My Billionaire Ex Beg For A Second Chance-Chapter 170: Until the End

The old study was filled with warm light and the scent of wood polish, leather, and faintly tobacco. Books lined the walls from floor to ceiling, most of them worn, spines cracked from use. Katherine sat on one of the armchairs, a porcelain teacup resting between her fingers, and tried not to let her nerves show.

Winston Ford, her father-in-law, sat across from her by the fireplace. A plaid blanket was folded neatly over his lap, though he didn’t look particularly cold. His posture was regal, straight-backed despite the years carved into his spine. His silver hair was combed back, accentuating the lines of wisdom etched around his eyes.

He was watching her with a gentle kind of intensity as if seeing something beyond the surface. "You’re awfully quiet today, Katherine," he said, voice low but still warm. "Is Leonard keeping you too busy?"

Katherine offered a soft laugh. It came out more hollow than she intended. "No, nothing like that. We’re doing fine."

Winston’s gaze didn’t waver. He tapped his cane lightly against the floor once. "Fine is one of those words that usually means anything but. I used it often with your father, you know. When we argued politics over brandy or complained about our sons. He’d ask, ’How’s business?’ and I’d say ’Fine.’ He knew I was lying every time."

Katherine lowered her eyes to her teacup, studying the swirl of steam. "Leonard’s... busy," she admitted. "He works hard. I think he means well. Maybe we just need more time."

Winston gave a slow nod, his expression unreadable. "He does mean well," he agreed. "But that boy has always been good at shutting people out. Especially the ones who matter. He gets it from me, unfortunately."

She looked up again, meeting his eyes. "You don’t need to explain him to me, sir."

"Winston," he corrected with a faint smile. "And no, I suppose I don’t. But I want to. Because you deserve to know the intentions behind all this. This arrangement, this marriage. You were never just some political move or a convenient way to honor old promises."

Katherine blinked, her fingers tightening slightly around the rim of her teacup. His words landed with more weight than she expected, uncoiling something guarded within her. For a moment, she was unsure whether to respond, to demand more clarity, to ask what exactly he meant, but something about Winston’s expression stopped her.

There was a quiet sincerity in his gaze. Not the polished charm he wore at public events, not the polite reserve she’d grown used to. This was different.

So, she stayed quiet. She didn’t interrupt. She simply waited.

He sighed, leaned back against the armchair with a soft groan of old bones. "Your father and I go way back. Before we were men with power, before all this, wealth and expectation, we were just two foolish boys trying to build something. He saved my life once. During a trip in the Alps, long before you were born. I nearly slipped off a ridge, and your father grabbed me by the coat. Nearly got himself killed doing it. He pulled me up, and I told him then, ’I owe you one.’ He said, ’Then treat my daughter well one day.’"

Katherine blinked at the revelation, momentarily stunned. So such a thing happened? she thought, her brows drawing together as she stared into the fire crackling gently across the room. She had never heard that story before. Not from her father, not from anyone.

A trip to the Alps? Nearly falling to his death? And her father risked his life to save Winston?

Katherine couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her. "He said that?"

Winston smiled. "He did. Though he meant it jokingly at the time. But as the years went by, and our families grew, I saw something in you, a quiet resilience. Grace, even when things were hard. And I remembered that promise."

"I didn’t know," she said quietly, looking over at Winston. "He never told me."

Winston smiled faintly. "He wouldn’t have. Pride was your father’s language. And affection? He saved that for the rarest moments. I don’t think he ever told anyone what happened that day. But I never forgot."

Katherine’s hands tightened on the teacup. She wasn’t sure what to say.

Winston looked at her a moment longer before shifting in his seat. The firelight danced across his features, softening the hard edges of his jaw. "Leonard might not know how to love the way you do. Not yet. But you bring something out in him, even if he doesn’t admit it. I’ve seen it."

She swallowed hard. "I want to believe that."

"Then do," Winston said gently. He reached forward, his fingers slightly trembling, and set his hand over hers. "Katherine, I like you. Not just because of your father, or your grace under pressure. I like you because you’re the kind of person this family needs. And Leonard... he needs you more than he knows."

Her throat tightened. She nodded slowly.

She swallowed hard, the lump in her throat too thick to speak through. A part of her wanted to believe it right away, to grab onto those words and tuck them into her heart like a secret hope. But another part, the guarded part that had learned to expect little and brace for disappointment,

Winston squeezed her hand, his grip dry but firm. "Please. Stay by his side. Until the end."

Katherine felt her breath catch, emotions tightening in her chest like a drawstring. She nodded again, words stuck in her throat.

The fire crackled. Outside, the last of the sun disappeared beyond the trees. And in that moment, something shifted in her, a quiet resolve blooming where doubt had lived for so long.

Until the end, she thought. For better or worse. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Even if Leonard never truly let her in, even if her heart would one day be shattered beyond repair, she would stay.

Because Winston Ford had asked with sincerity. And because part of her still hoped that someday, Leonard would finally look at her not like an obligation, but like a partner.

A wife.