CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CATHERINE’S POV
I got to my room and changed into fresh clothes after a bath. Burke confessed love for me was something very frequent; I liked it and hated the fact that Liked it.
“Who is there?” I asked, after hearing a loud sound at my door.
“It’s Susan, ma,” Susan said, and I hurried to get the door.
I opened the door only to see Susan holding a bouquet with a note inside; she was smiling widely at me, making me confused.
“Are you going to tell me who gave you these? Or you will just stand there and smile at me?” I asked, giving room for Susan to enter my room.
“These aren’t mine mam,” She said, chuckling at my thoughts.
Susan placed the bouquet on my medical table and sat on the chair opposite it without saying anything.
“Then who is it for?” I asked, even though I knew the answer. The bouquet was mine; probably, it was sent from Chicago by my children and Jaxon or from Burke. The thought of Burke sending me flowers made me feel butterflies in my stomach.
“You know it’s yours, mam; you should be asking who sent it,” She said, still smiling; I had never seen Susan frown, making me wonder if her cheeks hurt her sometimes from too much smiling.
“Who is it from,” I asked, walking towards the place where the bouquet was.
” It’s from Burke; I bet you have already guessed that,” She said, giving me a side-eye.
My cheeks flushed red, hearing the flowers were from Burke; I picked the flowers up and inhaled them deeply; the scent was very heavenly. It had a bit of cinnamon, which I loved so much.
I placed the flowers back on my table and took the note that was in between the flowers.
The front had Burke’s name inscribed on it, I opened it and it read;
“Roses are red, Violets are blue, the only face I want to see is you. Meet me at the garden by noon, Burke,”
My cheeks were already too red, so I had to use my hand to calm it down.
“Is he through with his board meeting?” I asked Susan and she shook her head in response, making me wonder when he did this surprise because I slept in this room the previous night. I shoved that thought off, remembering that Burke was filled with surprises.
“So he will be done with his meetings by noon?” I asked, and Susan nodded her head in response.
The twist of things was that I initially wanted to talk to Burke when he returned; I wanted to let him know I would be off to Chicago immediately after Ethan’s burial, which was the next day.
I wanted to stay till Ethan’s killer is found, but my children need me, and I have been away from my hospital for too long; I need to go to the other side of the world.
“Do you have cold feet? If you don’t want to meet him, I think that would be cool,” Susan said, trying to calm me down. She didn’t read my thoughts, though; my facial expression said everything.
“I will be leaving for Chicago soon, Susan; if you want to come with me, you can, but I would never come back here again,” I told her, and Susan’s face fell.
“You are leaving tomorrow then,” She stated and I nodded in response.
“I think you should meet with him, and have a good time with him before breaking the news of your departure to him,” Susan said, and with that, she left my room.
I think she was right. Besides, it wasn’t like I was going to get married to Burke after all this.
I laid on my bed and waited till noon; it didn’t take before it was noon, or probably because I was anticipating it.
I jumped off my bed and changed my clothes. I picked out a pair of black shorts that revealed more than half of my lap, and I wore them because I loved the way Burke stared at my lap and unintentionally placed his hands there.
I wore a pink crop top to match and let my hair flow down to my shoulders; I applied slight makeup before heading towards the garden.
“I would have checked his room before leaving,” I said to myself. But I was already almost at the garden; I couldn’t walk back to his mansion to check on him; he had scheduled a date, and he would be there early.
Soon, I was at the garden, and it was empty; there was no sign of Burke or any of his guards; I sat down and decided to give Burke some time, although Burke was never late for an event.
“Is he playing with me?” I asked myself, after waiting for about an hour and there was no sign of Burke.
I was getting bored waiting alone, making me wish I brought Susan along.
I signaled for one of the guards to come; he was the only guard around; he had just arrived at his post when I called him.
“Yes mam,” he said respectfully, standing in front of me.
“Please, I need you to call my maid as quickly as possible; her name is Susan,” I said, and the guard nodded in response.
I was all alone in the garden once again, and suddenly, I started hearing footsteps.
“Who is there?” I asked loudly, and the footsteps stopped.
My heart began to beat fast, and fear began to flow through my blood.
“Is someone there?” I asked, getting off the ground and trying to look around, but I could not see anyone. Was Burke playing some child’s play with me?
“Burke, if it’s you, stop it; this isn’t funny,” I said, with fear in my voice; the image of Ethan’s murdered body came to play in my head, and my fear increased.
Suddenly, I felt someone cover my nose from behind, and the handkerchief was sprayed with sleeping-inducing Lavadar oils. I tried holding my breath, but I couldn’t hold it for long.
Soon the only thing around me was black.