Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress

As they left the cafe and headed towards their cars, Katherine whipped her head around, suddenly feeling like someone was watching her. She looked at the alleys and nearby stores—none. Then she looked up at the buildings. It was crazy but she thought snipers could be there though the chance of that was low in Esmea—it was possible—but still none. Was she just being paranoid?

Damien noticed her. He placed a hand on her back, a worried look ghosting his face. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head and focused on Damien instead. "I may just be paranoid and feel like someone is watching me or us."

He looked around but didn't spot anyone suspicious either. "It's probably just Team Beta. They're around here somewhere."

"Oh. Okay…"

She dismissed the feeling, though it wasn't the first time that Katherine felt like someone was watching her. But just like Damien said, they're probably from Maverick Security. Either that or she really had gone paranoid—after all, she did still think Parker was out running Shadow and not in prison like they told her several times. Her brain seemed to refuse to believe what was real.

Brushing off the negative thoughts, Katherine and the rest went to dinner that evening, thankful that she was surrounded by people she wanted in her life—Damien and their friends. Caroline didn't go with them as she said she already had plans with her friends. Though the cousins weren't totally chummy with each other yet, they were at least civil.

...

Over the next few days, Katherine spent most of her time studying. Like her original plan before she regained her memories, she wanted to brush up with her academic knowledge. However, instead of attending a physical school, she opted to take up the classes online. It was possible for her to finish a bachelor's degree online while in Shadow, so going over it again like a review wasn't that bad. Because of the amnesia, she had to relearn a lot of things.

A couple of weeks ago, she registered for an online course and took it as a refresher for the degree she had when she was in Shadow—a bachelor's degree in Business Management. She was serious, knowing that she had to do better if she wanted to be part of Young Corporation. Because the more that she spent time with her grandfather, the more that she had the urge to take what's supposed to be her father's. 

She still couldn't see anything that she could use against Aunt Deborah. The picture that they found in her office—a picture of her and Frederick a long time ago—didn't give them a lot of information, only that they could have been lovers at one point. The connection between the two was there, but it's hard to just blindly accuse someone without concrete evidence. 

The banned pills—although she had gotten that illegally—also didn't prove anything. Deborah didn't exhibit any signs of drug addiction either or anything that's health-related, so that was also a dead-end for them.

Recently, Damien had been doing his part by slowly being involved in a couple of the Parks' underground activities. He didn't like it, but aside from helping Katherine get more information about the client who ordered her parents' death, he also had to keep track of his uncle's shenanigans. Getting involved in the family business was needed for him to get stuff done. It made him closer to his uncle.

Both Katherine and Damien had busy days, trying to make things right in their family. But they made sure to always have time with each other no matter how crazy their schedules got. When Friday came, they decided to go back to Golden Phoenix Residences and have some friends over for dinner. While they liked the convenience of living in Crown Resort Group's penthouse, they missed seeing Bear all the time, and be around Styles and Amelia who were still staying in Katherine's suite.

...

Golden Phoenix Residences

"After a month of being away, welcome back, Agapornis." Styles raised his glass and made a toast, even using the scientific name for lovebird again. "I'm sure you miss this place but rest assured, I and Bear took care of it. Just...ignore the third guestroom for now. I promise I'll take care of it as soon as possible."

Katherin and Damien looked at each other, wanting to question what he was talking about, but decided to interrogate him later. 

"We're glad you're back here," said Amelia. She looked very lovely in her purple cocktail dress, the smile on her face was evident that she was doing well with moving on, considering Chris—the man she treated like a son—passed. Since the start of this year, Damien made her a permanent trainer in Maverick Security and it helped keep her busy. He just had to make sure none of his guards were making moves on her. 

Felix and Marcus raised their drinks as well. All of them clinked their glasses with each other and took a sip. The intercom chimed, indicating that someone was coming up through the elevator. It wasn't a doorbell, so they were expecting to see someone whom Damien had in his list of "Trusted Guests". 

Sure enough, when the elevator opened, in came William with a bottle of champagne in hand. He sauntered towards the dining area where everyone was with a proud smile on his face, "I heard this was a homecoming party. But how about we turn this into a double celebration?"

"What's your good news?" Damien met his cousin halfway and they briefly hugged, taking the bottle from him and pouring him a glass of his own.

William went around to kiss the women on their cheek—Katherine and Amelia. He already knew who the latter was and when he found out the first time, he was shocked. Amelia always gave that impression to anyone she'd meet because of how young-looking she was. "Well... I just closed a multi-million dollar deal with one of the most difficult—pain in the ass—company. And I'm head of the project."

"Damn. You got the Simmons account?" When the other nodded in confirmation, Damien exclaimed, "Finally! This indeed calls for a celebration!"

"Oh, I didn't just 'get' it. I fûcking grabbed it by the neck, locked it up in a metal cage, and sealed it with cement after burying it ten feet underground. Probably too much of a visual, but damn straight, I got it!" 

Everyone in the room laughed at William's enthusiasm. He and Damien had been working hard on this for the past month and finally, they succeeded. This was an important step for them to convince the board that William was worthy to take the CEO's spot in Park Group when they call the meeting in the future. Over the years of working under his father's light, William did what he could. He did play hard, but when it came to work, he also did his best. However, the board also witnessed the 'lack of warmth' that Frederick had towards his own son and this gave them the impression that Frederick didn't have high regard for him.

The Simmons account had been quite difficult to chase that even Frederick gave up working on it a few months ago. William picked it up a month ago and took his chance, hoping to prove to everyone his worth.

William raised his glass filled with champagne, a wicked smile casting his face as he said, "To dethroning my beloved father, Frederick Park."

"I'll drink to that," muttered Damien and the others followed suit. It looked like the future was finally shining brightly.