508: Liar

Liar

Wednesday—November 281

Damien dropped Katherine off to work that morning. When she alighted the Range Rover, she caught sight of the guard whom they scared last night. So she stopped by the cafe next to their office and ordered several cups of warm drinks for her, her teammates, and the guard.

Entering the company, Katherine carried drink carriers with four cups of warm drinks in each hand. She paused in front of the guard and turned to face him. "Here, take one. It looks like you need one," she said to the guard as she gestured to take a cup of coffee. At first, he declined, but when she insisted, he gave in and took one cup from the carrier.

"Thank you, Ma'am," he said.

"Rough night?" she asked, keeping her tone light. She saw the guard gulp audibly as though he was hesitant to say anything.

"I…" he sighed, and then kept his voice low so only they could hear. "I don't know if I should tell anyone, but Ma'am… I think this building is haunted."

Before Katherine could respond, a man called her from the side.

"Katherine. You're early today." Michael Price had just entered and nodded at her. "You heading up?"

"Ah, yes." She walked with Michael, who helped her with the drinks, and they headed to their office.

Katherine continued to check on old documents that she splayed across her desk. In the past, she had tried to search for her father's assistant, but she never found him. Until now, even with Styles's help, they couldn't find him. She had asked her grandfather one time, and he told her that the assistant just didn't show up to work shortly after the burial and sent a resignation letter. Grandpa Theo thought that he must have been depressed because of his boss's passing, so he accepted the letter. If only she could get a hold of that assistant so that she could ask him some questions. 

After a few hours of working, she stretched her limbs and got up from the chair. She caught a glimpse of the clock as she drank a glass of water and saw that it was almost eleven in the morning. Katherine had asked the CEO's secretary when her aunt was coming to work, and she was told that Deborah would arrive around ten o'clock. Eyeing the clock on the wall, she tapped the side of the glass with her finger, contemplating whether to give her aunt a visit.

Setting the glass aside, she grabbed her stuff, walked out of the office, and headed to her aunt's.

…

Young Corporation CEO's office

A knock on the door sounded, and Deborah didn't look up from the document she was reading as she said, "Come in."

The door opened, and in came Katherine bringing a tray with a cup of tea. "Hello, Aunt Deb. I brought you some tea… I heard you were back, so I wanted to say hi." She plastered a smile on her face as she met her aunt's eyes and set the cup on her desk.

"Oh, hello, dear. Yes, I got back early this morning. Thank you…" Deborah got up from her chair and gave Katherine a brief hug.

"How was your trip?"

"It was wonderful! You should come with me next time. That way, you'll learn a lot about the company." Deborah sat back on her chair and took a generous sip of the tea.

"That would be nice; I would love to…"

Instead of sitting, Katherine pretended to check out the books on the shelves as if they were fascinating. A lot of them were self-help books, some about business, others about becoming a leader, etc. "You have so many books, Aunt Deb… You must like reading a lot." She ran her fingers through the spines of the books. Her aunt answered and said something about books and soul or whatever. She didn't really pay much attention to her answer.

"Hmmm…" Katherine hummed in agreement. She had her back facing her aunt when she continued, "I still can't recall a lot about my childhood, but I can vaguely remember that... I used to come here. Was this father's office before, Aunt Deb?" Then, she turned and looked at the other in the eye. Her tone was innocent—as was her expression. 

Deborah cleared her throat as she placed the teacup down and smiled as she answered, "Yes, dear, it was."

"Ah… I remember giving him something back then. But I'm not sure…" Katherine walked over to the desk, her face expressionless as she probed, "Do you happen to find a frame with our family picture here when you started using the office?"

With some knowledge about body language, she studied her aunt's facial expressions and body gestures. Deborah's mouth slightly parted as she began, "Uh… A picture? I'm not sure." Then, she withdrew her hand that was just holding the teacup a while ago and placed it under the table. 

Liar, liar, pants on fire.

Deborah looked more and more suspicious. Katherine could tell that her aunt knew what she was talking about—the family picture was found in one of the drawers of her desk last night. But she didn't call her aunt on it. Why would she lie about it? Or did she simply forget? One can't just forget something like that, right?

Katherine nodded and sighed. "Maybe I remembered wrongly."

"I'll have someone search for it. Some of your father's things were brought home to your grandfather's study. I'll let you know when we find it."

Smiling, Katherine walked around the desk and kissed her aunt on the cheek. "I have asked for a half-day today, Aunt Deb. I hope you don't mind. Damien and I are going to visit some suppliers for the wedding planning."

"Oh, of course! No problem!" Deborah's smile brightened at the thought of 'the wedding'. "Take all the time you need."

When Katherine left the CEO's office, she called Damien right away. It took a few rings before her call was answered. "Hey… I got out early. Can I come over for lunch?" 

"I'm actually not in the office right now. I'm at a lunch meeting," he replied.

"Ah, right… That basketball team owner. I forgot about that. Okay, then I'll just eat somewhere nearby and—"

"Wait, hold on."

Another man was speaking nearby, but she couldn't hear clearly. Then, Damien came back to the line. "Come to Jade Oriental. Let's have lunch together."

She knew what he was doing there, and her gears quickly turned when she heard his invitation. "Really?" Her voice rang a bit high. It was evident that she was a little excited. She didn't know why, but she liked the thought of witnessing Damien render someone powerless. "Okay, I'm on my way!" 

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