248: Someone Tall, Handsome, and a Billionaire

Someone Tall, Handsome, and a Billionaire

Matthew Jeong was overjoyed.2

He had only seen the online news the day before when Alianna sent it to him and he immediately flew to Esmea from Italy. When he arrived, he had to go home and was thrilled to see that Chairman Young sent him an invitation to Katherine's party. He tried to call her as soon as he landed but he couldn't reach her because Katherine had long used another phone number.

"You don't know how happy I am to know that you're alive. I have so many questions, Katherine. But I'm just so damn glad to see you…" he said. He hasn't let go of her yet.

Katherine was slightly teary-eyed but compared to a while ago, these were tears of joy. "I'm sorry I didn't recognize you, Matty. I feel so so terrible."

"It doesn't matter. When I first saw you at that party several months ago, I knew that it was impossible, but I have never forgotten about you, Kathy… never." He squeezed her even tighter.

Katherine didn't mind being squeezed. For a very long time, she had missed Matthew and it was just a really nice and homey feeling to be able to see him again and recognize the person she had known since she was a child. 

"I know, Matty… I know… I'm just sorry I didn't recognize you sooner. I hope you forgive me."

"Silly," Matthew chuckled.

"I can't breathe, Matty."

Realizing that he had hugged her enough, he released her reluctantly. "Oh, I'm sorry." Looking at her, he raised his hands to her face and gently wiped her tears with his thumbs before he wiped his own with the back of his hand, the two of them laughing at their reactions.

"I'm sorry to disturb your little reunion with lover number three, Queen but we need to work," Styles said through the earpiece.

Clearing her throat, Katherine touched Matthew's arm and told him, "Listen, Matty… I need to go and find Grandpa. I promise we'll have more time to catch up. Now is just not a good time—"

"It's okay, of course, it's okay. This is your party. Go and do whatever you need to do, I'll just be right here. I'll wait whenever."

Seeing the smile that he gave her, Katherine sighed and nodded. "Thank you. I'll see you later."

When Katherine walked away from Matthew, she immediately spoke to the comms, "Talk to me. What do I need to do?"

"I've got the detonator in my hands," Falcon said.

"Yes, but we still need to find where the bomb is to disarm it manually. We're still not in the clear. We need to make sure that it's completely disabled," Styles added while he worked on his computer. 

"This is Commander Falcon, all units are required to execute another sweep in all areas," Falcon spoke through her walkie talkie, addressing the security team that Chairman Young lent them that night. 

"Roger that." All the team leaders answered to her and proceeded to fulfill the command.

In order not to alert and cause an unnecessary panic from the guests, Falcon didn't announce the bomb threat. If word goes out to the guests and they panic, a nasty stampede could happen. They already have the detonator with them, all they needed to do was to find the bomb to disable it quietly without causing terror.

After hearing Falcon's order, Katherine saw a few men in black and some security members disguised as guests walking around to inspect. 

"Queen, I'm waiting for Falcon to come back to the trailer to check on the device that she got and see if I can trace it back to the explosive. I need you to do a sweep in the hallways and the rooms next to the venue just to make sure," Styles requested.

She breathed in a sigh and scanned the room to look for her grandfather.

"Got it. Styles, where's Grandpa?" she asked.

A few taps on the keyboard were heard and Styles answered, "He's by the chocolate fountain to your right."

Katherine heard Falcon in the background and knew that she was already back at the trailer. Now, she had to work quickly and let her grandfather know she needed to step out for a bit so he wouldn't worry.

She spotted Chairman Young as soon as she strolled towards the dessert table and when she approached him, the old man gave her an instant full smile.

"Hey, pumpkin! Are you enjoying your party? Your dance was marvelous! Where's your mentor?" he asked.

"He had to leave," Katherine answered briefly. 'I hope he tripped and fell on his face or maybe on a rusty knife.'

"Ah, too bad. I was hoping to talk to him more. He seemed to be a fine gentleman—Oh, have you seen Matt yet? He came to see me just now and was looking for you! Boy, that man has grown handsomely too!"

"Yes, Grandpa. I saw Matty already. Um, Gramps… I need to step out for a bit. I will just be in the area but don't worry if you don't see me. I just wanted to tell you that… You know… if guests look for me?" Katherine didn't think they would look for her. Or maybe they will, she didn't really care but she had to tell her grandfather in case he looked for her.

Chairman Young, on the other hand, thought that she was going to step out to meet someone and have some quiet time. Specifically with someone tall, handsome, and a billionaire.

"Ah… gotcha!" He winked.

She was confused as to why her grandfather's reaction was like that but she didn't have time to dwell on it.

"Don't worry, I'll cover for you," he added.

"Thanks, Grandpa." Katherine gave him a quick hug and walked away.

She strode towards the double doors across the room in her heels, people greeted her as she passed by them but she only gave them a small nod and a smile while she hurriedly walked out of the room.

As soon as she exited the venue and the music from the party was now a muffled noise from the closed doors behind her, she let out a heavy sigh.

"I'm out. I'll go check the areas," she said through the comms.

"Falcon and I are in the lobby, we're picking up a signal but we couldn't seem to find anything. We'll keep searching."

Katherine headed towards the first door she saw that was on the right side of the large hallway when she heard the door behind her swing open.

"Katherine."

Her heart sunk upon hearing the man's voice calling her name. She could recognize that voice anywhere. She had memorized it by heart and she would probably even recognize it even if she went deaf.

'Not now. Please not now,' she silently wished.

Katherine could not deal with him right now. Her hands curled into fists as she stood frozen on the spot while she heard his footsteps slowly growing closer towards her.

He didn't say anything else but the two of them were aware of each other's presence.

She was on the verge of experiencing a panic attack — it killed her not to be able to do anything at the moment. So she remained rooted on the floor with her back facing him.

She was terrified.

"Katherine…" His voice was almost a whisper yet she could hear the torment in it.

She didn't know what else to do or say, and so her mouth made the decision for her and muttered his name in the softest tone, "Damien…"

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