, but after Gerald had decided he had had enough, he swung back his arm, striking Simon neatly in the jaw.

Before Katherine could blink, she watched as Simon started to tumble down the stairs like a weed blown by the wind, a couple of cracks accompanying his fall.

Katherine shrieked, the sound drawing the guests outside.

The Dowager Duchess was the first to rush outside. She looked at Gerald and Katherine for a brief moment, before noticing her youngest lying halfway down the steps.

“Simon!” She let out such a blood-curdling scream that Katherine covered her ears.

She flew down the stairs and crouched down at Simon’s side. Katherine held her breath as she helped him to his feet.

Lucky for him, he had somehow toppled just halfway down the stairs, sporting only a few scratches, bruises, as well as a swollen jaw, where Gerald had hit him.

Simon shuffled around, before curling into his mother like a baby bird.

“You’re a killer!” the Dowager Duchess shouted.

By now, all the guests were standing outside, watching the scene unfold.

“You have killed my husband, and now you attempt to kill my son! My precious, precious son!”

Gerald didn’t speak a word but merely looked down at his mother cradling Simon on the stairwell. His expression remained blank and cold, his hand tucked in his pocket. But Katherine could see he was sad. His eyes were dull, and his bottom lip was downturned. She walked up to him, taking his hand into her own.

“You hurt my son!” the Dowager Duchess shrieked, wiping a speck of blood from Simon’s nose.

But to Katherine, it appeared to be more dirt than blood—not a speck of blood was visible on his body.

“And you, you wretched witch!” the Dowager Duchess shouted, still clinging onto Simon as she shot Katherine a scathing glare. You have destroyed my family!”

“You family?” Katherine asked, looking at her with a genuine question in her eyes. “Your only family have always been just Lord Simon. You have left Gerald since birth to fend for himself. He has received nothing from you but indifference and callousness.”

Her words struck a nerve.

“How dare you say such things about me!” the Dowager Duchess snapped, looking back at her in shock.

Katherine, however, no longer cared. Everything was already out in the open. She might as well unburden her heart.

“You are a mean woman,” she said calmly, her voice carrying an unexpected hint of compassion. “You are a mean woman, and I feel deeply sorry for you. You might never get to know the true treasure that your eldest son is, but that is your loss. And, unfortunately, it is a great loss for you. Instead, you decide to center your life around a spoiled child that has never worked for anything in his life.”

“You—” the Dowager Duchess sputtered, pointing a finger at her. But Katherine spoke over her nonetheless.

“I am sorry that you could, and would, never see Gerald for the man he is.”

Katherine could feel Gerald’s eyes on her as he squeezed her hand in gratitude.

“Good night to you all,” she uttered as she quickly surveyed the people gaping at what had just transpired.

It was more of a permanent farewell, for Katherine hoped to never encounter any of them again.

Slowly, she descended the stairs as if the night had somehow ended on a pleasurable note. She didn’t look up at either Simon or her mother-in-law as they walked past them, but she could feel their eyes boring holes into her back.

Still, she didn’t care. She had Gerald with her, and for now, that was all that truly mattered to her.