Always A Pleasure || H.S. [COMPLETE]

Eighty

08.22.2023 — This is a chapter in a three part update, along with chapters 79 & 81. Make sure to read chapter 79 first!

Anne ordered the two of them tea and they sat down at a small table in the corner.

"Thank you so much for hearing me out," Anne told her with a soft smile on her face.

"Your accent isn't as prominent as Harry's or his father's," Katherine pointed out.

"Oh, you've met Desmond?"

"I have," Katherine said, pursing her lips together, unable to hide her true feelings for the patriarch of the Styles family.

"Your reaction might make this easier," Anne commented, looking hopeful.

Katherine furrowed her eyebrows in question, wondering what that meant.

"As for my accent, I've lived in America for nearly twenty years now," Anne said as she looked down at her cup of tea, nervously turning it with her fingers.

"Oh," Katherine breathed.

So she left the UK for America when she abandoned her children? If she still wanted to be in her children's lives after she left, what made her think moving across the ocean would be the way to do it? Katherine couldn't even fathom it.

"You have about eight minutes left to explain yourself," Katherine told Harry's estranged mother sharply as she looked down at the watch on her wrist.

Anne sucked in a heavy breath before letting it out hard.

"Things were complicated between Harry's father and I back then," she began, causing Katherine to grow even more impatient. She was hoping she wasn't about to get a whole detailed play-by-play.

"I honestly lost count of all the other women he slept with in the decade and a half that we were married," she continued.

Somehow Katherine could fully believe that statement after having met the man and been subjected to his vile, degrading ways. Plus, hearing first hand stories from Harry about his father's sexual exploits. But she honestly had no idea why it was relevant to the fact that she abandoned her kids.

"I thought, 'well, if he can do it, then so can I'. I didn't want to be the only one unhappy in our marriage. So I took a lover," Anne explained matter-of-factly.

Katherine wasn't sure why she seemed to be getting the soap opera version of this explanation. She just wanted a quick honest answer so she could go about her day, so she could go home to the man she loved.

"When Desmond found out I was having an affair, he lost it. He beat me— though, only in places no one could see. Never on my face. He fractured three of my ribs, but made sure I could still go out in public without raising suspicion."

Katherine gritted her teeth together as her words brought back memories of her own past. Her father would do the same thing with her. Except for a slap here and there, he never hit her in the face and never left a mark on her body that could be seen or that she couldn't explain away. He made sure of it, especially after the CPS investigation. He adapted quickly.