2020-02-29 - The Secret Behind Katherine's Intentions

It had only been four months since she moved to Gray Harbor and most of it was spent keeping her head down while doing one singular job. But now that her job was changing and the account was no longer going to require any day to day handling from a legal perspective, she had once contemplated leaving town after the holidays to move back to New York City to go back to the firm. However, when the opportunity presented itself to take on a new local client she took it, which kept her in town long enough to find a second reason to stay.

She didn't think she'd have more reasons to stay, until Byron Thorne went ahead and opened his damn mouth, defending Easton Marshall like he was this amazing person, that he'd somehow overcome his old habits of pushing the people who loved him away by taking their hearts and crushing them. If he knew how much of an asshole Easton truly was, he sure as hell did not show it by the words he chose.

It was stupid that it wasn't even Easton who had managed to put a crack in her steely resolve and she hated herself for it. The minute Byron had started speaking about Easton wanting to save up for the future and trying to make a better life for himself, it was as though she went back to feeling what she had once felt when she was trying to help him. She wanted to go full fixer mode, just like when she attempted to build a life to share with him to help him recover from the war. But it's like she said before, she's not a miracle worker. She can't make Easton want her help. It doesn't mean she ever has to forgive. She has to remember that forgiveness isn't on the table. She has to remember to forget anything in her past that had to do with Easton Marshall.

She knew about the Casino Deal and Easton's involvement with it long before that day. She knew about his partnership with Byron Thorne, which prompted her to take him on as a client. It's not because she wants him back that she is doing this. It's because she wants to be an ever present reminder of the mistake he made in pushing her out of the life she wanted with him and ripping her heart into a million pieces in the process. She wants to deny a once meaningful connection with him, deny that they ever shared a past together. She wants every denial, every word, every look, every appearance to cut deep, like a knife through the heart, every single time. She wants him to feel even just a fraction of the heartache, the pain he'd caused her.

After waiting for weeks, preparing herself for that moment, the upper hand she felt she had earlier had not felt all that satisfying. Despite the spit take and the obvious discomfort Easton felt simply by virtue of her presence, it feels as though she needs more, she wants more. She wants him to hurt at his core, just like she did.

Having had drinks with Byron earlier and enjoyed the feeling of that buzz, she decided she'd continue at home, and that she did, until she felt she'd had enough.

Then she eventually throws the glass against the kitchen counter when she's finally done, shattering it in pieces, one cold bitter thought in her mind.

Fuck you, Easton Marshall.