C4 Chapter 4

Katelyn’s POV

Derek let out a short, bitter laugh, shaking his head as he looked at me. “Feelings can’t be forced, Katelyn. You could never take a man who wasn’t yours to begin with.”

His words felt like a slap. My throat tightened, and I fought the sting of tears in my eyes.

“Go to hell, Derek,” I snapped, voice unsteady.

But he didn’t stop. “Look at them,” he said, gesturing toward Ethan and Scarlett. “They didn’t even have to touch. You can see it in their eyes. That’s love, Katelyn. And you were never part of it.”

I wanted to scream. I wanted to tell him he was wrong. But he wasn’t. And that was the part that hurt the most.

I had imagined love. I had wished for it, wondered what it would look like if Ethan had ever truly loved me. Now, I knew. And it wasn’t me he had ever looked at that way.

A cold numbness settled in my chest, but the weight of it was unbearable. I turned away and ran, the burning in my eyes finally spilling over as tears streamed down my face.

I didn’t know where I was going. I just needed to breathe. Needed to be anywhere but there.

A small, warm hand reached up and wiped a tear from my cheek. I looked down. It was Lucas.

“Mommy, don’t cry,” he whispered. “I don’t like seeing you sad.”

I knelt down, pulling him into my arms. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I just… I just needed a moment.”

His tiny hands held onto me tightly. “I was sad too when I heard about Grandma. She was really nice to me.”

I stroked his soft hair. “I know, baby. She loved you. And now she’s a star, watching over you from the sky.”

Lucas nodded, his innocent belief bringing me a small, fleeting moment of comfort. I wiped my face quickly and straightened. “Come on, let’s go back.”

The funeral began shortly after.

I stood, silent, watching as my mother was lowered into the ground. Derek and my father let out quiet sobs. Even Lucas sniffled, his small hands clutching the hem of my dress. I felt… nothing. Or maybe I did, but I had spent so long suppressing it that I no longer knew how to feel it properly.

Scarlett approached, her heels clicking against the stone pathway. “Katelyn.”

I inhaled sharply but didn’t turn. “I need to bury my mother. I don’t have time for this.”

Scarlett scoffed. “Of course, you don’t. You never have time to face the consequences of what you’ve done.”

I remained silent, gripping my hands tightly together.

“Because of you, I lost the love of my life,” she continued, her voice laced with venom. “You ruined everything. Do you even realize what you took from me?”

I kept my gaze fixed on the ground. There was nothing I could say that would change her mind. Nothing that would undo the past.

Scarlett exhaled sharply, as if my silence only fueled her anger. “You don’t deserve him, Katelyn. You never did. I built a life for myself while you sat around crushing on my lover.”

My chest felt tight, but I didn’t move. I had learned long ago that arguing was pointless.

“I’m a presenter,” she continued, her tone shifting to condescending. “I’ve made something of myself, while you—” she laughed, shaking her head. “You’re just a good-for-nothing housewife. Stuck in a life that was never meant to be yours.”

I forced myself to stay still, my hands trembling slightly at my sides.

She took a step closer. “You’ve been keeping Ethan’s wife’s seat warm for too many years. But I’m back now, and I’m here to take back what’s mine. My family. My man. And you’d better have the good sense to step aside voluntarily.”

With a satisfied smirk, she turned on her heel and walked away, leaving me standing there in the cold, her words echoing inside me long after she was gone.

I was still in a bad mood while my phone rang at that moment. I pulled it out and, without looking at the caller ID, answered with irritation. “What do you want? I’m at a funeral!”

Silence on the other end. Then, a quiet, unfamiliar voice. “Mrs. Katelyn…?”

I hung up, frustration bubbling inside me.

“Real mature,” Derek muttered beside me. “Yelling and cursing in the middle of our mother’s funeral.”

I turned to him sharply. “Yes. And you know what? I paid for this funeral, Derek. You haven’t contributed a dime.”

“That’s not the point, Katelyn,” he shot back. “You always play the victim, but look at yourself. You didn’t care about Mom. You don’t care about us.”

Before I could respond, my father stepped in. “Enough! Both of you! This is a funeral, not a battlefield.”

His words cut through the tension, and for a moment, everything fell silent.

I clenched my jaw, took Lucas by the hand, and turned to leave. As I reached my car, something rolled out of the trunk with a dull thud.

My mother’s urn.

I froze as I stared at it. I had no idea who had placed it there, but the damage was done.

Derek’s face twisted in disgust as he picked up the urn. “Unbelievable. First, you abandon her in life, and now you can’t even protect what’s left of her?” His voice rose in anger. “You couldn’t care for her when she was alive, and now you toss her urn around like garbage? What kind of daughter are you?”

I swallowed hard, my throat dry. “I—I didn’t put it there.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Derek spat. “You’ve always been cold, Katelyn. It’s like you have nothing inside of you. You were never part of this family.”

I gritted my teeth, forcing myself not to react. The words stung, hitting the part of me that had always yearned for a mother’s love, for a family that had never truly included me.

Tears burned in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I grabbed Lucas, climbed into the car, and slammed the door shut.

I was about to start the car when a heat wave hit me. The force knocked me off my feet, sending me crashing to the ground.

A deafening sound filled my ears. Screams. Chaos.

Lucas.

My vision blurred as panic took over. I tried to move, to find him, but my limbs felt heavy.

And then, everything went dark.