Chapter 20
Chapter 20
“Good morning. What are you working on?” Rome mumbled as he stared at Catherine, concentrating
on her laptop.
For a moment, she focused on the screen. Then she gazed at him and said, “It took three weeks, but
I'm finally finished with my final soft copy for the plans for the ‘Fine wine’ project, and I just send it to
the team members.”
A smile crept on Rome’s lips as he got out of bed and approached Catherine. Then he squatted in front
of her and softly intoned, “You have been working so hard. I'm proud of you, wife.”
“Really?” Catherine whispered, gazing into his eyes.
For the past week, she had been doubting herself every step of the way, knowing how many people are
expecting her to fail, and Rome knew it, even though he didn't talk about it with her.
As he slowly ran his fingers through her hair, he nodded and said, “Yes. How about you take a day off,
and we can go out for dinner? I have saved a lot of money from my part-time job. Allow me to take you
out.”
“I can't. I have to brief the team on what each person needs to do, and I need to run after the materials
we are going to need. Today is a hectic day.”
With a faint smile on his face, Rome sighed and thought, ‘I know. That's why I want to take you
somewhere nice to relieve the stress you've been undergoing these past weeks.’
When Catherine saw the trace of sadness in Rome’s expression, she let out a soft breath and
mumbled, “How about we schedule dinner for ten o'clock today?”
“Okay. I can follow you to the office, and wait for you to get done with your work. Then we can leave the
company together.” Rome said, taking her hands in his.
“Don't you have your part-time job to go to today?”
“I can put in an excuse.”
A look of hesitation crossed her face. Then she beamed at him and said, “Okay.”
At nine o'clock, Catherine and Rome arrived at the company.
They headed towards the elevator and waited patiently for its door to open.
When it did, their gazes rested on Charles, Chloe, Jeff, and Richard.
The three cousins stared at them with nothing but hate in their eyes. Then they walked out of the
elevator.
Paying them no mind, Catherine and Rome walked inside, keeping a calm expression.
When the elevator door was about closed, Chloe frowned at her cousin and mumbled, “Good luck
because you are going to need it.” Then the doors shut.
A sense of nervousness swept through Catherine and when Rome gazed at her, he noticed a trace of
fear in her eyes.
‘Don’t worry. You don't need luck because you got me.' Rome thought, holding onto her hand.
A few minutes later, they arrived in the conference room, and everyone was already waiting on them.
Without any hesitation, Catherine held Rome's hand and led him to the head of the table. Then she let
go of him and sat down.
“Sit,” Catherine mumbled, patting the seat beside her.
As Rome gazed around the room, he could tell that none of the employees was happy about what
Catherine did. But he didn't care about them because he was so excited that his wife finally
acknowledged him.
After he had sat down, Catherine softly smiled at him before gazing at the employees.
Then she raised her chin, sat up straight, and said, “Thank you all for being here. Please open the soft
copy document that I sent to you all this morning.”
There was a brief pause as she gave them a few minutes to get to access their devices.
After a few more seconds had passed, Catherine gently cleared her throat, and said, “Fine Wine,’ want
to open a new Winery in the urban-esque area.”
The room became so quiet that even a pin drop could get considered as a noise.
“Our job is to design a winery that merges a gravitational procedure of winemaking with a structure of
architecture that is integrated into the landscape in such a way that it seems to be a natural element,”
Catherine said, gazing at the faces around the table.
The meeting lasted for hours, and when it was over, Rome and Catherine headed to her office.
After closing the door behind him, he adorably gazed at her.
“Did I do good?” Catherine mumbled, sitting behind her desk.
“Of course. You were super awesome.” Rome replied.
Both of them shared a sweet smile. Then Rome walked over to the couch.
As he was about to sit down, he realized that he feel a bit thirsty.
“Excuse me. I need some water.” Rome said, staring at Catherine.
When she nodded, he took one last glance at her and walked out of the office.
A few steps into the corridor, he heard whispers coming from one of the rooms.
Feeling a bit curious, Rome walked over to the door and leaned his ear closer to it.
“You guys know what to do right?” Charles' voice echoed from within the room.
“Yes, boss.” A male voice flowed into the hallway.
“Disaster should be the only result of the ‘Fine wine’ project.”
“We understand.”
Frowning, Rome walked away from the door and walked back into Catherine's office.
“Did you find water?” She mumbled, raising her head to meet his eyes.
“Huh?” Rome mumbled absentmindedly.
“You said that you were going out for water.”
“Yeah, I drank.”
For half of the day, Rome's mind remained restless with several thoughts.
After a few hours had gone by, it was nine o'clock and Catherine finally put her phone down, then
turned her computer off.
Afterward, she gazed at Rome and mumbled, “Ready for our date?”
But a look of concern crossed his face as he stared into her eyes and said, “You look tired. Let's do it
another time.”
“I want to do it tonight. I'm exhausted from work, and tomorrow, I have to do more work, so it will feel
nice to do something other than work, even if it's just for a few hours.”
“Okay.”
By ten o'clock, Roland and Catherine arrived at a local food truck. Then she stopped the car, gazed out
the window, and mumbled, “So this is the place, umm?”
“Yes. They sell delicious Tacos.” Rome said, chuckling softly.
“Yummy.”
“Can you order for us? I will join you shortly. I need to make a call.”
“Sure.” Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org
After Catherine got down from the car, Rome watched her walked towards the truck before he took out
his phone and dialed Mr. Orlando's number.
The moment he answered the phone, Rome glanced at Catherine from the car window and said, “I'm
going to send you a listen of names. These are people that are working with my wife on the Fine Wine
project. Among them is a few traitors.”
“Okay, boss. So what's the plan?” Mr. Orlando's voice echoed from the speakers.
“Track all of their movement and interaction and find the double-crossers.”
“Copy that, boss.”
Once Rome had ended the call, he got out of the car and walked over to Catherine.
“What did you order?” Rome asked, smiling with his eyes.
“Spicy chicken wings,” Catherine said, faintly giggling.
Admiring the excitement in her eyes, he lowered his head and lightly kissed her on the mouth.
For a moment, Catherine stared wide-eyed at him as her heart hammered against her chest. Then she
shut her eyelids and claim his lips.