Before meeting Darren, Katherine was a regular young woman who was born in a rich and sophisticated family. She always got everything she wanted. On the other hand, Darren lived in a lower socioeconomic group and isn't as rich as Katherine.
The two of them meet at a charity event held exclusively for those in Darren's neighbourhood. As Katherine's father is the head of a multi-million pharmaceutical company, he is sponsoring the entire event. Katherine gives a speech at the event, and this causes Darren to completely fall in love with her. Darren tries to approach her that day but Katherine does not respond to his feelings.
By chance, Darren and Katherine meet up again at a convinience store.
"Hey! Aren't you the lady who gave the awesome speech at the charity event?" asked Darren.
"Do I know you?" asked Katherine.
"Of course you do! I was there at the event and I found you really attractive."
"Stop doing that," said the annoyed Katherine, "I don't want to have anything with you. Please just go away!" And Katherine walks away from Darren.
Darren does not give up despite being rebuffed. He discovers her house and visits Katherine every single day to woo her. He buys her some expensive presents as well for her.
Katherine becomes sick of it and tells Darren, "I do not want any of your gifts! I just want to maintain a simple life until I'm 30ish! Just leave me alone and stop wasting my money!"
Darren still does not give up and tries his best to win her over. He introduces himself to Katherine's parents, and immediately states that he is interested in her daughter. Katherine thinks that her parents will not agree, but to her surprise, her parents agree with Darren's proposal as they believe that he is the "boyfriend" that she is talking about all the time. Katherine is angered at her parents' actions but can't do anything as her parents will be angry at her if she reveals that he is not the boy. She reluctantly agrees, and Darren winks at her in delight.
As their marriage date is fixed, Darren decides to spend more time with Katherine as he wants Katherine to be interested with him. However, this backfires, as Katherine wants to free herself and does not want to get committed in the marriage.
"Listen Darren," says Katherine, "I don't want to marry you and I already told you a billion times that I love you. So stop pretending that we're husband and wife."
"But Katherine," replies Darren, "If you didn't want to get married to me, you should have at least said something to your parents when we met them. I thought silence meant that you agree to the union."
"To hell with that! I never loved you and never will."
"Fine Katherine," begins Darren, "I will give you until the wedding to think about our union. If, by the 30th of May you are still unhappy at our marriage, I will allow you to not get married to me. But if you don't say anything, then I assume you're okay with it."
"That's a good deal," replies Katherine.
"Then let's shake hands to it!"
As the days go by, Katherine spends time with Darren and slowly begins to have romantic feelings for him. Katherine then realizes that she is in love with Darren and decides to break the promise. On the day of the wedding, Darren is waiting for her but Katherine rushes in and kisses him as she is happy to be with him. The happy couple get married as they promise to stick together forever.
After getting married, their marital life takes a turn for the worse. Darren's business fails miserably until the fact that he has to resort to take loans from loan sharks. He does this without consulting his wife. This has severe consequences as he is unable to repay the loans, causing the loan sharks to go after him. Katherine learns about this and is shocked. Thankfully, with her father's help, she is able to repay the loan sharks and tells them to leave them alone.
Katherine then confronts Darren about the whole incident.
"How the hell could you borrow money from those loan sharks? Didn't you know what trouble we could have gotten into?"
"I'm sorry honey, but I knew that if I asked your dad for help he would have never given it to me."
"You're wrong!" said Katherine, "My dad was the one who helped you get out of this mess and he would have helped you if you asked him." She walks away.
Katherine's family also begin to view Darren unfavourably as they still remember his actions with the loan sharks. They begin giving him cold shoulder treatment, and although Katherine defends Darren, he is still angry at her for the fight. The two of them decide to move out of the parent's house and move into a new house.
However, trouble brews for the couple. Katherine meets a man named Arjun. Katherine and Arjun become very close friends, and treat each other like brothers and sisters. This does not go down well with Darren, as he begins to suspect that Katherine and Arjun are having an affair. Suspicions begin to mount when Katherine and Darren attend an Indian festival known as Rakhi together with Arjun. Arjun does not tie a "Rakhi" for Katherine, implicating that he treats Katherine more than a sister. Darren is angered at this and confronts Katherine about her friendship with Arjun.
"Katherine," begins Darren, "I'm a little bit concerned at how you and Arjun have been acting lately."
"What are you implying?" replied Katherine.
"I'm saying that you and Arjun are maybe getting too close to each other and I think you guys should stop doing that."
"You can't decide who am I supposed to be friends with! Just because I'm your wife it doesn't mean that you can control my life!" lashed Katherine.
"Oh please," began Darren, "You're only saying that to defend Arjun."
"I would never do that. I am always loyal to you."
