77

Catherine spent the next day getting her things ready. She was returning to New York.

She was determined to let go of whatever must have caused their previous split and get her man back.

She wants to do it.

"Are you sure that Ace will like this? He literally left for New York because of you." Talia pointed out and Catherine shrugged.

If he didn't like what he saw then he would learn to like it.

As they got down from the plane and got picked up by Talia's driver, Catherine was thinking of how to make her journey successful.

At night Catherine texted Ace. She wanted to cheer him up for what happened between him and Chelsey and how the media dragged him without knowing what happened when they were both photographed.

"Hey Babe, are you okay? I am sorry about what happened to you. I am here to cheer you up if you want me to. Love you."

She sent the message and dropped her phone on the bed.

She was nervous. She knew that Ace won't respond to her but the thought of him ghosting her made her sad.

"It is normal, I did worse to other guys." She muttered to herself.

Ace was at a high end bar in Manhattan. As he sipped on his glass of Vodka he thinked back to what he must have done to have so much bad luck with his relationship.

He takes good care of his women, but in turn instead of getting loved he got cheated on. He got hurt.

What a way to go.

She really cared about Chelsey and didn't even suspect that she would do what she did.

He never believed that she would be the one to hurt him.

He has finally decided to settle down but then she did what she did.

A complete joke.

He sucked on the ice cube inside his mouth as his mind wandered off to Catherine.

How much he wished that what happened between them never happened.

It would have been so nice.

His phone pinged and he brought it out of his pants pocket. He reads through the message that Catherine sent him and he frowned.

He wasn't going down that road again. He won't go down there again no matter what.

Relationships are definitely not for him and he would try his best to stay away from it. 'Fuck hoes and go away' that would be his motto.

Liam sat down on a stool beside him and ordered for a drink.

It feels so good to be of a legal age to drink alcohol.

He felt better drinking it now than when he was hiding drinking it illegally.

20 never felt so good.

"I got a call from Talia after weeks. She was finally going to meet with me." Liam said and Ace raised his eyebrows.

"I heard that Talia is in London, how is she going to meet up with you when she is currently in a whole different country?" Ace questioned, his eyes fixating on Liam.

"She came back to New York today. With golden girl." Liam responded, waiting to see Ace's change of reaction but nothing came.

He was just bland, like he didn't care.

Ace gulped down his drink and got down from the stool.

"Need to use the restroom." He muttered before walking away.

Liam let out an exasperated breath and briefly closed his eyes.

Love is dealing with his friend and he wished there was a way to help him.

But Ace is stubborn. He only does what he wants and not what he was told. He was indeed Veronica Hampton's son.

Catherine stared hard at her phone, waiting for the magic to happen.

She just wanted him to say something to her. Anything at all and stop ghosting her. But it has been two hours since he read her message and never responded to it.

Catherine sighed bitterly and dropped the phone on the nightstand drawer.

She closed her eyes and pictured Ace's face in her head.

"I don't know what to do to make you see how genuinely I want to rectify our relationship. I hope you can see it. I hope you can tell that I have learnt from my mistakes." She muttered.

She pushed out the thoughts in her head and tried to fall asleep.

Few minutes later, he slept off.

****

When Catherine woke up the next morning she took her bath and brushed her teeth, ready to explore the city of New York.

She texted Anitra wishing him a good morning and Ace as well.

She really missed Margaret around her.

Now back in the house where she stayed in Manhattan with her mother she wished that Margaret was there with her. She wouldn't have had to stand before the cooker thinking of what to make for breakfast.

After thinking for a while she finally came to a conclusion and made a big french toast instead.

She got what you use thanks to the housekeeper her mother kept in the house. The fridge was stocked with food. Mrs Meyers must have called the housekeeper in advance and told her that Catherine was coming because she didn't know how the fridge would be stored when she wasn't even sure of anyone coming back.

She placed her plate of French toast on the table and dropped the full glass of orange juice beside it.

She yawned as she stared at the food and couldn't wait to devour it.

Ace was sitting on the couch inside the living room when his mother walked in.

She sat down on the opposite couch and dropped her bag on the coffee table.

"I spent the whole day apologizing to some of my partners over the cancellation of your wedding. It wasn't easy." She muttered and stared at Ace. "Are you okay?"

Ace couldn't believe what he heard.

Veronica Hampton asked him if he was okay.

She really did and he just couldn't believe it.

The idea of her trying to act like a normal mother disturbs him.

"I am fine." He retorted and she nodded her head. She got up from the couch and walked away.

Ace left the house and went to their forest house. His own hiding space.

As he got out of his car. He stopped to stare at the car parked beside him.

Liam doesn't drive Mercedes Benz and Kisa Queens drives Lamborghini. Who could the car belong to?

Ace had no idea but was ready to find out who the car truly belonged to.

He unlocked the door with his spare key and stepped inside the house while closing the door behind him.

His footsteps can't be heard as he walked further inside the house and when he got to the living room he met someone he wasn't expecting.

"The fuck are you doing here?" Ace asked angrily. Catherine jumped up from the couch and her eyes widened as she turned to look at Ace.

"A.....Ace." She stuttered. Ace was still standing where he was, his jaw clenched and his hand balled in a tight fist.

"What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" He inquired once again while enunciating every single word.

She was scared for herself. He sounded so angry to see her.

She wasn't expecting him.

Thanks to Liam she got the keys to the house and just wanted to relieve the memories of her time there with Ace. She wasn't planning to meet up with him. She wasn't planning to act pitiable in front of him. She was just caught off guard.

"Hi." She whispered softly.

Ace sighed and rubbed his face with his palm.

"Are you dumb? Is English too hard for you to understand? I asked you why you're here and not for you to say some stupid 'Hi' to me." Ace said angrily. Rudely.