Stuck Love With My Student

Seated on the sofa in the Roberts mansion's living room, Catherine glanced distractedly at the wristwatch on her wrist, 9:32 PM, and sighed, defeated. Today was her husband Lawerence Roberts birthday, the vice president of NEL Groups, one of the most influential entities in the United States. Lucy had even invited his family to a surprise party, but where was the birthday boy? Catherine pondered internally while mustering a forced smile.

"My son is quite late, I wonder if something's happened?" Susan mused absently.

Earlier in the day, Catherine texted Lawerence , asking him to come home early as she had organized a dinner, the message was seen. and trusting her husband, Catherine had prepared everything she even made the decorations, pastries and sweets herself, which seemed quite pathetic now.

Trying to maintain her decorum, Catherine smiled and shifted the topic.

"Let's toast to this gathering, it's not every day we manage to come together."

"Well, dear, that's because we all work, we don't have the luxury of visiting you all the time," remarked Eliana, Catherine's sister-in-law, who owned a high end clothing store in one of New York's largest shopping centers.

Though the woman gave a smile, Catherine still detected sarcasm. Catherine, coming from a rural background to marry Lawerence, knew that everyone held a twisted view of her origins.

At that moment, all eyes turned to Catherine. She felt like a clown and regretted indulging her father's wishes.

"You could have invited your family too," said Jake, Lawerence's father.

"They live far away; they can't just travel for trivial reasons," Catherine replied absently while fidgeting with her phone. Just then, a friend messaged her, creating a small beep, she seized the opportunity to announce: 

"Oh folks, not this time, Lawerence sent a message saying, unfortunately, he's tied up at work. End of the month is when he has to do all the monthly reports, and it's kept him swamped," she said with a smile as she pocketed her phone. Silence followed, so Catherine continued:

"But we can't be disheartened by this, let's eat then, please help yourselves," she said, gesturing to the tables filled with snacks and sweets.

"Truth is I came because I wanted to hug my missing son. I can't indulge in sweets anymore, l'm too old for that," Susan said smilingly, and Jake nodded in agreement with his wife.

"And I don't want to gain weight, let's go home," stated Eliana, getting up and walking towards the front door.

After bidding farewell to her in-laws and sister-in-law, Catherine tried to call her husband, fifteen calls, all rejected.

"He's too busy to attend to you; you'll never win his love," she told herself as tears streamed down her beautiful face.

She sat back on the sofa, her thoughts revolving around her life and trying to make sense of her husband's behavior. Lucy glanced around the room: on the left, a table with a beautiful cake and on the wall, numerous photos of the couple, along with heartfelt phrases written on colorful paper in golden ink. It wasn't just a birthday surprise; it was also a desperate act to be noticed by her love. She had failed.