Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress

Tuesday — February 19

Katherine arrived at the Young Mansion at one in the afternoon to pick up some clothes for Grandpa Theo. She'll be dropping by the hospital later today and wanted to choose the clothes herself. There was still no progress on his side, but she's hoping that he'll come to any day now. She could just feel it. Grandpa Theo will wake up soon. 'He just can't leave me yet.'

"I won't be long," she told Felix as she alighted the car and walked up the stairs to the front of the house. Mr. Higgins, the butler, greeted her at the door and escorted her up the stairs and to her grandfather's room. "I'll visit grandpa later, so I'm going to bring him some clothes."

"Young Madam, you may take a rest at the saloon and I'll prepare his clothes in a suitcase," he offered.

"It's okay, Mr. Higgins. I want to do it." She smiled at him as she entered the walk-in closet and started picking out some comfortable lounge wear clothes. Even though her grandfather was unconscious, he received regular care and got bed baths a few times a week to keep his skin healthy and prevent infections. According to the doctor, the patient could change out of a hospital gown and into his personal clothes as long as they were comfortable and the clothes were not tight.

While she browsed through her grandfather's hundreds of clothes, the butler stood at the threshold, his arms at his sides and his hands folded away gently. Sometimes, one would forget that he was around because he was too quiet—like he's part of the background—and when needed, he'd always be ready.

A thought came to her. "Mr. Higgins. How long have you been in the family?" she wondered, having known the butler had been in the mansion for as long as she could remember. He must have heard things in the mansion.

"I've been in the estate for roughly five decades."

"Wow… that's a really long time. You must've known my father growing up then?"

"That's correct. I've known the late Young Master since he was a little boy."

"And my aunt…"

He didn't answer, his face void of expression just like always.

Desperate to dig more information, Katherine turned to face the butler, "What do you know about my aunt, Mr. Higgins?"

"I'm afraid it's not my place—"

"You know what happened here, Mr. Higgins." She walked closer, stopping a couple of feet away from the older man. "I need to find Deborah. She needs to pay for what she did."

"What do you want to know, Young Madam?"

"You've been working for my family for a very long time. Surely, you must have an idea where she could be hiding."

"The Madam is a very private person. I wouldn't know where she would likely stay." Mr. Higgins looked to the side as if he thought of something. "Although…"

Katherine moved closer, her eyes looking expectant as she waited for the older man to continue.

"If I may speak freely, Young Madam…" he hesitated and she nodded. "The Madam goes to a yearly retreat by herself. She said it's her only time to unwind without distractions as she goes off the grid for a few days. I'm afraid I don't know exactly where she goes when she does, but to my knowledge, she has a few properties in the countryside."

"Hmm…" Katherine paused to think for a moment. They had already looked at the properties under Deborah's name but they came up short. Perhaps they needed to look further. They assumed that Deborah might've been using a different identity, making it much harder for them to track her down.

Footsteps came from the hallway and then Caroline walked inside the bedroom. "I knew I heard someone arrive."

Mr. Higgins retreated to the side and blended with the wallpaper once again.

"Caroline," Katherine greeted, taking in the young woman who lost some weight and had bags under her eyes. Compared to her usual trendy clothes, these days, Caroline wore a t-shirt and jeans and was makeup-free. Noah also appeared at the doorway and leaned against the jamb, folding his arms across his chest while giving Katherine a subtle nod greeting. Katherine returned the simple gesture before turning back to Caroline. "How are you?"

"Like a prisoner," Caroline bit out.

Katherine walked back into the closet again and began picking out light clothes for Grandpa Theo. "You have somewhere to be?"

"Anywhere but here. You can't keep me here forever!"

"And where will you go? Are you going to meet your mother?" Katherine casually spoke as she started carefully laying the clothes into an overnight bag.

"I don't even know where she is. How the hell am I supposed to meet with her? You took my phone so I can't even call her."

"It's useless. She's hiding, so she turned off her phone."

Caroline groaned in frustration. "She's hiding because you're accusing her of crimes she didn't commit!"

Having had enough of this conversation, Katherine closed the bag and faced Caroline with her full height towering over the younger woman. "Why would I lie to you? How would that benefit me?"

"I don't know…" Caroline swallowed, feeling intimidated. "You're making me turn against my mother."

"I don't need to turn you against her. It's up to you to see for yourself the kind of person you're calling 'mother'."

"You're cruel." Caroline teared up and she wiped her cheek angrily as she stared back at Katherine.

"Oh yeah? As cruel as your mother who killed my parents and tried to kill our grandfather?" Katherine scoffed and Caroline's face scrunched up, her lips trembling as she sniffs. Honestly, she pitied the younger woman, but seeing her reminded Katherine of Deborah. That didn't sit well with her. "You can call me whatever you want, Caroline. I don't care what you think of me."

"So what do you plan to do with me?" Caroline gritted her teeth. "You want to kill me?"

Sighing, Katherine hooked the bag on her arm. "My dear, I don't have any interest in taking your life. This isn't your battle, little one." But Caroline just might be their key to finding Deborah—Katherine didn't say this, of course.

Caroline blinked, unable to respond. She watched as Katherine walked past her and stopped next to Noah.

Katherine glanced over her shoulder and said, "You may go out of the estate if you want. But you aren't going anywhere without Noah or Maverick Security. Your mother is dangerous, Caroline. I'll be careful if I were you."