Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress

After her productive day, Katherine met up with Damien and the others at the Maverick Security base in the afternoon to discuss their findings from what the housekeeper said.

They planned to keep an eye on the butler at the dinner party in the evening. While they could confront him and hope he'll actually tell them something useful, at the moment, their only hope was him and they didn't want to risk it, so they had to tread carefully. Confronting him might only ruin their only chance.

Damien assigned Team Beta on the grounds in case there were any activities outside the mansion that night. Since the Young Estate was quite massive, they were placed in specific areas, and they had to do it covertly. They weren't even going to inform the estate's security in case any of them were corrupted.

Meanwhile, Damien's security—the A-Team—would be in the main house during the party. Given that Damien and the others were skilled, they didn't worry about any attacks inside the house—not that they expected anything would go wrong, but they couldn't be any more prepared. After everything that happened in the past, they had learned their lesson.

Katherine and Damien dropped by the hospital to say "hello" to Grandpa Theo. Fortunately, she caught her grandfather awake again. Grandpa Theo still didn't respond to them, but Katherine talked to him for a while, telling him that she was waiting for him to come back and not to worry about everything. That even though Young Corporation was a challenge, she was able to handle it just fine with support from others.

After their visit, the two drove to the Young Mansion, bringing with them a small suitcase as they would be spending the night there after the party. They arrived an hour early, enough time for them to dress up and get ready before their friends arrived.

Although Caroline was allowed outside her bedroom, she didn't want to join the party, so she stayed cooped up inside her bedroom with Noah guarding her at all times.

As the head of the household servants, Mr. Gerard Higgins, the butler, supervised the preparation of the dining and living area. There were only nine guests—ten if William brought a date—but the servants went all out with the decorations, food, and drinks. It was Grandpa Theo's specific order to make sure the night went smoothly and that the preparation was lavish. "Damien and Katherine's dear friends deserve it," he had said.

Fifteen minutes before seven, their guests started arriving. Since this was a formal dinner party with a six-course meal, they wore formal clothes in suits and evening gowns. Invitations were even checked at the front door by the mansion's security before they were allowed inside. Katherine and Damien stood in the foyer to receive them.

Jeffrey and Jasmine were the first to arrive, followed by Styles, Amelia, and Felix. 

It was the first time for most of the guests to visit the mansion and their eyes scanned the inside appreciatively. Katherine quite liked their compliments. This was where her father grew up and even though he was long gone, she could feel a sense of connection with the house as if his presence was still there.

"Kath!" Emma squealed as she pulled Katherine into a tight hug. "Oh. My. God." Her eyes were wide as they surveyed the interior of the mansion—as far as she could see. "I know you told me your family was rich, but I didn't expect you to be like…rich-rich. Like this is friggin' Downton Abbey wealth!" she whisper-yelled.

"You're exaggerating, Ems." Katherine laughed at how silly her friend is. "You're welcome to come here anytime. There's a pool out back if you want to visit one day with your family. I'm sure your brother would enjoy that."

Water gathered in Emma's eyes and she whimpered. "You're the bestest friend I ever have. I will never say no to offers like that, so I'll take you up on it. You better be ready!"

Katherine squeezed her friend's shoulder and smiled at her. Damien briefly hugged Emma before the butler ushered her toward the dining room.

Caleb and Ali came next and just like Emma, Ali was also excited to see Katherine. The latter had been very busy since everything went down a few weeks ago so she barely had time to talk to Ali. Their chat was short and the couple went inside where the others were.

The last one to arrive was William. Katherine craned her neck to see if he brought a date, but he came up the front door by himself. He hugged Katherine and kissed her cheek, and then gave Damien a man-hug and clapped his shoulder.

"I thought you were bringing a date?" Katherine probed.

William exchanged looks with Damien, who only cocked a brow in challenge. William shook his head, chuckling. "Nah," was all he said and did not offer anything more than that.

She narrowed her eyes at him, but he only winked at her and smirked as he walked deeper into the house, following the butler. With that, the door was closed and Katherine and Damien joined their guests in the dining room.

The twelve-seater long table was adorned with pink and white flowers and eucalyptus leaves, crystals, and white candles that made the setting dreamy. The engaged couple sat side by side at the head of the table.

The servers came and placed the first course on their plates. It was goat cheese crostini with fig-olive tapenade. Pumpkin sage bisque soup was served next, followed by the entree, and then the salad.

Despite the formal setting, everyone had fun. The food was delicious and the wine was phenomenal. At one point, Katherine glanced at the butler, but Mr. Higgins was busy supervising the staff. The older man had a stoic face and neutral expression all the time, one wouldn't think badly of him. He was very formal and had perfected his etiquette—as he should for having been a butler for a long time. Mr. Higgins was respected in his field. Katherine wondered if they had a butlers association or something because she swore, he would probably be on top, if ever.

While the main course was being prepared in the kitchen and would be served soon, someone clinked silverware to glass, bringing Katherine's train of thoughts to a halt. She looked over and saw Caleb rising to his seat and raising his glass of wine as he gave a toast. "To Damien and Katherine. May you both find strength from each other in all the things you will face in the future. And may you have the patience during the wedding planning. Cheers."

They chuckled at his last comment. Everyone knew how anal Ali was with their fast-approaching wedding. Glasses clinked and smiles were exchanged.

"Thank you, Caleb," Katherine said at the same time that Damien said to his friend, "I appreciate it, man." And then they took a sip of their wine.

"Do you guys have a date for the wedding?" Jasmine wondered.

A genuine smile cast on Katherine's lips as she turned to Damien. He leaned in and kissed her forehead. Then he revealed, "We have so much on our plate at the moment. For sure Caleb and Ali's April wedding will come first. If I were to decide, I'd marry her right now."

"Awww…" the guests reacted in unison.

"As you all know, Chairman Young is still at the hospital. We're hoping he'll come to very soon, so we're waiting for him to recover first. Also, Katherine wants a winter wedding."

"Oh my gosh! That will be so cute in pictures!" Emma commented and the others agreed.

"How's your grandfather, Kath?" Ali asked, her tone laced with sympathy.

Katherine told Grandpa Theo's assistant not to tell anyone yet, so the only ones who knew Grandpa Theo's condition were Damien, Amelia, Styles, and Felix. Tonight with the household staff being around, she wanted to use the chance to see if anyone acted suspiciously. 

Smiling, Katherine announced, "Actually… Grandpa opened his eyes."

Their friends gasped and so did the staff who were obviously eavesdropping, a series of reactions coming out of all of them. But her attention was on Mr. Higgins, who looked at her with wide eyes. She couldn't tell if he was surprised to hear the good news, or if he was shocked and took it as bad news.

Amelia subtly kept her eyes on the butler while Katherine acted casually, only letting her eyes stray for a couple of seconds before sliding her attention back to the table. She added, "He's still unresponsive, but I have no doubt that he will come back and pull through this."

"I know how you can draw out a response from him," Jeffrey started, a mischievous smile forming on his face, "All you have to tell him is that you're pregnant and he's going to be a great-grandfather."

They laughed. Katherine shook her head, but deep inside, she wondered if that would really work. At this point, she was willing to do anything.