Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress

It's the day of Katherine and Damien's engagement dinner with close friends. Their party was at seven in the evening and they had the whole day to wait until then.

Damien and William were at a golf course with some business partners. Meanwhile, Katherine and Amelia went to a rural neighborhood to look for the housekeeper who resigned. She wasn't exactly easy to find. It was almost as if she was in hiding. They followed a trail and it led them there.

They reached the supposed area where the housekeeper rented an apartment. Her name was Mabel Suarez, twenty-two years old, single, and had been certified from the training institute that the Young Family always got their services from.

Instead of knocking on Mabel's doorstep, Katherine and Amelia surveyed the building first and observed for half an hour. They stood in an alley across the street from the apartment building. It was only the two of them so they needed to be careful in case something happens. Both of them wore casual clothes in dark jeans, a t-shirt, and a jacket.

"You talked to Mrs. Nieves?" Katherine probed, referring to the senior housekeeper.

Amelia nodded. "Yes. Only for a bit. I don't know how much it will help."

"What did she say?"

"Mrs. Nieves took care of Deborah and your father growing up, so she was pretty much close to them. Something changed after Deborah found out that she was adopted. Deborah left home and your grandparents and father looked for her for a long time. She was gone for a few years and when she came back, she was already pregnant with Caroline. According to Mrs. Nieves, Deborah wasn't the same when she came back. They were no longer as close as before. It was like Deborah became closed off and cold.

"Mrs. Nieves thought Deborah was extremely hurt. Though she doesn't know why Deborah felt that way when your grandparents treated her like their own. So she guessed everyone just has different ways of dealing with issues. Anyway, that was all she noticed though. Deborah gave birth, and the mansion was peaceful until the tragedy of your parents happened. Your aunt became more involved at Young Corporation.

"I don't think Mrs. Nieves knows anything. She seems to be in disbelief that Deborah would hurt her own father. She also didn't notice anything unusual on the day of the incident—so did the gardener as he was always outside and didn't really interact much with your aunt. I haven't had the chance to speak with the butler. He's been busy with the preparations for your dinner party tonight."

"Okay. Thanks, Falcon." Katherine huffed out a sigh. She wanted this to be over. Hunting down Deborah had been exhausting on top of the work she had to do at Young Corporation.

When she was a Shadow agent, living a double life was doable as it was all pretend and didn't last long for the regular missions. This, however, involved people very close to Katherine and so much was at stake.

Amelia tapped Katherine's arm and nodded at the building apartment across the street. Katherine followed the direction of Amelia's stare, and she saw Mabel Suarez walk out of the building.

Mabel walked on the sidewalk while Katherine and Amelia followed her in parallel on the other side of the road. They walked for a few minutes until Mabel entered a convenience store.

Katherine and Amelia waited across the street outside of a small coffee shop. It was ten in the morning and there were many pedestrians around them. Only five minutes later, Mabel came out of the store, hugging a bag against her chest as she walked back to her apartment.

Before Mabel reached the entrance of her building, Katherine and Amelia crossed the street. Mabel must've noticed their presence because she glanced over her shoulder just as they stepped on the sidewalk. Mabel's eyes widened upon seeing Katherine. "Y-Young Madam…" She froze, the color draining from her face.

Katherine thought Mabel was going to bolt so she approached her carefully. "Ms. Suarez. Do you have a minute?"

Mabel looked between them, her hand gripping the bag tightly as she shrunk back to the wall of the apartment building. "I…I don't know anything."

Katherine exchanged questioning glances with Amelia because Mabel looked suspicious with her response. Seeing as there were a lot of people around them, Katherine told Mabel, "We're not here for trouble. We just want to talk. Can we go to your place for some privacy?"

Mabel swallowed before slowly nodding. Katherine saw the fear in the younger woman's eyes and she had a feeling that they would get some answers from her.

A few minutes later, the three of them were inside Mabel's studio apartment. There wasn't much furniture inside—a single bed, a small round table, two chairs, and a coffee table near the bed. Mabel offered them to sit at the table and make them some coffee, but they politely declined and chose to stand instead, making sure they were near the door and the window just in case.

"How did you find me?" Mabel wondered.

"That's not important right now, Ms. Suarez," Katherine replied. "I want to know what happened that day. Why did you really leave?"

Mabel clenched her hands together as she bit her lip, looking extremely stressed.

"We're just asking questions. You don't need to be afraid," Amelia reassured.

"I don't want to be in trouble. I'm already having a hard time right now."

"Mabel," Katherine called. "Can I call you that?" Mabel nodded with hesitation and then Katherine continued, "Please answer the question. I assure you that anything you tell us won't get you into trouble."

The younger woman looked between them for a moment as if trying to assess her situation. Eventually, Mabel slumped her shoulders and started, "There was a commotion upstairs. I heard it from the kitchen and I was on my way there to check what's going on when I saw Mr. Higgins entering through the west door."

"Mr. Higgins? The butler?"

Mabel nodded. "He was on leave that day. The senior housekeeper Mrs. Nieves said he had some personal matters to attend to. So I thought he'd be gone the whole day. I was going to ask him what was happening but…"

Katherine waited for her to continue, but Mabel bit her bottom lip so hard it looked like it was going to bleed. "But? What happened?"

"Madam Deborah came down the stairs in a hurry, looking disheveled and nearly stumbling down the steps until Mr. Higgins rushed to her. I was too shocked to see her in that state that I could only stand there. I think I heard the Madam ask for help and Mr. Higgins looked confused…or alarmed…" She shook her head and breathed harshly. "He helped her to the front door—"

"Did he see you?" Katherine's eyes were fierce while images formed in her head as Mabel detailed what happened. She could understand Mr. Higgins helping Deborah if he thought she was in danger, but he never told anyone about this. Mr. Higgins said that he wasn't there when it happened.

"No. I was still in the hallway just outside of the dining room, so it was quite a distance from where I stood and where they were. I didn't know what happened to you yet or the commotion upstairs, and I was afraid to go…I'm so sorry. I should've been brave enough to check on you, Young Madam. Please forgive me."

Katherine lightly shook her head to dismiss the issue. That didn't matter anymore. She pressed for more information, "Is that the only reason why you resigned?"

Mabel explained, "The house staff talked about what happened later after you were brought to the hospital. It was only then that I found out what the Madam had done. I didn't know what to believe then because it was so very shocking. I hadn't told anyone what I saw downstairs when I went to Mr. Higgins about it. In my mind, maybe he wasn't aware. But then he… He made me resign and told me not to tell anyone what I saw."

"He what?" Katherine muttered under her breath.

Mabel clutched her hands tightly and pleaded. "I'm so sorry, Young Madam. I really am. I didn't want to leave, but I was scared of Mr. Higgins. He's very well known in the institute. I think it's why I can find a job until now. He must've said something to them. No estate is hiring. It's too hard to find work these days even with my certification."

This was a huge breakthrough in their investigation. Katherine and Amelia looked at each other in silence, their minds already working on all the different theories they came up with.

After a moment, Katherine reached for Mabel's hand and told her, "I think you need to lay low for a while. Don't worry about your job for now. I'll work something out for you and make sure you'll be compensated properly. Here—"

She took out a small folded wallet from her leather jacket and handed Mabel a few hundred bucks and a business card. "Take this and get yourself whatever you need for this week. I'll send someone to fetch you after we've taken care of things. But if anything happens before then, call that number."