Rebirth: The New Bride Wants A Divorce-Chapter 555: I never looked beyond the surface either

Later that evening, Kathrine and Ethan stopped by a quiet restaurant for dinner. The atmosphere was warm, soft lighting reflecting off polished tables, low music humming in the background. It should have felt peaceful.

But Ethan had barely touched his food.

He sat across from her, nodding occasionally, yet his eyes seemed distant. He responded a second too late, smiled a second too forced.

Kathrine sighed softly.

"What is going on in that mind of yours?" she asked, setting her glass down carefully.

Ethan blinked, as if pulled back from somewhere far away. He looked at her, then quickly forced a small smile and shook his head.

"Nothing," he said lightly. "By the way, what were you saying?"

Kathrine stared at him for a moment.

She placed her fork down deliberately and leaned forward, resting her crossed hands on the table.

"If you were listening, you would not have asked," she replied calmly. "So tell me, Ethan. What are you thinking about? Is it about... your father?"

The effect was immediate.

Ethan’s eyes widened slightly.

"H-How did you—"

She did not let him finish.

So I was right, she thought.

That morning, when she had visited Marcus and he questioned whether she had told Ethan about his condition, she had already begun piecing things together. Marcus’s concern had not been anger. It had been worry.

And now Ethan’s distraction confirmed it.

"So you were thinking about him," she said quietly.

She leaned back into her seat, watching him carefully as he avoided her gaze.

"I did not know you would be bothered by what I told you," she continued. "But since you clearly are, I would like to know why."

Ethan exhaled slowly.

For a few seconds, he said nothing.

Kathrine understood their dynamic well enough. Ethan and Marcus did not share an easy relationship. They disagreed often. Their conversations were sharp, layered with unspoken expectations.

Yet beneath all of that was something undeniable.

They cared.

Deeply.

They just did not know how to show it.

Ethan finally looked up at her, his expression no longer pretending indifference.

"I did not mean to react this way," he admitted quietly. "But my dad... he is not someone who hides things unless they are serious. Very serious."

Kathrine listened without interrupting.

"He always believes he can handle everything on his own," Ethan continued. "Even when he cannot."

There was frustration in his voice, but also concern.

"He warned you not to tell me about him fainting, did he?" Ethan asked suddenly.

Kathrine paused.

She had not expected him to guess that so directly.

"He did," she admitted.

Ethan let out a short, humorless breath. "That sounds like him."

Kathrine studied him closely.

"You know him better than you think," she said gently.

Ethan shook his head. "No. I know his patterns. There is a difference."

She tilted her head slightly. "And what do his patterns tell you?"

"That if he is hiding something, it is bigger than what he is admitting."

The words settled between them.

Kathrine felt a quiet shift inside her.

Marcus had believed he was protecting Ethan by concealing the truth. By controlling the narrative. By minimizing vulnerability.

But Ethan was not blind.

"By the way, I visited him again today," Kathrine said, her voice gently pulling Ethan out of his thoughts. "And this time he looked quite... bearable."

Ethan blinked. "Bearable?"

"Yes," she replied with a faint smile. "He was not like the first time I met him at the restaurant. He did not sound like a businessman negotiating terms. He sounded like... a father. A father who genuinely wanted to know his son."

"Me?" Ethan let out a short laugh, clearly unconvinced. "Why would he want to know me?"

There was no real humor in his voice, only disbelief. He leaned back in his chair, shaking his head.

"He never tried to understand me when I was growing up," he continued. "Why would he start now?"

Kathrine watched him carefully. The casual tone did not fool her. There was something guarded behind it.

When she arched her brow slightly, his smile faded.

"Okay, fine," he said, raising his hands in surrender. "I believe you. If you say he was different, then he probably was. But it still does not sound like my father." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Kathrine understood that reaction. Even she had been surprised earlier.

When Marcus asked her why she loved Ethan, it had not felt like a man judging her. It had felt like a man trying to understand his own son through someone else’s eyes.

"Believe it or not, Ethan," she said softly, "your father is not exactly what you think."

"Oh, I know what he is," Ethan replied lightly, attempting to brush it off. "I just sometimes do not understand him."

He tried to make it sound like a joke, but the tension beneath his words lingered.

Kathrine leaned slightly forward. "And what if what you see on the surface is only a facade?"

Ethan looked at her.

This time, he did not laugh.

"What do you mean?" he asked quietly.

"What if the authority, the distance, the control... what if those are shields?" she continued. "What if he hides behind being a businessman because that is the only way he knows how to protect himself?"

Ethan’s gaze sharpened.

"You think he is pretending?" he asked.

"I think," Kathrine corrected gently, "that he may not know how to be anything else."

The restaurant noise faded into the background as Ethan absorbed her words.

"My father does not struggle with anything," he said automatically. "He handles everything."

"Exactly," she replied. "He handles everything alone."

Ethan fell silent.

The thought unsettled him more than he expected.

"He asked me why I love you," Kathrine added quietly.

Ethan looked up sharply. "He really asked that?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"I told him you are still becoming who you want to be."

Ethan held her gaze.

"He listened," she continued. "Not as a chairman. Not as someone evaluating risk. He listened as a father."

Ethan’s expression shifted slightly, uncertainty replacing mockery.

"He would never admit that," he muttered.

"Perhaps not," she agreed. "But that does not mean it is not there."

He looked down at his hands for a moment.

"Growing up, everything was about performance," he said slowly. "Results. Discipline. Expectations. If I did well, it was normal. If I failed, it was unacceptable."

Kathrine listened quietly.

"I stopped trying to understand him," Ethan admitted. "It was easier to assume he just did not care."

"And now?" she asked gently.

He hesitated.

"Now I am not sure."

Kathrine reached across the table and brushed her fingers lightly against his hand.

"You said you sometimes do not understand him," she reminded him. "But that does not mean he never tried in his own way."

Ethan looked at her again.

"And what if everything you see on the surface is just a facade?" she repeated softly.

Something in her eyes held his attention this time. There was no accusation. No pressure. Only sincerity.

For reasons he could not fully explain, he wanted to hold on to her words.

Because deep down, beneath the years of misunderstanding and pride, Ethan had sensed something recently.

Something was off.

His father’s silence felt different.

His distance felt forced.

And the more he thought about it, the more he realized that perhaps he had been looking at Marcus the same way Marcus looked at him.

Through expectation.

"Maybe," Ethan said quietly, "I never looked beyond the surface either."

Kathrine gave him a small, knowing smile.

"Then perhaps it is time you both do."

Ethan did not respond immediately.

But this time, he did not dismiss the idea.