Unexpected Encounter: A Second Chance at Love

Kathleen took a deep breath to calm her emotions down.

"The four IVFs drained me emotionally and physically," she added. "After our fourth failed attempt, I wanted to give it one more try but Daniel refused. He said he doesn't want a baby at the cost of my health."

"Daniel really adores you," Rachael smiled. "And I am not saying this just to make you feel better or for the sake of saying it."

"When he stayed with us for a week in the city, all he could talk about was how much you would have enjoyed the city if you were there. He always mentioned you even when we were eating ice-cream."

"Kate—" Rachael gently squeezed her arm. "Honestly, I don't know what to say. I can only imagine the emotional toil you are going through. But I can tell you one thing—"

"When you have a husband like Daniel, you have nothing to worry about," she stated.

"I have been a part of this family only for a short period of time. I know there are things that aren't justifiable and unethical too. But despite the environment they grew up in, Andrew, Owen, Daniel and Elsa overcame everything and turned out to be the best versions of themselves."

"That's right," Kathleen agreed. "The men of this family have a history of suppressing their women. I am sure you know a few things by now."

"But Andrew, Owen and Daniel are different from them. They know how to genuinely respect women," she added.

Pausing for a while, Kathleen said, "Rach, maybe Andrew had told you a few things but that is nothing in comparison to what this family actually is. It's much worse than you can imagine."

After being with the Volkov's for several years, she was aware of everything. Their business, their ruthless ways of dealing with everything. There was nothing she didn't know.

When Daniel first told her about their family business and his involvement in it, she was scared, so scared that she didn't talk to him for a whole week.

But the love he showered her with and the love she had for him, overpowered the fear she had developed. She was glad that she overcame all her fears and married him.

Despite the business he was involved in, Daniel ever let it implement Kathleen even a little bit. He was always cautious with her safety no matter where she was or what she was doing.

Even though she knew he was always protected by a number of guards, she couldn't help but constantly worry about him. He was the only family she had, she couldn't lose him.

She then hooked her arms around Rachael's shoulder. "Despite everything, let's just be happy that we married one of the most wonderful products of this family."

Rachael smiled and nodded. "I couldn't be more grateful."

"Andrew is coming tomorrow, right?" When she nodded, Kathleen sighed, "Do you think he is gonna be mad?"

"Definitely," Rachael sighed. "It's my fault this time, I should have told him as soon as Helen called me."

"You should have." Pausing for a while, Kathleen said, "Helen is a good woman but at the same time, she can be very scheming and wicked."

She looked at Rachael. "She is a kind of woman who likes to win. She liked to dominate others and keep them under her. But she is not getting that from her son and her grandkids. This is why she is pulling all kinds of tricks on them."

Contemplating for a while, Rachael asked, "What about Semion? Do they not share a close relationship?"

It had been a few hours since she arrived at the mansion but she hadn't seen Semion. Even Helen hadn't mentioned him even once.

Daniel also didn't ask about his father's whereabouts since he had arrived.

"They don't stay together," Kathleen answered. "It's been almost six years. Semion stays by himself in the other mansion."

"This family is more complicated than you think Rach," she sighed. "But there is nothing we can do about it."

Rachael nodded in agreement. By now, it wasn't hard for her to guess that.

...

[Next Day]

[Airport]

"How long do we have to stay here?" Owen pinched the space between his brows. No one was more annoyed than him at the moment. He had plans of flying to the country after a couple of weeks but now because of his grsndmother's stupid moves, his plans had been disruppted.

When Andrew told him what had happened, he was enraged. He frowned upon his grandmother for involving Rachael in the mess.

"Do you think she will let us leave before aunt Lisa's anniversary?" Elsa scoffed. "We are stuck here for at least two weeks."

Owen pursed his lips and frowned.

"Why are you being so grumpy?" Justin questioned him. "This is a nice opportunity for you to break your self celibacy."

"You stopped getting laid?" Elsa widened her eyes in shock.

"Why is my sex life a hot topic in this group now?" Owen snapped. He was already very annoyed and the ganging up wasn't helping.

"Come one you guys stop teasing him," Ben remarked. "He is already very upset that he had to leave his housekeeper alone for two long weeks."

Owen neither refuted or denied what Ben had just said. It was true that he wasn't happy as he had to leave Juliana but he had no other choice. He had to accompany Andrew.

Andrew wanted to fly over with Ben but Owen, Elsa and Justin insisted on accompanying him. They didn't wanna leave him alone to seal with the shit their grandmother was throwing at him.

Noticing how silent Andrew was, Elsa wrapped her arms around his. "Don't worry, Dan and Kate are with Rach, she will be okay."

"It's my fault." Andrew sighed. He kept blaming himself for not protecting his wife well.

"How is it your fault?" Elsa frowned. "It's completely grandma's fault, she is the one who should be blamed."

Elsa was well aware of what kind of a person Helen was. She had spent almost half of her childhood and her youth with her. She knew the woman inside out and she could say that even though Helen did not mean any harm, she wasn't a good person.

When she left Russia, Elsa had made up her mind never to come back again. The people who were close to her heart were all around her, she didn't want anything else.

But every now and then, Helen or anybody else kept pulling all kinds of tricks to drag her back.

"I should have been more careful." Andrew pursed his lips and frowned.

"Don't stress yourself out, we have a lot of people to deal with," Owen remarked. Since they were in Russia, there were a lot of things they had to do.

"You will feel better when you see Rachael."

Andrew nodded in agreement. It had been more than twenty four hours since he last saw her and it was killing him. Though he knew she was safe with Daniel, he still couldn't calm down.

…..

[Hotel]

[Kathleen and Daniel's room]

"Hey, are you free to talk?"

"Yeah of course, come on in—" Kathleen invited her inside.

Rachael smiled and stepped in. She then looked around and asked, "Is Daniel around?"

"He stepped out to get ice cream for me," she answered. "I suddenly started craving it."

"I see." Rachael gave her a weak smile.

Sensing her hesitation, Kathleen asked, "Rach, do you wanna say something?"

Contemplating for a while, she said, "I don't know if it's weird or—"

"Hey, don't worry about that." Kathleen placed her hand over hers. "You can tell me whatever you want."

Keeping quiet for a while, Rachael hesitantly said, "I have a friend who was facing fertility problems too. She had several failed IVFs. Even the doctors suggested her to either go for adoption or surrogacy."

"There is a fertility centre in the city," she added. "It has a pretty big name and the success rate there is very high. My friend conceived in the first attempt."

Kathleen gently squeezed Rachael's hand. "Really?"

Rachael nodded. "I have a friend who works under one of the doctors there. If you are willing then I can get you an appointment."

"I—" She lowered her head. She really wanted a child and was willing to try as many times as she could but she knew Daniel wouldn't agree with it.

"I wanted to tell you about it yesterday itself but—" Rachael sighed. "I think you should talk to Daniel once before taking a decision over this matter."

"I don't think he will like the idea," Kathleen sighed.

"Maybe he will if you talk to him properly."

...

Author's note:

Greetings Readers :)

I had to fly to my hometown for some family emergency. This is why I had to reduce the update rate to one chapter per day.

I will compensate later with a mass release ^_^

Thank you for understanding and your support :)

Happy reading ♥

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