The Villainess Needs a Hug (Ivy Windsor) novel Chapter 980

She took a shaky breath, her voice thick with emotion. "Then what do you want?"

"I don't care. I'm just not accepting this breakup."

"You just want to keep dating like this? But I'm out of time..."

"Out of time?" Naylor was completely thrown. "What do you mean you're out of time? You're young. Are you sick?"

"No."

His mind quickly connected the dots, and his tone dropped, heavy with dread. "Did your mother's condition take a turn?"

Katrina remained silent.

"But what does her cancer have to do with us breaking up? Did she forbid you from seeing me? Is she forcing you to end this?" Naylor demanded, genuinely shocked.

He sounded utterly baffled. "But why? When I visited her at the hospital, she treated me like gold. She told me how lucky you were to find a guy like me. She knows my parents pulled strings to get her the best oncology specialists..."

Katrina cut him off gently. "Yes, she's incredibly grateful to you and your family. But she heard rumors... she found out about your reputation and your long list of exes. She thinks you're just... playing with me."

Katrina had tried explaining to her mother that they were just enjoying the moment and not worrying about the future.

Her mother had exploded, scolding her for being foolish, reckless, and throwing her life away.

*"He's rich and powerful. He can string women along until he's fifty, and the second he wants to settle down, twenty-year-old girls will still line up for him! But what about you? You're wasting the best years of your life on a man who will toss you aside the moment he's bored. When that happens, good luck finding a decent, reliable husband!"*

—That had been her mother's exact rant.

But Katrina couldn't bring herself to repeat those brutal words to him.

She hesitated, searching for a softer way to phrase it. "You know my family history. My dad's infidelity destroyed my mother. So when she heard about your past, it triggered a massive trauma response."

Her mother's ultimatum was clear: she would rather Katrina be branded ungrateful than watch her daughter walk into the same trap. The fling with Naylor had to end immediately so she could secure a respectable marriage.

Naylor understood perfectly. He cursed viciously under his breath.

Katrina was nearing her mother's room. She quietly said goodbye and hung up.

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