"BULLSHIT! You go out with Arjun nearly every day and never have any time for me! And then you're saying that you are loyal?"
"I would never ever do that! Do you think I'm that kind of wife?"
"ENOUGH!! I have had enough of you!" exclaims Darren, who cannot control himself. Out of the blue, he raises his hand and slaps Katherine, who is taken aback. He walks away.
Katherine is shocked at the fact that her husband would dare to raise his hand against her. She is saddened at the fact of being treated like this but can't do anything.
As a result of the abuse, Katherine is forced to end her friendship with Arjun, believing that doing so would result in Darren forgiving her. However, Darren does not forgive her, as he believes that Katherine has hurt him a lot. This causes Katherine and Darren to separate temporarily as they believe that a break is essential in their relationship.
During their separation, Darren manages to redeem himself by earning a job at a newspaper company. Katherine, on the other hand, continues working with her dad's company. A year passes and the two of them remain separated.
Once again by chance, Darren, who is now chief executive at the newspaper company, is instructed to follow up a report on the Cazdens' pharmaceutical company. He meets with Katherine, who is now a different person; she is filled with vanity, and seems to forget that Darren is her husband. Darren reminds her that they are married, but she still does not seem to accept the fact.
Darren wishes to end all differences with his wife, and has a talk with her.
"What is wrong with you Katherine? We've separated for a year and now you're pretending that we never got married?"
"Look who's talking. The man who ignored me when I tried to approach him last time is now saying that I'm wrong!"
Darren was taken aback by her revelation.
"I'm sick of being your victim. Did you ever asked me how I felt when you slapped me that night? Did you ever ask me how I felt when I cut contact with Arjun? No. That's because you're a selfish bastard!"
"Look Katherine, I'm sorry for mistreating you. It's just that I was going through a rough patch that time. But I've changed for the better. I have a stable job and its earning me some good money. Please come back and live with me. Please!" yells Darren but it is of no use as Katherine walks away.
Darren continues to plead for forgiveness and slowly it plants itself inside Katherine's head. After a few days of thinking, Katherine decides to accept his apology and moves back together with him. Darren is happy at the turn of events and kisses his wife, stating that he never wants anything to separate them again.
Several months pass and Darren is offered a promotion; to become the boss of a famous magazine company which is This Just In! Darren is excited at the prospect, but is taken aback when he learns that he has to move to Summerfield. Knowing that Katherine has her life settled here, he decides to say no but when he learns that he will be recieving a 25% increase in salary, he agrees to take the job without consulting Katherine.
When Katherine learns that Darren accepted the job without consulting her, she is unhappy as she does not want to move to Summerfield. She asks him the rationale behind accepting the job.
"Why did you take that job for? Couldn't you have asked me first before accepting it?" asked Katherine.
"Honey," began Darren, "This is my dream job we're talking about. I'm going to be getting a six-figure salary and we're going to live in a big house. Isn't that what you wanted?"
"I didn't want to move out of our town!" replied Katherine, "I have no one in Summerfield and my life is settled here. My job is also based here. What do you expect me to do there?"
"There definitely will be something for you to do there, don't worry."
"Why does it always have to be about you? I thought you promised me that we would change for the better!"
"Honey, please do this for my sake..."
"I don't want to move to Summerfield!" yells Katherine as she walks away.
Despite Katherine's objections, the couple move to Summerfield. The argument causes a rift in their marriage as Katherine still remembers what Darren did to her. This is the main reason behind the fights that they have after that.
Darren is known as a good boss but he treats Katherine very badly. Katherine is unhappy at how her life has turned out, and tries to fight for her rights. But it ends in a bad argument which causes both of them to reach to the point until they decide to divorce.
************************************
"If only I knew how Darren would be like before I married him. Then I wouldn't be trapped in this place," sighed Katherine.
The clock was at a quarter past eleven as Katherine finished with her story. Bryan was completely shocked at her story.
"At least now I know how couples get caught into marital mess."
"What do you mean? Are you talking about your wife?"
"Yeah, but its too late anyway to do anything now," sighed Bryan, "It's too late!"
"What about your story?" asked Katherine, "You never told me what happened."
"Well, we met each other several times but never knew that we were in love until we went to Los Angeles. My sister, Laura was the one responsible for bringing us together."
Katherine had no idea about Bryan's life and listened attentively.
"I fell in love with her but she didn't believe in love. But when she fell in love with me, I was already on the verge of getting married. Despite that, our hearts were with each other and we were brought together."
"What happened after that?"
"What happened next was entirely my fault. It was two years after our marriage and I took her for granted. Little did I know that she would leave me just like that..." said Bryan as he continued the narration of his worst life experience with a heavy heart.