Five Years of Marriage to Mr. Bradford (by Koi Fish) novel Chapter 709

Chapter 709

Catherine squirmed, the telltale marks of her recent crying fit still painfully glaring on her face. Her eyes were puffy and swollen as she stared up at Vance, looking as if she had endured the most unfair treatment.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Vance…” Her voice trembled, and a fresh wave of tears pooled in her eyes. “Do you… hate me now?”

He paused. “No.”

“I just…” She scrambled to find an explanation.

“I’m not blaming you,” he said quietly. “It’s completely natural for girls to want to look pretty. I understand that. You did me a massive favor, so it’s only right that I bought you those gifts in return. It’s just a matter of mutual courtesy. I don’t like owing people.”

The tears that had been threatening to fall instantly froze in Catherine’s eyes. “You… bought me those luxury gifts… simply because you didn’t want to owe me anything?”

“Yes.” Vance nodded seriously. “Favors that can be settled through material objects are easy ones.”

“Then…” An incredulous look crossed Catherine’s face. “You let me work at your shop, paid me a salary, and even helped me find a job at the store next door… All of that was just to settle the favor?”

Vance nodded again. “I am deeply grateful for the help you gave me.”

Catherine’s eyes dimmed, all the strength draining from her body as she stumbled back. A fresh sheen of tears flooded her vision -only this time, it wasn’t an act.

“So, do you also think I’m a vain person now?” she murmured painfully. “Did Rebecca tell you that I was just a shallow, materialistic girl?”

Vance knitted his brows tightly, a flash of subtle displeasure crossing his features. “Rebecca would never gossip about you behind your back.

“Furthermore, what kind of person you choose to be is entirely irrelevant. Whether you are vain or pure doesn’t matter to me at all.”

None of these memories would have existed without the slow accumulation of time.

“You could say that,” he murmured.

This time, seeing that Catherine truly had nothing left to say, he turned around with absolute finality and walked straight back into his restaurant.

Catherine drifted back to the bistro, hollowed out. She slumped into a chair and stared blankly into space. When the manager ordered her to go back outside and call out the waiting numbers, she didn’t hear a single syllable.

The manager, still fuming over the scene Catherine had caused earlier, sharpened her tone.

Shaken back to reality, Catherine glared at the manager’s stern, unforgiving face. In a sudden fit of rage, she yanked the restaurant uniform off her body and hurled it directly into the manager’s face. “I quit!”

She’d never wanted this job in the first place. The whole point of her working here hadn’t been to earn money anyway.