Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress

Chapter 256: Grandpa Theo as Cupid 1

It had only been nearly three hours since the party started and a lot had already occurred. However, one thing that Katherine didn't expect to happen was to be walking side by side with Damien Park without feeling the need to run away from him. She still wasn't totally comfortable with his presence but she was hanging in there.

Just like she told Amelia back then, she didn't hate Damien. She couldn't. But it didn't mean that she could get back with him just because there was no hate. Because there were still emotions deep inside her that's causing her to fake her smiles. Katherine just couldn't be happy and she didn't know if she was ever going to be.

It was more than just because of Damien. The root cause of her affliction came from herself.

And she was well aware that she wasn't handling it so well. That instead of working through her emotions, she'd suppress them instead. She's not proud of it but she just didn't know how to really deal with it. Katherine felt like she would never be able to get back up if she allowed herself to feel the unpleasant feelings that were trying to creep up on her.

Being in Shadow took away most of who she really was as Katherine Young. She was blinded and when she found out things that she was not supposed to know, she was horrified of herself.

Because she became the kind of person that killed her parents.

And for that, she didn't see how she could ever forgive herself.

For the many reasons that she had for distancing herself from Damien, one of which was taking it as a punishment. As for the other reasons she wondered if she could ever tell him those. Because if she does, she was sure that it would hurt them both.

"Are you okay?" Damien lightly tapped Katherine's shoulder. He called her attention earlier but she was in deep thought to hear him. The two of them reached the hallway that was leading towards her party.

"Ah, yes. I was just... thinking about what to tell Grandpa. I realized I was gone for too long."

"Well, I hope you already came up with an excuse because here he comes."

Katherine's head snapped forward hearing Chairman Young calling her name. "Grandpa!"

"Pumpkin, you're finally here. Ah, did you change your dress? It still has a cut on the side but it covers better than the first one." Chairman Young glanced at her dress and then studied her face as if he was examining her.

"Yes, I did. The other dress got dirty."

Chairman Young raised his eyebrows and shifted his gaze to the man next to his granddaughter, fighting a smile that was about to show on his face as he asked, "And this is?"

Katherine's brows furrowed. 'What do you mean?! You invited him! Why are you feigning ignorance?' she wondered silently.

Like the decent man that he was, Damien extended his hand towards Chairman Young and introduced himself, "Good evening, Chairman. My name is Damien Park." 

The old man's face instantly brightened up as if he had just heard the most wonderful news all night. "Ah! It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Chairman Park. You are our Katherine's" He glanced at his granddaughter who was currently watching him closely for what he was about to say. "...former superior?" 

With a slight bow, Damien acknowledged it, "Yes. Your granddaughter worked with me in the company."

Patting Damien's shoulder, Chairman Young had a wide smile on his face when he said, "I'm very thankful that you took great care of her. I will forever be grateful."

"It was a pleasure working with Ms. Young. She's very professional," Damien responded very smoothly.

It was so weird for Katherine to listen to their conversation while they were talking about her in her presence. Also, she felt that her grandfather knew something about Damien. She suspected that he may know about her previous relationship with him with the way he was being so strange with his reaction. 

She couldn't help but notice how Damien didn't describe her as "working for" him, instead, he always used the term "work with". It was also the first time that he heard him address her as Ms. Young and not Ms. Miller and she didn't know how to feel about it.

"How was the fresh air, dear?" Chairman Young turned to Katherine.

"What? Oh, it was it was okay." Katherine was usually so good at adapting to situations and lying without blinking but having Damien being so friendly with her grandfather threw her off her game.

Damien chimed in, "Katherine was actually with me. I was consulting with her for something important and I didn't realize it took longer than it should have. I apologize, Chairman. I should have been more conscious of the time."

Chairman Young was impressed by his statement. Meeting Damien Park made him really happy and he thought that he was making his granddaughter happy as well.

Katherine, on the other hand, raised her brows at Damien who was a better liar than her at the moment, making her look like a noob. When she started working in his company, she quickly learned this about him but it was still interesting whenever he does it. He was such a good liar, she didn't know whether she should be glad about it.

"Very well. As long as you are here now. Come, let's go back to the party." Chairman Young turned around and headed towards the double doors to the event hall. "Let's drink, young man. What's your poison?" he asked Damien.

"I personally like single malt."

"Mm, a fine gentleman with great taste. You and I will definitely get along, son. You're in luck, I brought a bottle with me." 

The three of them entered the hall where the party was still in full swing and Chairman Young turned to Katherine. "Pumpkin, why don't you bring Chairman Park to our table? I will be back," he said before walking away, not even waiting for her to reply.

Blowing out air slowly, she gestured him towards the table. "You don't have to stay, you know. I can tell my grandfather if you need to leave. He'll understand."

Damien wanted to laugh at how she was trying to get rid of him. "I don't need to leave. And I don't want to pumpkin."

Her brows knitted upon hearing his tease and she glared at his slightly smiling face. Was he enjoying this? How long could she last being around him tonight?