Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress

Chapter 639: Bad Day for Science (1)

Damien didn't leave Frederick's side the whole night. He briefed Amelia about the discovery, and William joined them in the office some time at dawn. Damien didn't want to take any chances. If he let Frederick out of his sight, Deborah could slip away again, and it might be impossible to catch her if that happened.

They tried to ask Frederick questions about the mission of the assassination of Katherine's parents, but Frederick seemed very stingy with his answers. Damien could tell that the older man was holding back information even though they had already found out about Deborah. Frederick insisted that the details weren't important; it was nothing but a business transaction. She paid, he executed. It was as simple as that.

But it wasn't that simple, really, because the Parks weren't mercenaries or hired killers despite the nature of their underground business. So getting hired to kill an innocent family was out of their scope. Sure, they had attacked groups or enemies before, but never an innocent family like Katherine's. Damien had a feeling that it was an exchange of favors between Frederick and Deborah, or it should be in their family's books where only the head of the family had access to.

Sometime at dawn, Frederick fell asleep on the leather couch while Damien and William stayed up on the other side of the room, brainstorming about how they could trap Deborah. 

When they were still young, and Damien's father was still alive, Damien remembered that his father, grandfather, Frederick, and other important members of their clan used to stay up in this office strategizing and planning meticulous transactions and future businesses. Damien and William would sometimes peek through the door, utterly curious what the grown-ups were talking about. It wasn't until they were teenagers that they learned more about their family's businesses and the danger they all lived with. 

Damien believed that if his father were still alive, the assassination of Katherine's parents wouldn't have happened. He knew his father—despite the illegal businesses they had—wasn't unnecessarily violent. At least, he didn't harm the innocent.

Damien also thought that if he were stronger back then, if he weren't just a teen and were more capable, he would have probably prevented that from happening. So until now, he couldn't help but blame himself too, along with his family's transgressions. It's why he needed to do something for Katherine. 

He may not be able to bring her parents back, but he could at least help her get justice for their deaths. 

At five in the morning, Frederick's phone got a text message. It was Deborah Young.

[ D.Y. : 9am at Fairside Pier. I need at least 50K. ]

Damien and William observed Frederick who had just read the text. The latter scoffed and said, "Does she think I'm a bank?"

"You're not going to give her anything." Damien replied to the text, saying: "I'll be there."

The door to the office opened, and in came Nana who looked very cheerful as she said, "The servants said you were here. Did you all stay up late?" She sighed, shaking her head at them. "You boys are too hardworking."

Damien greeted his grandmother, swiftly turning his scowling expression to a genuine smile instead. Bless his grandmother, who didn't know a lot of things going on under her roof. He knew she wasn't totally oblivious about the businesses, but she kept herself away from all that mess and didn't want to participate in it. He gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "You're up early."

"I don't sleep too long these days. Aren't you all hungry? Let's have breakfast together."

They couldn't say no to Nana, so the three of them had to sit in the dining room and eat with her like one big happy family.

The hours ticked by so fast, and before they knew it, they only had a couple of hours left before they had to meet Deborah at the pier. Damien called Felix to pick them up at the mansion using a borrowed black SUV with dark tints. He didn't want to tip off Deborah in case she would recognize their cars that would make her change her mind or something.

Frederick's right-hand man saw them waiting at the front door. The man went closer to them, but he didn't speak and only wondered where they were all going. Frederick just nodded as if to say "It's okay", trusting that his nephew wouldn't really harm him as Damien was only after Deborah. Felix drove the vehicle, and the other three sat at the backseat with Frederick in the middle, flanked by Damien and William on either side. When they arrived at the pier, they parked near a diner and kept their eyes trained at the open gates of the pier where Deborah should enter.

They were thirty minutes early, and when nine o'clock struck, all of them heightened their senses, their eyes mainly focusing on one area and then scanning their surroundings from time to time.

The surrounding area of the pier was crowded with so many people going about—porters, workers, students from the nearby school, but none of them was the woman they were waiting for. 

"Are we at the right location?" William wondered when ten o'clock came, and there were no signs of Deborah anywhere. 

Damien also started to doubt and it was Felix who confirmed that there were no other Fairside Pier in Esmea. He looked at his uncle, wondering if something had happened to Deborah or if Fredrick had somehow warned her. But that couldn't be the case because Frederick hadn't been alone—not even to change clothes. Neither Damien nor William had taken their eyes off him.

Feeling eyes on him, Frederick faced Damien, and he knew that his nephew suspected him. He said, "I swear on my father's grave, I didn't do anything. She's in desperate need of help, so I expected her to be here. I'm just as surprised as you are."josei

Damien could see that his uncle was telling the truth. He felt tense just sitting in the car, but there was nothing else they could really do at this point except to wait. "Let's wait for a bit more. Felix, scout the area."

Felix put on a baseball cap and got out of the car to survey the pier in case they missed something. 

Meanwhile, Damien's phone buzzed in his jacket. It was his mother.

[ Amelia:  Katherine's discharged. She wanted to be with her grandfather, so I drove her to the mansion. We just arrived. She asked about you. How is it over there?]

He started typing his reply, but before he could form a response, another text came in.

[ Amelia: We're heading to the hospital. Chairman had a heart attack. ]