Chapter 42: Chapter 42

Keyboards clicked incessantly and murmurs persisted at a slow rhythm in the office workspace of the marketing department.

Val stood by Kaitlyn's office space, uncertain of how to express her gratitude. Thinking about it now, she had never really spoken to Kaitlyn.

Not that Val had anything against Mark's lover whom he cheated on her with. She only used to see her as a lesser scum than Mark.

Val had thought so because she believed Kaitlyn knew that Mark was married and had continued into a relationship with him. Val didn't want to judge her, but she had felt she and Mark were probably alike before. But now, there's a shift in Val's thoughts about Kaitlyn.

She wasn't any wrong after all. Kaitlyn had indeed gotten entangled with Mark knowing she was married.

It was obvious from the dreary look on her face that Kaitlyn wasn't in the right state of mind. Val subconsciously softened her gaze at the sight of Kaitlyn being like this.

" I-..." Val was speechless. Again, she had never shared any actual conversation with Kaitlyn, not even once did they ever have a work-related discussion. " I just wanted to thank you. Without you, I wouldn't have been-"

" You don't have to thank me like I did a thing of any worth." Kaitlyn dismissed in a cold tone while avoiding Valerie's gaze.

Even if she'd helped Valerie, it doesn't make them friends or acquaintances. Not that Kaitlyn helped for the sake of it anyway.

The fact that she'd slept with Mark while he was still married to Val hasn't changed. If anything, it still remained. Shouldn't Val despise her for this?

Kaitlyn knew she'd done Val wrong no matter how it was perceived, guilty or not. She understood that a line was drawn between them. And she wasn't that naive to believe that such a line could be crossed all because of what she'd done for Val today.

Yes, Val might think that Kaitlyn had come to her aid when the former was most helpless. But to be honest, Kaitlyn didn't care about how Val felt!

' I did what I did, I have no regrets!' Kaitlyn was done placing blame on others. She would accept the fact that she was indeed the bad person, not Mark nor anyone else.

Val was silent for a while as she reeled in her thought.

' What's wrong with her?' She couldn't fathom the reason behind Kaitlyn's sudden attitude. Val felt that at least since Kaitlyn had helped her, it was only natural that she thanked her for it and establish a relation, despite the fact that they had certain differences in the past. She was ready to set all that aside.

Besides, she believed Kaitlyn must have had her own reasons to have stuck to Mark's side knowing he was married. Val had stopped judging her after she stood up against Mark for her sake. And now, Val was curious.

Knowing Mark, Val wouldn't doubt if Mark had actually done Kaitlyn wrong just as he did her. And perhaps, she and Kaitlyn had something more in common than they imagine.

" It still doesn't change the fact that you helped me though" Val said seriously. She placed a palm on her chest to convey a gesture of honesty. " And I wanna show my appreciation is all" Val added in a sincere tone.

Kaitlyn just stared at her desk in a daze. She clenched her fingers tight into a fist, holding back the urge to blast out the emotional upset that twirled within her.

' Why don't you get it. I'm the problem! I didn't help you because I'm compassionate towards you. No! I did it for my own selfish reasons!' Kaitlyn wanted to yell out. She was rather furious at herself than it seems. She wished Val could see her for who she really is, a fiend, homewrecker, and a betrayer...

This were all attributed to her!

Kaitlyn felt a blow at her dignity to take a praise for what she hadn't done with sincerity. She felt less humane the more Valerie and Miss Margarette stressed the fact that she'd done well to have saved Val when she was still confused as to what she'd done.

On one hand, she felt bad that she'd ruined Mark's life for her selfish interest, and probably would forever have nightmares about it. And on the other, they were telling her she is a hero by preventing Val from being framed for theft. Meanwhile, She had actually done it for the reward promised to her by Maggie.

Kaitlyn inhaled. She slowly released her clenched fist and softened the frown on her face.

"It's fine. I had my reasons for helping..." She recounted calmly, her gaze slowly moved towards Val's before returning to the desk shortly after.

' There isn't a need to hold a cold shoulder.' After all, Kaitlyn had truly helped Val. Even though it wasn't for Val's sake but more for herself, the end result couldn't be overlooked. Without Kaitlyn having voiced out the fact that Mark was the true culprit, Val would probably have been taken away by the police in Mark's stead.

" What do you mean?" Val wanted to ask but she decided otherwise.

Kaitlyn had a lackluster gaze which spoke of how hard and tasking it was for her to have done what she did. Val couldn't fathom the level of courage and mental strength it took Kaitlyn to pull that off.

Regardless of how curious Val was towards knowing the reason behind Kaitlyn's decision to stand against Mark, she still didn't want to pry or anything. Hence, she only nodded her head subtly and left.

It wasn't as though this would bring them any closer. Perhaps Kaitlyn already considered all odds between them cleared out?

In any case, Val considered that Kaitlyn had redeemed herself. Val only held a grudge from the past against Mark alone.

' For now, I just want to be alone for a while' Val was exhausted. Now that she was relieved, she wanted time alone to think and reassess the whole situation.

As she made her way back to her office with her hands caressing the staircase railings, a perplexed thought occurred to her.

' What's gonna happen now?'

...

Kaitlyn heaved a deep sigh when Val left. She held her head with her hands which she propped by placing her elbows on the desk. Her head swirled from everything that was going on. She wanted so badly to get away from it all.

" I should see Maggie about the promise she made." She made a mental note as she straightened her back and tidied up the files scattered about on her desk.

...

Once Maggie entered her office, she heaved a deep sigh as she shut the door behind her. She was quite exhausted from all the trouble, but she was glad it all went accordingly.

Everything almost took a wrong turn, if it hadn't been for the fact that she'd already convinced Kaitlyn with an offer she couldn't help. What if Mark had blurted out loud that she had instigated him to do this? What if the Laguna teardrop in the process sustained a scratch?

Even though the Laguna teardrop was made of diamond, she couldn't help but worry. After all, a wrong consequence was always probable.

Small sweats formed on her beautiful face. It just dawned on her how things could have really gone south.

Although, no one would believe it if Mark claimed the whole scenario was to Maggie's knowing. It'd rather be seen by everyone as his last attempt to save his skin.

' I guess I should find out if there aren't any footages of me talking to him regarding this, and get rid of any proof... Who knows what he'd say now that he's in custody?' Maggie thought as she looked around.

' At least, things went well' Realizing nothing has gone wrong anyway, she shook the thoughts off her mind.

Her office was still as organized as before, and meeting sight of this was always pleasant to Maggie.

She frowned again when a memory of how one of the security personnels had opened the drawer where she kept her personal toys during the search earlier flashed in her mind. Thankfully, he had wisely closed it back to not cause a ruckus about it.

" I'll find him and deal with him..." She muttered to herself as she made her way to her desk. Her long heels clicked softly in a sonorous rhythm.

Maggie suddenly recalled something and paused abruptly. She still hadn't called in Courtney to fill her in on the details of everything happening.

' Boss definitely wouldn't like it...' Courtney would definitely be mad at her if she gets to know about this from other sources.

Vrrrmm!

Just as Maggie was about to reach for her phone, it vibrated. She checked to see who it was, but couldn't help but panic. Her body subconsciously straightened and her eyes constricted.

' B-boss!' It was Courtney calling!

Maggie controlled her agitated heart, took a deep breath in and exhaled deeply before pressing on the green icon on the screen.

" Hello"

" What in the actual fuck is this news that I'm receiving Maggie!"

Maggie was greeted with the subtle curse of her mistress, and couldn't help but smile bitterly.