Kate lowered her head and tried to steady her breathing. She knew if Joseph hadn't stopped, she might not have either. She quickly said, "Do you think that I am that conceited? I know I have given myself to you before, but now I will not."
"How can you say that?" Joseph understood her thoughts very well. "Before you were forced to have sex with me. Now, we are in love, and we should respect each other."
"Thank you, Mr. Smith," Kate leaned on his shoulder and muttered, "You didn't get much sleep last night. You must be very tired, so let's go home early, then you can get to sleep early."
Kate wanted to go home with him because she was upset that he had been working day and night. She worried that he would go back to work after dropping her off at home. As his girlfriend, she felt it was her job to take care of him and not allow him to spend all his time at work.
As they drove, Joseph agreed that he would rest when he got home rather than work. His only requirement was that Kate stay with him, or else he would not listen.
Kate felt it a reasonable request, so she agreed immediately.
As soon as they arrived, Amy trotted out to greet Lord Joseph, but when she saw Kate, her face instantly turned gloomy. Kate ignored her and walked up the stairs, hand in hand with Joseph.
Amy was angry and heartbroken to see them together, but she was unable to say anything.
Joseph was thrilled to have Kate spend the night and woke up the next morning feeling well-rested. However, Kate was not in the bedroom, and he began to feel a little uneasy cause she had made a promise to him.
When Joseph went downstairs and saw that Kate was in the kitchen making breakfast, he smiled. She was so focused on cooking that she did not hear him slowly sneak up behind her. Joseph slid his arms around her slender waist and put his head on her shoulder.
Kate blushed and asked, "Did you sleep well last night?"
"Yes, very good with you next to me!” He replied.
"Go to brush your teeth and wash your face. Breakfast will be ready soon!" Kate was happy and looked calm as usual, but her flushed face gave her away.
Joseph rubbed her neck and asked, "Can you give me a good morning kiss now?"
Kate looked to make sure there was nobody else in the kitchen; when she saw they were alone, she leaned in to kiss Joseph. However, at that very moment, Amy walked in and shouted, "Lord Joseph…"
Shyly lowering her head, Kate turned around and pretended nothing was happening.
Joseph frowned and asked unpleasantly, "What's the matter?"
"Uh... that... Lady Cassie is coming," Amy felt embarrassed to walk in on the situation, but she was happy and silently cursed Kate.
“Mom is coming?” Kate panicked and asked in a hurry, “What should I do? Should I hide somewhere?”
"It is not a matter of braveness. We lied to her!” Kate thought it did not matter if they confessed their love; she would still be upset for not telling her sooner.
"What's wrong with you, Amy? I ask you to get Joseph, why are you going toward the kitchen?” Cassie snapped.
Amy was scared and stammered, “Lord Joseph… Lord Joseph…”
"Hi, Mom!" Joseph greeted Cassie.
Cassie walked into the kitchen, and when she saw Kate standing there, her jaw dropped, "Kate, why are you here?"
"I..." Kate started to say, but Joseph interrupted, "Mom, let's talk about it in the other room.”
Cassie glanced at Kate and walked out with a sad expression. It seemed as if she was angry, so Kate rushed to turn off the stove and accidentally burnt her hand. Not wanting to keep Cassie waiting, she ran it under some water then hurried to the living room, enduring the pain.
In the living room, Cassie sat on the sofa with a serious look on her face. Once Kate sat down, Cassie asked, “What is the matter now?”
Kate was about to speak up, but Joseph did first; he took Kate’s hands in his and said, "Mom, Kate, and I have decided to work on our relationship. We have our worries, and that is why we didn't tell you. We weren't deliberately hiding it from you; we just wanted to be stable before we said anything."
Cassie turned to look at Kate and asked her, "Is it true?"
Kate nodded, "Mom, I begged him not to tell you right away..."
She knew that Joseph wanted to shoulder all the blame and responsibilities because he feared Cassie might criticize her. However, Kate would not let him face the consequences on his own, not even mentioning it was her idea. When Kate looked at Joseph, he was glaring at her as if to tell her to stop.
"If it's what you wanted, I can understand. But, if it was Joseph’s idea…” Cassie looked at him sternly, “Then I won’t forgive you for not telling me!”
"Mom, why?" Joseph looked at Cassie suspiciously, "I have the same thoughts as Kate. We both wanted our relationship to be stable.”
"Even if you tried to correct your past actions, don't think that I will forget how you treated Kate before!" Although Joseph was her son, Cassie was angry about what he did to Kate in the past. She was happy to hear that they were together again, but she was also afraid that Joseph was acting on impulse and would mistreat Kate in the future. Cassie wanted to remind him to see if he was sincere about his relationship with Kate.
“Mom, I know that I wasn’t good to Kate before and that I disappointed both of you. But this time, I truly am serious," Never before had Joseph made a promise to Kate in front of his mother, even if he knew he was wrong. He needed both Cassie and Kate to see that they didn't need to worry, his actions were important, but he chose to make the promises.